7 FLANKER Richard Henry Waterhouse CBE,DFC, AFC and Silver Star (U.S.A) – A MUCH-DECORATED FLYER

Richard Henry Waterhouse was born in Whitburn in 1914 and died in West Sussex in 1995. He played for the club as a flanker in the early 1930s. His father was an engineer who died in 1920. His mother was the sister of SRFC, Durham, Barbarian and England back Norman Cox. Richard was educated at Tunstall School and Loretto College. At Loretto he was described as ‘a hard working forward’. In 1921 he was living with his mother and the Cox family in St George’s Square. He joined the RAF as a pilot office in the 1930s and went on to become highly decorated. During the early years of the war, he was in Canada training air crews and was awarded an AFC for his work. He moved through the ranks from wing commander to group captain. As station commander at the age of 29 he led bombing raids  on ‘Emden, Duisburg, Lorient, Cologne, Wilhelmshaven and St Nazaire’. For his leadership qualities he was awarded the DFC in 1943. The headline in the Echo was ‘Rugby Player’s Decoration’. In the same year the president of the U.S.A. gave him a silver star. He married while in Canada. He died in Chichester age 81. He was the cousin of the rugby playing Cox brothers.

Google his full name for further detail ( especially on his work in Canada).