Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of George and Ellen Richardson, of Springfield, Oregon, U.S.A.; husband of Addie Winnifred Richardson of Vancouver.
Digital gallery of Private Blaine Richardson
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
Private Richardson is mentioned in the War Diary Narrative of the 72nd Battalion:
"No. 1015951 Pte. B. H. Richardson, a Stretcher Bearer, did splendid work in dressing the wounded under heavy shell fire, and was killed on the objective in the performance of his duty."
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
The location of Private Blaine Richardson at the time of his death can be marked based on the information contained in the war diary and records. The 72nd Battalion was passing through CREST FARM on the west side of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. It was at this time that the war diary records his death, while tending the wounded.
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
The path of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion as it passed through Crest Farm, west of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. Private Richardson is recorded as being in "A" Company that went around the north side of the farm. His remains were never found and he is thus commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. Remains of men of the 72nd Battalion have been found in the area of 28.D12.a.2.9, precisely where the 72nd Battalion was at that time.
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
Circumstance of Death file (front) recording the death of Private Blaine Richardson of 30 October 1917.
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
University of Manitoba Roll of Honour 1914-1918. Winnipeg, 1923. Roll of the Fallen (pg. 24) - RICHARDSON, Blaine: B.A. 1913; Enlisted 11-12-16; Pte. 231st Can. Seaforth Highlanders; Transferred to 72nd Seaforth Highlanders; Service in France May 1917 to 30-10-17; Mentioned in Despatches; Killed in Action 30-10-17.
Digital gallery of
Private Blaine Richardson
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Image gallery
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Private Richardson is mentioned in the War Diary Narrative of the 72nd Battalion: "No. 1015951 Pte. B. H. Richardson, a Stretcher Bearer, did splendid work in dressing the wounded under heavy shell fire, and was killed on the objective in the performance of his duty."
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The location of Private Blaine Richardson at the time of his death can be marked based on the information contained in the war diary and records. The 72nd Battalion was passing through CREST FARM on the west side of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. It was at this time that the war diary records his death, while tending the wounded.
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The path of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion as it passed through Crest Farm, west of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917. Private Richardson is recorded as being in "A" Company that went around the north side of the farm. His remains were never found and he is thus commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. Remains of men of the 72nd Battalion have been found in the area of 28.D12.a.2.9, precisely where the 72nd Battalion was at that time.
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Circumstance of Death file (front) recording the death of Private Blaine Richardson of 30 October 1917.
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University of Manitoba Roll of Honour 1914-1918. Winnipeg, 1923. Roll of the Fallen (pg. 24) - RICHARDSON, Blaine: B.A. 1913; Enlisted 11-12-16; Pte. 231st Can. Seaforth Highlanders; Transferred to 72nd Seaforth Highlanders; Service in France May 1917 to 30-10-17; Mentioned in Despatches; Killed in Action 30-10-17.
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Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 315 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL Belgium
The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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