Born and Bred

Richard's Story

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Richard Porter, known to his family and friends as 'Dick' was born on the 21st of July 1914 at No. 700 Hucknall Road, Nottingham (back then this was the Nottingham Poor Law Institution or Workhouse). He was never to know his father, also called Richard, as he was killed on the 15th of March 1915 at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.

Although Dick was recorded as Richard Porter on his birth certificate, his father was called Richard Firkin; Richard Firkin had met a young woman called Ellen Porter, possibly whilst they were both working in the Nottingham Lace industry. They had fallen in love and Ellen had become pregnant giving birth to their son in July 1914.

Richard and Ellen did not marry, maybe there wasn't time, or their parents might have disapproved (according to family history there was quite a class difference between Richard and Ellen), maybe they intended to get married but never got around to it, but whatever the reason a marriage never took place. Shortly after the death of his father, Richard's mother decided that she didn't want to raise him, times were hard and maybe it was difficult to hold down a job as a single mother back then. As a consequence Dick was brought up, first of all by his paternal grandparents, in the 1921 Census he is recorded as living with them at 44 Fyne Street in Nottingham, and later on by his father's sister and her husband.

Very little seems to be known of Dick's early life, although I believe that he worked for a time at the Raleigh factory in Nottingham making bikes, and may also have worked as a "bookie's runner" for a short time.

Times were definitely hard for a young lad with little education and few skills, so when in 1931, one of Dick's friends suggested to him that they should both join the army he readily agreed.

Early on the morning of the 6th of January, Dick along with his mate, marched down to the local recruiting office and told the sergeant at the Desk that they both wanted to join the local regiment - The Sherwood Foresters.

At that time Dick was under age, you had to be 18 to legally join the army with a view to serving overseas, and so the recruiting sergeant, told him to...

"take a walk around the town and see if you have a birthday during that time"

Shortly after his "walk around the town" Dick marched back into the recruiting office and lied about his age, claiming he was born in 1912. Both lads were signed on and given a medical, Dick passed with flying colours, but ironically, his mate failed the medical and so on the 6th of January 1931, Dick became Private 4971982 in the Sherwood Foresters.

He was posted to the Depot Battalion on the 9th of January where he undertook basic military and fitness training, along with brushing up on his education, being awarded the "3rd Class Certificate of Army Education" at Derby on the 5th of March.

Then on the 29th June, he was posted to the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters (the same Battalion his father had served with), where he continued his training, some of which took place at the UK's largest training area on Salisbury Plain.

On the 4th of October, after completing both his basic and advanced training, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters and early the following year was posted oversea, serving in India and Sudan.

One of Dick's earliest jobs in the army was as "Ram Orderly" to Derby, the Regimental Mascot.

I remember my grandfather telling me how this job was given to the newest member of the regiment. His responsibility included looking after Derby and keeping his fleece clean and his hooves polished. Before every parade the "Ram Sergeant" would put on a pair of white gloves and run his hands all over Derby, if there was any sign of dirt, then Dick would be given punishment duties or suffer a loss of privileges. He was glad when someone else eventually took over those duties.

During his time in India and Sudan, Dick became a machine gunner, a position that he held from 1931 to 1933 and was also classified as a "Rifleman 1st Class" eventually becoming a "Marksman". He also learnt to play the drums and was a member of the regimental band. As a consequence of this he was transferred to the Battalion Headquarters Wing No. 4 Group (Drums).

Dick had enlisted to serve for "seven years with the Colours" and "five years in the Reserves" and during that seven year period he served in India (1931-1934) and the Sudan (1934-1936) before completing the remainder of his seven year tour in Guernsey.

It was whilst he was stationed in Guernsey that he was to meet his future wife, Violet Mary Amy Berryman. After leaving the Colours in early 1938 and entering the reserves Dick found employment with the gas board laying pipes and lived with Violet and her family.

With the looming prospect of war with Germany Dick was recalled to his battalion on the 29th of August 1939 for re-training. Shortly afterwards on the 1st of September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and two days later Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.

The 2nd Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters landed in France with the British Expeditionary Force in early September 1939, and took part in the early stages of the 'Phoney War' and the advance into Belgium. He managed to secure some leave in December and returned to spend a few days with Violet and their daughter, Maureen over the Christmas period. However, he was soon back in France with his regiment and waiting for the Germans to make their move.

By late May, early June of 1940 the BEF were cornered at Dunkirk. In the fighting outside Dunkirk itself, the Sherwood Foresters and the North Staffordshire regiment were instrumental in delaying the German advance and buying time for the evacuation. Dick was one of those lucky enough to be taken off the beaches and make it back to England.

Violet and Maureen, along with most of Violet's family were evacuated from Guernsey on the 29th of June, just 24 hours before the Germans took control of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands.

Dick would later return to France on D-Day +1, but this time as a member of the Royal Engineers, where he served as the batman of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Headquarters unit.When the war in Europe ended following Germany's defeat, Dick's regiment formed part of the British Army of the Rhine, in charge of occupying Germany. Dick was offered the chance to stay in the army and continue to serve his commanding officer, whom he got on quite well with. However, the posting would have taken him to South Africa, somewhere Violet wasn't too keen to go and so he declined the offer and came back to England where he was demobbed on the 2nd of November 1945, after which he was entitled to a period of leave at the end of which on the 21st of January 1946 he officially left the British Army.

With the war finally over they returned to Guernsey in December 1945. People had been returning to Guernsey since August of that year, but for some reason they failed to hear about these return trips until much later. Unfortunately, they had arrived back in Guernsey a week too late and their house had been given to someone else. They stayed for a short while, but felt they were treated badly by those islanders who had elected to stay when the Germans invaded, and so they returned home to England

After leaving the army, Dick decided to become a miner and work down the pit. He was soon made a member of the mines rescue team. This was a dangerous and highly specialised job and only suitable for fit young men. When team members reached the age of 35 they had to leave the rescue team and take on other work within the pit. When the time came for him to leave the rescue team, he became a Pit Deputy at East Ardsley Colliery.

In 1954 Dick and Violet had a son whom they named Richard Nigel.

In 1973 whilst working at Lofthouse Colliery, disaster struck. In what was one of the worst modern mine disasters, seven men died when water flooded the part they were working. Dick had been due to go down on the very next shift and had missed being caught in the inrush of water by hours.

He continued to work as a Deputy until he retired. After retiring, Dick spent his time in his allotment growing fruit and vegetables. He also used to go sea fishing in a boat with his son Richard, usually from Whitby.

This photograph shows Richard holding a 28lb Ling that Dick caught on one fishing trip from Whitby. The reason Richard is holding it is that it was too heavy for Dick to lift.

Throughout his time as a miner, Dick had always worked underground and this was to have profound implications on his health in later life when he suffered from emphysema. It was this what was to ultimately cause his death in 2002, one week after his 88th birthday.