Obituaries during the war, 1943

ALEXANDER, CAPTAIN ROBERT, killed during the summer in the Far East while on active service, aged 32, played cricket for Ireland and was a brilliant heavy-weight Rugby wing forward in the British team that visited South Africa in 1938. He played eleven times for Ireland in Rugby internationals.

BALLANCE, MAJOR TRISTAN GEORGE LANCE, M.C., Durham Light Infantry, was killed in action during December, aged 27, three months after being awarded the M.C. for gallant and distinguished services in North Africa. For Uppingham he bowled slow left-arm effectively during a very successful 1932 season, his 76 wickets costing less than ten runs apiece, and next year he excelled with 54 at 10.35 each, while his batting average was 21. That season Uppingham won ten of eleven matches and were near victory over Free Foresters when time expired. At Shrewsbury, Ballance scored 31 and 26 not out and took 11 wickets for 72, his all-round work helping greatly in a victory by 58 runs. Ballance maintained this form in 1934, when Marlborough, under his encouraging lead, won nine of twelve matches and lost only one. Defeat seemed certain at Rugby, but Ballance took three of the last four wickets which fell for two runs and Uppingham won by four.

Going up to Brasenose, Ballance got his Oxford Blue after taking six wickets for 41 in an innings in the Freshmen's match, but his slow left-hand bowling, delivered from a great height, proved expensive generally. He played little in 1936, but next year regained his place in the side which beat Cambridge at Lord's by seven wickets, though his share in Oxford's first victory since 1931 was slight. Ballance played for Norfolk from 1932. When the Minor Counties competition was won in 1933 he appeared seldom because of ill-health. In 1936 when he took 42 wickets at 8.11 apiece, Norfolk were unbeaten for the third successive season. He batted well next year, averaging 43.14, and in 1939 again headed the bowling averages, though playing little. He was the fourth member of the 1937 Oxford XI killed in the war. See Scott.

BIGGLESTON, LIEUT. D. H., R.A., missing in July 1942 and eventually reported killed in action, was a good wicket-keeper and useful batsman for Tonbridge School Second Eleven. Prominent in club cricket with St. Lawrence, Band of Brothers, Cryptics and Incogniti, he for two years before the war was captain and hon. secretary of the St. Lawrence club. For Kent Second XI he did good service until T. G. Evans replaced him as wicket-keeper.

BOULT, LIEUT. F. CRAWFORD, was the fourth Oxford cricket captain killed in the war. An officer in the Grenadier Guards, he fell in action in Tunisia on May 3. Owing to illness E. K. Scott, the appointed captain, could not play at Lord's in 1941, and Crawford Boult led Oxford in the first University match of this war. A fast bowler with good action, Boult opened the Oxford attack well by dismissing J. R. Bridger and M. R. Holman, but the more experienced Cambridge side won by seven wickets. The best bowler at Harrow in 1938, he took part next season in the first victory gained over Eton since 1908; his share in the Harrow triumph was four wickets for 69 in Eton's first innings.

The other Oxford captains killed in the war were Lieut. G. B. Legge, R.N.V.R. (1926); Flight Lieut. David Frank Walker (1935); Sub Lieut. E. J. R. Dixon, R.N.V.R. (1939). The fate of F. G. H. Chalk, Oxford captain in 1934, reported missing, remained uncertain. Chalk was Kent captain when war broke out.

BURKE, MAJOR M. A. T., a good cricketer and Rugby football player at St. Paul's School, was killed in action in North Africa in June. In 1938 he averaged 30.54, coming next to N. M. Mischler--perhaps the best Public School batsman of the year. He entered Sandhurst that autumn, and went to France with the West Kent Regiment in September 1939.

CARR, FLIGHT LIEUT. HARRY LASCELLES, died in a London nursing home after an operation on August 12. He and his twin brother, sons of Sir Emsley, played in the Clifton XI from 1924 to 1926. They were also in the Rugby football fifteen. In his third match against Tonbridge at Lord's, Harry Carr played a good forcing innings of 56 on a pitch recovering from rain. A useful wicket-keeper, he appeared occasionally for Glamorgan from 1931 to 1934. He excelled at golf and billiards, representing Cambridge at both these games. A member of the News of the World staff with his father, he joined the R.A.F. and served in the intelligence branch for two and a half years until incapacitated by ill-health.

