Arthur Herbert Lindsay Richardson

Arthur Herbert Lindsay Richardson VC (23 September 1872 – 15 December 1932) was an English-born Canadian soldier and police officer who became the first member of a Canadian unit to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Born in Southport, Lancashire, he abandoned a dental apprenticeship in Liverpool and emigrated to Canada in 1891. He worked on a ranch in Manitoba before enlisting in the North-West Mounted Police on 7 May 1894 under Regimental Number 3058. Posted to Battleford, Saskatchewan, he patrolled the western frontiers until war broke out in South Africa.

When the Second Boer War began, Richardson obtained leave from the police force and enlisted in Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) on 4 February 1900 as a Sergeant under Regimental Number 182. His unit sailed for Africa in March 1900 to carry out scouting operations for Imperial forces. On 5 July 1900, his detachment came under heavy fire near Standerton.

His award of the Victoria Cross was published in The London Gazette on 14 September 1900 with the following citation:

"On the 5th July, 1900, at Wolve Spruit, about 15 miles north of Standerton, a party of Lord Strathcona's Corps, only 38 in number, came into contact, and was engaged at close quarters, with a force of 80 of the enemy. When the order to retire had been given, Sergeant Richardson rode back under a very heavy cross-fire and picked up a trooper whose horse had been shot and who was wounded in two places and rode with him out of fire. At the time when this act of gallantry was performed, Sergeant Richardson was within 300 yards of the enemy, and was himself riding a wounded horse."

Richardson returned to Canada in March 1901 after his regiment was disbanded and rejoined the North-West Mounted Police. He traveled to London in 1902, where King Edward VII presented him with the Victoria Cross and the King Edward VII Coronation Medal at St James's Palace. Back in Canada, he rose through the police ranks to Corporal, Sergeant, and Sergeant-Major. Declining health forced him to get his discharge in November 1907. After the death of his wife, Florence, he returned to England and took a job as a track-layer for Liverpool Corporation Tramways, living quietly.

An imposter named Arthur Richardson, formerly a corporal in the Gordon Highlanders, spent several years posing as the Victoria Cross recipient. When the imposter died, local authorities arranged a funeral with military honors. The real recipient was discovered walking in the funeral cortège. The incident brought Richardson brief public attention in his late fifties, leading to invitations to royal functions. He lived in Liverpool until his death on 15 December 1932. He was buried in Plot 57679 at St James's Cemetery and his Victoria Cross is held by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.