Lieutenant Richard Graham Addis DSC RNVR of H.M.S. Laforey was born in London on the 1st December 1916, the thirteenth of thirteen children of Sir Charles Stewart Addis, K.C.M.G., LL.D., and Lady Addis of Woodside, Frant.

On the 9th December 1941 he married Gill Dearmer in London. The couple had two children; the first died at birth on the 17th of October 1942 and their second, David was born on 10th March 1944.

About the outbreak of the Second World War, Richard joined the Royal Navy. From 20th of October 1939 to 19th of November 1939 he was Probationary Temporary. Sub Lieutenant RNVR at HMS King Alfred for basic training.

From 22nd of August 1940 to 9th of April 1941 he was a Lieutenant with the Mobile Balloon Barrage on HMS Astral, the tender to HMS Wildfire.

In May 1940 he was at Dunkirk and later wrote of his experiences for Blackwoods Magazine. Following the evacuation of Dunkirk, he received a Mention In Dispatches for his work there and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. From the 29th of May 1941 to 6th of January 1942 he served as a Temporary Lieutenant on the

 Flower Class corvette HMS Mignonette. On the 8th of February 1942, he joined HMS Mercury, the RN Signal School where he remained until the 25th of May 1943 when he was posted to HMS Dinosaur to train on landing craft.

Following promotion to full Lieutenant, Richard Addis DSC joined the destroyer HMS Laforey under the command of Captain “Beaky” Armstrong, serving in the Mediterranean.

HMS Laforey had spent most of the war in the Mediterranean and on the 29th of March 1944, in company with five other destroyers set out on an anti submarine sweep north of Palermo.

The same day, the group detected U-223 and attacked it with depth charges.

The following day, after a sustained attack lasting several hours, the u-boat was forced to the surface and was then attacked by gunfire from a range of 1,500 yards.

The submarine was not about to surrender and fired three torpedoes which hit the Laforey. 

The destroyer sank very quickly, taking most of her crew with her , leaving only sixty five survivors. U233 was sunk soon afterwards and survivors of both ships were rescued by the British destroyers. The body of Richard Addis was not found and he is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and on the Frant War Memorial. 

As a footnote, the website www.wartimememoriesproject.com records that in his private life, Richard was a gifted musician and composer, playing the piano and oboe. He also wrote prose and poetry, and wrote a number of published books. He was also an accomplished cook.

Sometime after the death of Richard, Gillian remarried and died in 2005.