Dick Howe
Richard Herbert Howe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 21 June 1912 Arecife, Brazil |
| Died | 1 June 1981 (aged 68)[1] |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
Branch |  British Army |
Rank | Captain |
Conflicts | World War II |
| Awards | |
Captain Richard Herbert Howe MBE, MC (21 June 1912 – 21 June 1981) was a British army officer during World War II.[2]<[3] He was captured by the Germans in 1940 and eventually held in Oflag IV-C, at Colditz Castle, where he served as Escape Officer from 1942 to 1945.[2] He organised many escapes including eight successful home runs of British officers.[2]
Lt. Col. Moran of the Colditz Association described him as 'an outstanding chap, the soul of Colditz. In a crisis he was the most calm individual and he had enormous reserves of will power'.[4]
Life
[edit]Richard Herbert Howe was born on 21 June 1912 in Brazil, the son of Charles Herbert Howe and Ethyl Jeannie Maud Howe (née Nichols).[5] He was educated at Bedford Modern School between 1920 and 1930.[2][6]
Howe served as a lance corporal on the Officers' Training Corps at Bedford and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Tank Corps on 13 May 1933.[7] After a short period of time with the Royal Tank Corps, he worked in radio manufacturing for Kolster-Brandes Limited, A.C. Cossor Limited and Truphonic Radio Limited.[8] At the outbreak of World War II he rejoined the 3rd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment.[8]
In 1940, Howe was serving in the British Expeditionary Force, as a lieutenant, and temporary captain, in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, when he was awarded the Military Cross while defending troops evacuating Calais.[2][9][10]
After being captured following the Siege of Calais, he was imprisoned at Oflag VII-C at Laufen. Howe was one of six British officers who escaped, but were eventually recaptured. Howe and the rest of the "Laufen Six" — Harry Elliott, Rupert Barry (later Sir Rupert Barry), Pat Reid, Anthony "Peter" Allan and Kenneth Lockwood — were then sent to Colditz.[11] Howe later replaced Reid as Escape Officer, co-ordinating all escape plans, after Reid himself escaped in October 1942. He organised many escapes including eight successful home runs of British officers.[2]
Howe remained a prisoner until the end of the war, but his efforts were recognized by being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in June 1946.[12] Howe died in hospital in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in 1981.[2]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Deaths: Howe". The Daily Telegraph. 5 June 1981. p. 32 – via newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Captain Richard Howe". The Times. 4 June 1981. p. 16.
- ↑ "Obituary Capt. Dick Howe". The Daily Telegraph. 4 June 1981. p. 16 – via newspapers.com.
- ↑ The Eagle, The Magazine of Bedford Modern School, Volume 40 (80), 1980–81, Number 291, p.324
- ↑ "Ancestry™ – Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records".
- ↑ "Bedford Modern School Memorials". Roll of Honour. 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "No. 33939". The London Gazette. 12 May 1933. p. 3205.
- 1 2 Eggers, Reinhold (30 September 2014). Escape from Colditz. ISBN 9780719816345.
- ↑ "Recommendation for Award for Howe, Richard Herbert". The National Archives. 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "No. 15725". The Edinburgh Gazette. 16 July 1940. pp. 447–449.
- ↑ "The Laufen Six". Pegasus Archive. 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "No. 37595". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2736.
- Royal Tank Regiment officers
- Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Bedford Modern School
- 1912 births
- 1981 deaths
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British World War II prisoners of war
- Officers' Training Corps cadets