Sapper Joe Richardson No. 102611 Royal Engineers was born 1871 in Wardley Colliery. His family moved to Hebburn where, his father died from bronchitis in 1881, when Joe was 10 years old. He left school at a young age to work in the pits to help support the family. The family returned to Wardley where he worked as a miner.
During the Great War he enlisted with his mate "Titch", into 175 Tunnelling Company on 9 June 1915 when he was 44 years old. Joe was sent straight to France, to Ploegsteert Wood (Plug Street), on the Western Front. Titch was sent to Armentieres. They met up again at Bray, on 25 July, being with the first British troops to arrive in the town. They were then sent to relieve the French troops at the Somme and took part in the advance on 1 July 1917. (click thumbnail above to enlarge)
After the War Joe and Titch returned to their jobs in Wardley Colliery. Joe died in 1944, aged 73, and is buried in Heworth Cemetery.

Joe's WW1 Campaign Medals

The above medals are known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred after characters in a comic strip which first appeared in the "DAILY MIRROR" newspaper on the 12th of May 1919.  The naming of the characters in the strip is due to Payne's wartime batman who for unknown reasons was known as "Pip-Squeak"
Pip was a dog, Squeak a penguin and Wilfred who did not appear until later in the series was a rabbit. Pip and Squeak were portrayed as being Wilfred's parents.
The comic strip was extremely popular and became a craze in the 20's. The issue of the medals coincided with the start of this craze and they soon became known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

From left to right
PIP.  1914 Star and 1914-15 Star.
There were two medals which took the form of a bronze star with a central scroll bearing either Aug - Nov 1914 or 1914 - 15. The 1914 Star was issued to members of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) who had served in France and Belgium during the period 5th August 1914 and 22nd November 1914. The majority issued were to members of the Regular and Territorial Army but some naval personnel serving ashore were eligible as were a very small number of Australian and Canadian personnel. This medal became known as the "Mons Star"
SQUEAK.  British War Medal 1914 - 1920
This medal takes the form of a solid silver medal with an image of a mounted figure of St George trampling the shield of the central powers with the dates 1914 and 1918 thereon. The reverse has the coinage head of George V. The qualification for the award was service within the three armed services or within any Commonwealth or Imperial unit or within certain recognised voluntary organisations. No bars were issued and applied to all theatres of war and certain categories of service within England. The award is usually found with the Victory medal but was awarded singly
WILFRED.  Victory Medal 1914 - 1918
It was decided amongst the Allies that a common theme would be adopted and that each country would produce a medal to commemorate the Victory. This medal took various forms according to the country, but a common item was the rainbow coloured ribbon. The British medal shows the winged victory on the front holding a palm branch with the words "The Great War for Civilisation" on the reverse. The British medal was produced in bronze and was awarded to those who had received the 1914 or 1914-15 Star and to most of those who received the War Medal and could not be awarded alone. The main qualification was those having any service in a war theatre but various civilians in recognised voluntary organisations received the award. Those mentioned in dispatches also wore a bronze oak leaf upon the ribbon.
(My wife's Grandfather was a sergeant in the Connaught Rangers . He fought at Gallipoli and was mentioned in dispatches and subsequently bore the oak leaf on his Victory Medal.......Bill Hartmann)