Richard (Dick) Hardwick Green
| Surname | Green | |
| Forename/s | Richard (known locally as Dick) Hardwick | |
| Rank | Trooper | |
| Service Number | 7942193 | |
| DOB | Circa 26/10/1920 at Holmewood. | |
| Address | ||
| Date & place of death/details | 2/7/1942 aged 21. | |
| Regiment & Unit | 4th County of London Yeomanry (sharpshooters) Royal Armoured Corps | |
| Service details | North Africa (Desert Rats) | |
| Military Awards? | ||
| Married? Children? | ||
| Any photographs? | ||
| Derbyshire Times Obituary? | ||
| Parents names | Mr Richard & Mrs Martha Green | |
| Parents address | Old Tupton | |
| Grave location or memoria location | No Grave. Remembered on the Alamein Memorial |
|
| Living relatives? | ||
| Any other information |
In1927 the family moved to
Armthorpe, Yorkshire, but at some point in the
1930’s they moved to Tupton. The family home was
on Brassington Lane, Old Tupton. Dick also had a
sister Cisse. He was
a member of the Tupton Methodist Church and a
member of the Tupton Chapel Players drama group.
There is a photo of Dick from one of
their productions. No
details of when Dick enlisted, but being as the
4th County of London Yeomanry (COLY)
spent from 1939 to 1941 building up its strength
and training, it would have been in this period.
The 4th COLY was an armoured unit
being part of the 22nd Armoured
Brigade, hence, Dick had the rank of Trooper. He
may have been a crew member of a tank or
the infantry support in armoured troop carriers. In late 1941 the 4th
COLY was sent to the Middle East first seeing
action at El Gubi where it suffered heavy losses
at the hands of the Italian artillery. The 22nd
Armoured Brigade then became part of the 7th
Armoured Division (the Desert Rats). They took
part in the Sidi Rezegh battles pushing Rommel
back to El Agheila. Following a period of
re-equipping at Cairo the 4th COLY
returned to the front to take part in the bitter
fighting of May/June where a re-equipped and
resurgent Rommel pushed the British army all the
way back to El Alamein There then followed
the 1st battle of El Alamein where
the British made a final stand to prevent the
Germans taking Cairo & Alexandria. This battle
was to last from the 1st to the 5th
July and would be a stalemate, although the
British succeeded in preventing the German
breakthrough. Aged 21, Dick died on
the 2nd July 1941, the second day of
the battle. The 4th COLY as part of
the 22nd Armoured Brigade were tasked
with holding the Ruweisat Ridge. They succeeded
in this task repulsing the attack of the 21st
Panzer Division. Dick’s body was not
recovered and having no grave he is remembered
on the Alamein Memorial, Egypt. Dick’s records proved
to be the hardest to trace, as he is remembered
on the Tupton memorial as D. Green when his
formal name is R. Green. Also no obituary was
placed in the Derbyshire Times. |