Charlie was born at East Ham, London, England in 1900, the youngest of four  children. Following in his father's footsteps, a marine engineer, he joined the New  Zealand Shipping Company in 1925, as 6th Engineer in S.S. Huntingdon. He later served on the S.S. Opawa, S.S. Hertford and the M.V. Ragitane before returning to the "Hertford" in 1937 as 1st Refrigeration Engineer, a position he held for five years. The S.S. Hertford was to be an unlucky ship, encountering her first brush with fate on the 7th of December 1940 when she was extensively damaged after an encounter with a mine off south west Australia. She survived the encounter and was towed to Port Lincoln where she was salvaged, then to Adelaide and finally to Sydney, N.S.W.

S.S. Hertford  after being mined.

Just fourteen months later some 250 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia she met her demise at the hands of a German U-boat who torpedoed and sank her. The crew took to the lifeboats and Mr. Richardson recalled how the U-boat commander came alongside and apologized for what he'd had to do because of the war.  An offer of food and blankets was refused. After four days and nights adrift in the North Atlantic the survivors were picked up and taken to hospital in Halifax. 

Mr. Richardson survived his ordeal, however his feet were severely damaged as a result of the long immersion in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He was fortunate not to have lost either foot but the damage was severe enough to end his days at sea. Accordingly he was invalided out of the Merchant Navy and returned to a small town in Scotland called Findochty.

For his efforts during World War 2 Mr. Richardson earned four war medals:

The medals are from left to right

The following are two group photos of officers believed to be the wardroom of the S.S. Hertford. Charlie Richardson is the short fellow in the rear row in each picture.

   Click on the radar display to see the picture

                                                        Picture A                           Picture B