Loose photographs relating to the service of Henry George Richards, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) and Phyllis Weller, Women's Royal Air Force, 1931-1945

The photographs form part of a small collection relating to Henry George Richards (1906-1993). Richards was a lance corporal with 1st Battalion, The Buffs, in the early 1930s, serving in Burma and India before returning the United Kingdom in 1938. He was subsequently recalled in 1939, as a private, with the 2nd Battalion.

The 2nd Battalion of The Buffs was deployed to France in 1940, as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Richards was among the members of his unit who failed to escape during the evacuation of Dunkirk. He was captured by the Germans and sent to Camp 37 of the Stalag XX-A prisoner of war complex in German-occupied Poland.

The collection includes photographs taken during Richards' time in India (1931-1938), including landscape photographs, informal group photographs and a formal group portrait of 'Corporals 1st Bn The Buff (R.E.K) Regt'.

A series of photographs relate to Richards' time as a prisoner of war, including a portrait photograph of Richards, formal group photographs of Richards alongside fellow soldiers and a portrait photograph of the family that owned the farm that he worked on during his captivity.

Also included are photographs of Phyllis Weller in her Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) uniform, 1940 (c); a photograph of Phyllis celebrating with fellow WRAF personnel on VE Day in 1945 (one of the subjects is drinking from a bucket), and a photograph of Henry and Phyllis on their wedding day, 6th October 1945.