CARSON, FLIGHT LIEUT. T. H., D.F.C., who was killed on active service early in the year, played cricket with distinction at Charterhouse, for Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Sussex Martlets.

CAZALET, COLONEL VICTOR ALEXANDER, M.P., who was killed near Gibraltar on July 5 in the aeroplane accident with General Sikorski, Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of Poland, held a high place among games players. For the Eton XI of 1915 he averaged 27.37 in the first war-time season and was described as "a determined player." The principal match that year was at Winchester, where the home side fell for 24 runs, C. J. Hambro taking seven wickets for 6; the highest score was 4 and extras numbered 9. Cazalet went in first for the visitors and made 11; Eton won the match, limited to one day, by 74 runs on the first innings. He played for Oxford at tennis, lawn tennis and racquets, and excelled at "squash," winning the amateur championship four times. In 1927 he was a member of the English team which won the international squash racquets trophy.

CHOLMONDELEY, LIEUT. HENRY PAKENHAM GRENVILLE, Grenadier Guards, aged 20, killed in action in November. played for Harrow in 1941 and 1942, and was Head Boy of the School during that period. A good right-handed batsman, he seldom bowled, but in the 1941 match at Eton he caused something of a sensation by taking four wickets for nine runs with left-arm spinners. Patsy Hendren, former Middlesex and England cricketer, coach at Harrow, described Cholmondeley as a very fine first slip. "He made one of the best catches I have ever seen when he dismissed G. O. Allen in an M.C.C. match at Harrow," said Hendren.

CLARKE, LIEUT. WILLWARD ALEXANDER SANDYS, of the Loyal Regiment, North Lancashire, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, showed skill in all games at Uppingham. A useful bowler, he was in the School Second XI, and in 1935 took part at Lord's in two "under sixteen" games. He played scrum half for the Uppingham first fifteen and was in the school Fives team. A splendid soldier, he fell gloriously on St. George's Day, April 23, at Guiriat El Atach. After skilfully leading his platoon, he personally put guns out of action and though wounded, he advanced alone to within a few feet of the enemy before being killed. His grandfather, Colonel Sandys, was cousin of Field-Marshal Lord Roberts and General Sir W. M. Congreve, both of whom won the V.C., as also did their sons--a wonderful record of five V.C.s in one family.

COWLEY, LIEUT. J. L., killed in action while serving with the King's Royal Rifle Corps in May, aged nearly 21, played at Lord's in 1939, when Harrow defeated Eton for the first time since 1908. He took three wickets in the first Eton innings for 26, and two for 28 in the second, the best bowling figures of the match. He was unsuccessful in the 1940 one-day match at Harrow, where Eton won by one wicket. His family has been associated with Harrow School for over 100 years.

CROOK, MR. R., who was killed in the Middle East on February 1 while serving with the New Zealand Forces, played well for Wellington both as batsman and bowler. In 1930 he received the Gilbert Howe Trophy, awarded to the most promising player in senior club ranks.

DAWSON, CAPT. S. O. I., R.A., was killed in action in the Central Mediterranean area on September 9. For three years he was in the Wellington XI finishing captain in 1937. Going up to Hertford College, Oxford, he rowed in the Boat.

EVANS, LIEUT. RICHARD J., who was killed in an air crash at Cape Town on May 29, aged 29, played for Border from 1934 to 1940. A good spin bowler he would probably have been a member of the South African team due to visit England in 1940 but for the war. In 1937-38 in five Currie Cup matches he took 36 wickets at an average cost of 13.11 runs, including eight wickets for 64 run in an innings against Transvaal. A promising batsman, he played a fine inning of 88 against the M.C.C. touring team in January 1939.

