Victor Richardson (soldier)
| Victor Richardson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
18 March 1895 Hove, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 9 June 1917 (aged 22) Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Education | Uppingham School |
| Occupation | British Soldier |
Victor Richardson MC (18 March 1895 - 9 June 1917) was a British soldier during the Great War, best remembered for being immortalised in his friend Vera Brittain's First World War best-selling 1933 memoir Testament of Youth.
Richardson was born in Hove, East Sussex as the elder son of dental surgeon Frank Victor Richardson and his wife, Emily Caroline. He was educated at Uppingham School where he met Edward Brittain and Roland Leighton. They were described by Leighton's mother as the "Three Musketeers." Edward later introduced Richardson to his sister, Vera Brittain. He is most remembered as "Victor" or "Tah" from Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth and Chronicle of Youth, and whose correspondence was also featured in Letters from a Lost Generation. First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends.
The three boys joined the Officers' Training Corps (OTC). A fellow schoolboy at Uppingham, C. R. W. Nevinson, described the mood of the school as "appalling jingoism". Nevinson complained that because he did not share this patriotism, he was "kicked, hounded, caned, flogged, hair-brushed, morning, noon and night. The more I suffered, the less I cared. The longer I stayed, the harder I grew." The headmaster told them on Speech Day that "If a man can't serve his country he's better dead".
Richardson, whose ambition was to become a doctor, won a place at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Richardson abandoned his studies to join the army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant with the Royal Sussex Regiment on 5 October 1914. While training in Horsham in January 1915, he caught meningitis and was sent to a hospital in Brighton. He was promoted a temporary lieutenant on 4 July 1915.
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