Colonel Dick Flower, former County Commandant Norfolk ACF
Past President The Rotary Club of Holt and District
died on 25 October 2000 aged 85

Col Dick Flower outside The Regimental Tent at The Royal Norfolk Show Jun 00

Click photograph to enlarge

Colonel William Digby Flower TD DL aged 85 on 25 Oct 2000. A relation of Lord Baden Powell, Dick was born on 11 Mar 1915 in London into a family with a military tradition. His mother was Winifred, nee Pigott. At the age of two his father, Lt Col Victor Augustine Flower, 22nd London Regt Queen`s, was killed at Ypres.
Commissioned 67554 in May 1936 in The Queen`s Royal Regt (West Surrey) he was called up in Aug 39 as a Captain and in Feb 1940 appointed Commandant Haslemere Staging Area. Appointments as Staff Captain Q and A followed in the Home Counties, Kent, North Kent, Surrey and North Sussex Areas.
After promotion to Major he embarked for NW Europe in Jul 1944 and was made Coy Commander 1st Oxf Bucks LI, serving from Normandy to Hamburg.
Mentioned in Despatches at Nimegan on 9 Aug 1945 he was a liberator of both France and The Netherlands.
Invited to return after the war, he was awarded medals, which he declined to wear, but retained a life-long connection with Helmond.
Demobilised in Apr 1946, Dick rejoined the TA, transferring to TARO in Sep 1948 and then to the Active List TA before posting to 284 (EA) (M) HAA Regt RA.

In Jul 1953 came Command of 2 Norfolk Bty. Following transfer to 4 Royal Norfolk in Jun 1955, Dick was appointed 2IC in 1956.
At the Jun 1958 TA Jubilee HM The Queen held a Review of the TA in Hyde Park. Dick commanded the party of three officers and 20 ORs; the Colours being carried by Mike Cadge and the late David Standley.
In 1959 came promotion to Lt Col and Command of 4 R Norfolk in succession to Lt Col Nigel Read. The 2IC was the late Sam Hornor, RQMS Fred Ayers, OC Support Coy Paul Raywood, CSM Support Coy the late Gilly Banthorpe and CSM HQ Coy Alex Barr.
On 9 Apr 1961 a ceremony took place at Britannia Barracks to mark the formal return of the Barracks to The Royal Norfolk Regt. HM Lord Lieutenant for Norfolk, Sir Edmund Bacon, handed over a set of keys in a presentation case to Dick as CO 4 R Norfolk.
Command of the Bn was handed over in Jan 62 to Lt Col Adrian Robertson.
While Commandant Norfolk Army Cadet Force 1972-1976, at Bodney Camp on STANTA the cadets re-badged to ROYAL ANGLIAN and the last links of the cap badge with Britannia were severed. To mark the occasion a Norfolk Britannia Badge was ceremoniously interred.
Dick was a regular visitor to Annual Camp and training when he was Deputy Honorary Colonel of A (Royal Norfolk) Coy, 6 (V) Bn The Royal Anglian Regt, successors to the 4th Royal Norfolk TA Bn which he had commanded. Dick was appointed DL and for his lengthy TA service awarded the Territorial Efficiency Decoration (TD) and 3 clasps.
It was only in recent years he felt unable to make the journey to Bury St Edmunds to the Annual Dinner of the 6 Royal Anglian Officers' Dinner Club but maintained a keen interest.
Articled to Trevor Bent he qualified as a solicitor in 1949 and practised in Sheringham with Hansell Stevenson.
On 23 Aug 1952 he married Mary Wotherspoon and had one son, Allan Digby.
Outside the Army, Dick had a variety of interests, especially as a Rotarian, and was a Past President of The Rotary Club of Holt and District. He readily took senior appointments and was President of the Norfolk Law Society, a Serving Brother of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, Vice President Norfolk Girl Guides Association, President of Holt Football Club, District Commissioner Norfolk Scouting Association and Chairman of Governors of The Red House School, Buxton.
He and Mary travelled extensively to visit relations in Zambia, South Africa and Canada.
In 1991 Col Dick agreed to be the Founder President of the new Norwich and District Branch of The Royal Norfolk and Royal Anglian Regimental Association. With Mary, Col Dick hosted many summer Garden Parties and Christmas events at their lovely home in Branksome Road.
A funeral service for family only was be held at St Faith's Crematorium on Thu 2 Nov at 1.15 pm. Donations may be made to St John's Ambulance or The Royal Norfolk Regt Museum. An account of the Memorial Service in Norwich Cathedral is below.
Dick is survived by his widow Mary, whom he met in the TA Centre in Norwich, son Allan Digby and grandson Henry.    JLR

The Obituary above also appeared in the
Dec 2000 'Britannia and Castle', the Jan 2001 'Army Cadet' and the 'Castle', the Journal of The Royal Anglian Regiment.

JL Raybould TD
Major

The photograph above, which can be enlarged to full-screen with a left click of the mouse button, was taken by the Norfolk Editor in June 2000 outside the Regimental Tent at the Royal Norfolk Show. Dick, as ever, was wearing his Royal Norfolk tie.

I last saw Col Dick at our Regimental Branch AGM in Norwich on the Sunday before he died. He was re-elected President.

Dick was an officer of The Old School and it was a privilege to have known him. We shared a mutual interest and experience of Rotary as Club Presidents, he of Holt and the Norfolk Editor of Watton, and a close knowledge of Luanshya in Zambia and Durban, Natal, South Africa.

MEMORIAL SERVICE - COL DICK FLOWER
Three most magnificent musical renditions were heard in Norwich Cathedral on Fri 17 Nov 2000 at the Memorial Service conducted by Rev Jonathan Boston, Senior Padre to Norfolk ACF; Last Post and Reveille by Edmund Baker and Rule Britannia by Asst Organist Katherine Dieness. Paul Boxall carried The Norwich and District Branch Standard of The Royal Norfolk and Royal Anglian Regimental Association. To accompany the obituary above this is the final part of the eulogy given by Col Paul Raywood at the Memorial Service: 'I remember Dick at one TA Camp when we spent an uncomfortable night on Dartmoor during a Training Exercise. This ended as the sun rose, breaking through the gloom and outlining an immensely tall figure, magnified by the fog. This turned out to be my CO, checking we had survived the night and were all in good order. In later years I was to see this immensely tall, long-legged and slender man walking around the Newmarket Road area of Norwich with an immensely short-legged stout dog on a lead. These are my visual memories. The man I knew was of high integrity; a man dedicated to serving and helping others, a quiet man, a man who did not get rattled; a most generous man and not only with his time. He was a devout traditional Anglican who lived his religion through his high sense of service to others and the gentleness of his way of life. We shall remember him with gratitude and affection.'

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