FAIRBAIRN, CAPTAIN SYDNEY G., M.C., who died in February while serving with the Grenadier Guards, played cricket for Buckinghamshire, and in the winter of 1912 went to West Indies with a team captained by Mr. A. F. Somerset. During the tour he scored 241 runs, average 21.33, and took a dozen wickets. He was at Gallipoli in the last war with the Royal Bucks Hussars. After recovering from a wound he joined the Grenadiers and won the M.C. He rejoined the Guards in this war and again showed himself a fine officer.

GERRARD, MAJOR RONALD ANDERSON, D.S.O., an exceptionally good all-round athlete, besides being so brilliant a three-quarter that he played in fourteen Rugby internationals for England, was killed in the Middle East on January 22, aged nearly 31. After showing outstanding ability at Taunton School, he played Rugby for Bath and Somerset. Tall and strongly built, he won the Public Schools weight-putting at Stamford Bridge in 1929 and 1930. An opening batsman, he headed the Taunton School averages three times; in 1929 with 38.40, highest innings 130, and next year he did still better with an average of 43.25, his best display being 123. J. H. Cameron was then the school's great bowler. Gerrard was a forcing player, and his hitting against M.C.C. and other visiting teams brought him special distinction. He appeared three times for Somerset in 1935 without showing his form. Lawn tennis, table tennis, and Fives champion, he also played water polo for the school and was a first-class rifle shot. A Royal Engineer, he won the D.S.O. for clearing mines and booby traps during the advance from El Alamein.

GODDARD, SUB LIEUT. F. M. J., R.N.. who died on active service in May, aged 21, played three seasons in the Winchester XI. In 1938 he averaged 27.44, and, after a marked deterioration, his attractive batting "full of strokes and dash" brought runs at exactly 44 runs an innings, while ten wickets at 13.70 each gave him priority among the bowlers. Winchester did not lose a match that summer -1940--thanks largely to their captain, H. A. Pawson, who averaged 108.66 for ten innings with highest score 157 not out, Goddard coming next.

GROVE, LIEUT.-COL. LANCELOT TOWNLEY, R.E., was killed in a plane crash in Newfoundland on February 9. A good opening batsman for Royal Engineers and The Army, he took part in several representative matches at Lord's each season from 1936 to 1938. He played also for Kent Second XI.

HESMONDHAIGH, CAPT. LAWRENCE JOHN, of the Green Howards, died of wounds in July. Captain in 1936, his second season in the Rossall XI, he bowled fast and showed good batting form. He appeared for Yorkshire Colts and represented Cambridge as light-weight boxer against Oxford in 1939.

HINGLEY, FLIGHT SERGT. LANCELOT GEORGE HOWARD, aged 21, younger son of Lieut. Col. S. H. Hingley, of Taunton, was reported missing from air operations in February, and in December officially presumed killed. He stood out in Public School cricket as captain of Rugby in 1940, when he headed both batting and bowling averages; three centuries--175 not out against Malvern, 143 in a hundred minutes against Old Rugbeians, and 105 against an R.A.F. XI--helped him to an average of 74.10. Next season he played for M.C.C. in the Rugby Centenary match. He arrived at the school late, and so did not appear in the photograph reproduced in 1942 Wisden; actually he went to the wicket within six hours of his return from a bombing raid on Dusseldorf. Besides his all-round form for Rugby, he was described as "an inspiring leader." In 1941 he could not play for A Lord's XI against Public Schools owing to an arm wound received during a raid over Essen.

H0SKING, SERGT. G. A., killed in action in February while serving with the Eighth Army in the Middle East, played for Cheshire at cricket, Rugby football and lawn tennis. He was 26 years of age. He represented Rossall at most games, and about four years before the war joined Birkenhead Park Rugby and Cricket clubs. At cricket he was a free-hitting batsman and brilliant cover-point; his highest score in the Minor Counties Championship was 86 against Glamorgan. Besides playing Rugby regularly for Cheshire, he figured in three trial games for England.

HOWLETT, BRIGADIER BERNARD, D.S.O. and Bar, Royal West Kent Regiment, was killed in action in November, aged 44. Educated at St. Edmund's School, Canterbury, he played occasionally for Kent under the residential qualification from 1922, and for The Army. Bowling fast right-hand, he took 46 wickets at 41.50 runs apiece in first-class cricket.

