Pilot Officer, RAF
Born: August 23rd 1920
Died: April 30th 1941
Age at Death: 20
Killed, April 30th 1941
Richard was born on 23 August 1920 to Malcolm Holman and his wife Doreen of Ferring-by-Sea in Sussex. He went into the insurance industry some time after leaving the College in 1937. Richard served in the RAF during the war, flying the Bristol Beaufighter multiuse aircraft with 219 Squadron, which was tasked with protecting shipping, at RAF Tangmere in Sussex.
We do not know how he died, but can surmise that his plane crashed in England, whether in an accident or because it was damaged or shot down, because he is buried in Tangmere Churchyard. After his death Richard’s mother wrote to the Head Master, saying:
I lost my first husband in the last ‘Great War to end Wars’, or so we were told. What will happen to the young laddies of 4 & 5, in another 20 years? One cannot fail to be bitter and wonder why.
To mark Remembrance in 2023, several members of the Brighton College community visited Tangmere Churchyard, and found Richard’s grave.
