John Holman (British Army officer)

The son of a colonial policeman,[1] Holman was born at Calcutta in what was then British India. He was educated in England at Tonbridge School from 1951 to 1956.[2] From Tonbridge he studied at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating into the Royal West Kent Regiment as a second lieutenant in August 1958.[3] Holman first saw action in Cyprus against EOKA during the Cyprus Emergency in 1959.[1] He was promoted to lieutenant in August 1960.[4] Holman played first-class cricket for the Combined Services cricket team. He made his debut against Cambridge University at Fenner's in 1962, before making a second appearance against the same opposition at Uxbridge.[5] A right-handed batsman, he scored 39 runs in these matches, with a highest score of 17.[6] In August 1964, he was promoted to the rank of captain.[7] After 1966, the Royal West Kent Regiment was amalgamated into The Queen's Regiment, which Holman continued to serve in. He served in Borneo during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.[1]

Holman was promoted to major in January 1971,[8] and lieutenant colonel in June 1977.[9] He served as the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion (Queen's Surreys) in Northern Ireland,[1] for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 New Year Honours.[10][1] He was appointed as deputy colonel of The Queen's Regiment in January 1984.[11] In June of the same year, he was promoted to colonel.[12] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1987 New Year Honours.[13] His tenure as deputy colonel of The Queen's Regiment expired in January 1989, with Colonel Richard Harold Graham replacing him.[14] He was promoted to brigadier in December 1989, with seniority from June 1989.[15] As a brigadier he commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Shorncliffe,[1] as well as held the post of deputy constable of Dover Castle in 1989.[16][17] Holman retired from military service in April 1993, at which point he was appointed to the Reserve of Officers.[18]

Holman served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent in 1996.[19] Later in his life he was the chairman of the Hythe Festival and the Hythe Civic Society.[20] He successfully underwent treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, but after a prolonged period of remission the disease returned, with Holman succumbing to the disease on 7 October 2011.[20][21] He was buried at the Shorncliffe Military Cemetery.[21] Following his death, a strip of parkland in Hythe running alongside the Royal Military Canal was renamed Holman's Field in his honour.[16]

• John Holman at ESPNcricinfo