Richard was born at 24 Suffolk Place in the Marylebone district of London on 14 December 1875. He was the only son of a butcher from Camden Town named Richard William Andrews and his wife, Mary Ann (née Trees.)

On 1 August 1898, in St Mary’s Platt Church, Richard, then aged 23 years, married 18-year-old Alice Violet Hayes of Wrotham Heath. Following the wedding, Richard, who had been living in Bermondsey and working as a packing case maker, returned to London where he and Alice had two children: Richard, born in Bermondsey in May 1899 (died 1902), and May Violet, born in Vauxhall, during April 1901.

They then returned to Alice’s birthplace as their next child, Albert, was born in October 1904 in Wrotham Heath, with another son named George, born in Addington in 1908.

By 1911, the family had moved back to Wrotham Heath and lived at the original Railway Cottages (demolished in the late 1930s), where their youngest child, Florence Mary, was born. Richard found work in one of the local ragstone quarries but was employed as a general labourer by the time war broke out in August 1914.

On 10 December 1914, Richard travelled to Bromley to enlist. He joined the 6th (Service) Battalion, The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), which had been formed on the outbreak of war with a nucleus of officers and men from the regimental 1st Battalion.

Private Andrews joined his unit at Hythe on 19 December. After spending six months training in the UK, he was posted to France on 1 June 1915 along with fellow parishioners Herb Ashdown and Peter Piper. The battalion entered the front line at Ploegsteert Wood near Ypres on 30 June and remained there until September, when they moved south to Béthune. In October, the battalion suffered its first heavy casualties during a series of attacks on German lines, with the loss of three officers and 82 men missing or killed.

The West Kents then moved to the Hohenzollern Redoubt, where on 13 March 1916, Richard suffered a shrapnel wound to his head. He passed through No.9 Casualty Clearing Station and later No.2 General Hospital in Le Havre before being repatriated to the UK on board the Hospital Ship Asturias. Following discharge from Fulham Military Hospital, Richard convalesced to Eastbourne before returning to France on 16 June and re-joining his unit on the Somme nine days later.

At the time, the West Kents were assault training north of Amiens (near Flesselles) in preparation for the forthcoming summer offensive in the region.

At 3:15 am on Monday, 3 July, the 6th RWK attacked German positions south of Ovillers. Richard formed part of ‘A’ Company (alongside Herb Ashdown from Platt) and found himself in the first wave of the assault, which, along with ‘C’ Company, was tasked with taking the first line of German trenches.

Ten minutes before zero hour, Richard and his comrades crawled as far across No Man’s Land as they could, and as soon as the Allied artillery barrage lifted, leapt up and advanced on enemy lines. The Battalion War Diary records that despite heavy enfilade machine-gun fire, the West Kents achieved their objective and began bombing along the trenches towards both flanks to clear out any surviving enemy troops and secure the position.

At this point, the two remaining companies (which included Peter Piper from Crouch) pushed through and moved against the second German line, which was about 300 yards further on. Richard’s company provided covering fire for this stage of the assault; however, due to the wire not being cut, it soon became apparent that the attack had failed, with men mowed down in front of the defences, their limp bodies left hanging on the wire in contorted positions.

At the same time, the battalion on Richard’s right flank also faced stiff opposition and suffered a similar fate, leaving Richard’s company dangerously exposed. ‘C’ Company’s left flank fell, making the West Kents isolated from further supplies and reinforcements. Small parties of men were observed heroically dashing across the open with ammunition and bombs, only to be repeatedly cut down by the machine guns.

They gallantly held the captured lines for as long as possible; however, with the Germans hunting the men down with bombs and bayonets and casualties mounting, the rapidly diminishing force was eventually forced to pull back, allowing the enemy to regain their position.

Initially listed as being ‘missing in action’, notification of Richard’s death was published later in the month.

His body lay undiscovered for over a decade when, in 1928, the remains of several West Kents were exhumed from the former battlefield. Richard was identified by the titles attached to his uniform and a service number engraved on a cigarette case. He was subsequently re-buried with military honours at the Serre Road No.2 Cemetery. 

[Photograph of Richard Andrews courtesy of Mr & Mrs Waters.]