War Memorial
Private James Richards of the 1st/7th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's (Middlesex Regiment), gave his life in the First World War at the age of about 21. His service number was TF/202369, replacing an earlier number, 6612, and he had signed up at Purfleet. For his wartime service he received a pair of campaign medals.
He lost his life on 3rd May 1917, and as his grave was never identified he is commemorated instead on the Arras Memorial, which stands in the Pas de Calais region of France.
James had been born around 1896 at Chiddingstone in Kent, the fifth son of Thomas Richards. His father, a widower, worked as a Railway Platelayer and was bringing up seven children on his own, the youngest of whom was only four years old when James died.
His name appears on the war memorial at Chiddingstone Causeway and also on the memorial at Edenbridge Hospital.