# Dick Howe

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For other people named Richard Howe, see [Richard Howe (disambiguation)](/source/Richard_Howe_(disambiguation)).

Captain **Richard Herbert Howe** (21 June 1912 – c. 1 June 1981) was a British army officer during World War II.[1][2] He was captured by the Germans in 1940 and eventually held in [Oflag IV-C](/source/Oflag_IV-C), at [Colditz Castle](/source/Colditz_Castle), where he served as Escape Officer from 1942 to 1945.[1] He organised many escapes including eight successful *home runs* of British officers.[1]

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'.[3]

## Life

Richard Herbert Howe was born on 21 June 1912 in [Brazil](/source/Brazil), the son of Charles Herbert Howe and Ethyl Jeannie Maud Howe (née Nichols).[4] He was educated at [Bedford Modern School](/source/Bedford_Modern_School) between 1920 and 1930.[1][5]

Howe served as a lance corporal on the [Officers' Training Corps](/source/Officers'_Training_Corps) at [Bedford](/source/Bedford) and was commissioned as a [second lieutenant](/source/Second_lieutenant#United_Kingdom_and_Commonwealth) in the [Royal Tank Corps](/source/Royal_Tank_Corps) on 13 May 1933.[6] After a short period of time with the Royal Tank Corps, he worked in radio manufacturing for [Kolster-Brandes Limited](/source/Kolster-Brandes), [A.C. Cossor Limited](/source/A.C._Cossor) and Truphonic Radio Limited.[7] At the outbreak of [World War II](/source/World_War_II) he rejoined the 3rd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment.[7]

In 1940, Howe was serving in the [British Expeditionary Force](/source/British_Expeditionary_Force_(World_War_II)), as a [lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)), and temporary [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)), in the [3rd Royal Tank Regiment](/source/3rd_Royal_Tank_Regiment), when he was awarded the [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross) while defending troops evacuating [Calais](/source/Calais).[1][8][9]

After being captured following the [Siege of Calais](/source/Siege_of_Calais_(1940)), he was imprisoned at [Oflag VII-C](/source/Oflag_VII-C) at [Laufen](/source/Laufen,_Germany). 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](/source/Pat_Reid), Anthony "Peter" Allan and [Kenneth Lockwood](/source/Kenneth_Lockwood) — were then sent to Colditz.[10] 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.[1]

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](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) in June 1946.[11] Howe died in hospital in [Tunbridge Wells, Kent](/source/Royal_Tunbridge_Wells) in 1981.[1]

## References

1. Obituary in *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*, *Captain Richard Howe*, 4 June 1981, p.16

1. Obituary in *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*, Thursday, June 4, 1981, p. 16

1. *The Eagle*, The Magazine of [Bedford Modern School](/source/Bedford_Modern_School), Volume 40 (80), 1980–81, Number 291, p.324

1. ["Ancestry™ – Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records"](http://www.ancestry.co.uk)

1. ["Bedford Modern School Memorials"](http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/BedfordModernSchoolMemorials.html). *Roll of Honour*. 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2014.

1. No. 33939. 12 May 1933. p. 3205.

1. Eggers, Reinhold (30 September 2014). [*Escape from Colditz*](https://books.google.com/books?id=c25uBAAAQBAJ&q=captain+dick+howe+colditz&pg=PT59). ISBN 9780719816345.

1. ["Recommendation for Award for Howe, Richard Herbert"](http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7356394). *The National Archives*. 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.

1. No. 15725. 16 July 1940. pp. 447–449.

1. ["The Laufen Six"](http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/O4C/PicOf_4C_LaufenSix.htm). *Pegasus Archive*. 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2014.

1. No. 37595. 4 June 1946. p. 2736.

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