LEARMONTH, CAPT. IAN DOUGLAS, of Frontier Force Rifles, aged 25, a casualty in Libya, was a useful Sedbergh all-rounder from 1932 to 1934, when N. S. Mitchell-Inns captained the Eleven.

LLOYD-PRICE, LIEUT. J. E., killed on active service in East Africa early in the summer, captained the Wellingborough XI in 1940. A good bat, he averaged 23.20, and with his slow bowling took 23 wickets at 14.26; he played at Lord's for Public Schools.

LOVETT, L/A/C A. S., was killed in an accident in America on December 17. Three years a member of the Charterhouse XI, he finished as captain in 1942 when the side were unbeaten. An efficient leader, Lovett averaged 48, with 73 his highest innings, and did useful work with the ball. For The Rest against Lord's Schools he made 50 not out, but for Public Schools against a Lord's XI he was not successful. He showed his form in 1940 by scoring 116 against Harrow, his opening stand with J. G. Larking producing 250 runs in two hours ten minutes. Charterhouse won by 93 runs.

MUSSON, WING COMMANDER ROWLAND GASCOIGNE, killed in August while serving with the Coastal Command, was a good all-round cricketer for Tonbridge School during three seasons, his averages being 30.83, 29.41 and 32.00; his last year's activities were limited to four innings in 1930. Commissioned as an acting pilot in 1933, he served in Egypt and the East for several years, making world record flights. In 1941 he played for R.A.F. at Lord's, Harrogate and Liverpool in Inter-Service matches. Next season in R.A.F. representative matches he captained the North at Blackpool and scored 60 not out, and played at Scarborough, where South won by five wickets after three declarations in a two-day match. Born at Clitheroe, in February 1912, he played for the County Second Xl. and in August 1942 he helped Lancashire beat The Army by four wickets at Aigburth, his 40 being next highest score to K. Cranston's 105 not out.

SCOTT, MAJOR K. B., M.C., was killed in August, aged 28, when serving with the West Kent Regiment. A medium-paced right-hand bowler, he used the in-swinger with effect when at Winchester, particularly in 1934, and also batted well, but at Oxford, where he was Golf captain, he was described as a "surprise selection" for the 1937 eleven which beat Cambridge by seven wickets--the first success for the Dark Blues since 1931. Scott's contribution to the triumph at Lord's was 10 runs. Of that team, Sub. Lieut. E. J. H. Dixon and Sub. Lieut. M.H. Matthews previously lost thier lives in the war, and Major T.G.L Ballance was killed after gaining the M.C. Scott played for Sussex against his University in 1937 and in five Championship matches without ever reproducing his best school form.

SHAW, GUNNER DAVID GORDON, died in North Africa in October, aged 31, after serving three years in the R.H.A. with the Eighth Army in all the heavy engagements up to the occupation of Sicily. Educated at Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, he played in the cricket XI, being a steady bat and always safe in the long field. He Won the School mile and the 100 yards, and was wing-forward in the Rugby XV. After matriculating at London University, with the diploma for Journalism, he became well-known as a free-lance in Fleet Street, and kept the first-class cricket averages for Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency during several years, so contributing to the statistics in Wisden.

STEWART-MACKENZIE OF SEAFORTH, MAJOR THE HON. FRANCIS, second son of the late Lord Midleton was killed in action in September 1943. He served on the Surrey County Cricket Club committee with his father, president in 1923, who died in February, 1942.

THORNE, LIEUT. COL. GORDON CALTHROP, presumed in October to have lost his life at the age of 46 when commanding the 2nd Cambridgeshire Regiment at Singapore, was well known in the cricket world. For Haileybury at Lord's against Cheltenham in 1914 he scored 59 and 64 not out. Next season his best innings was 56 for the College and he again bowled leg-breaks with some success. Appearing for Norfolk in 1914, when only 17, at Fenner's against Cambridgeshire, he shaped well, and when returning to England from service abroad he scored 61 against Surrey 11 at Hunstanton in 1924, helping M. Falcon to add 123. He played a lot of cricket abroad and at home for The Army in representative matches. When at Haileybury he was in the Rugby fifteen.

TITLEY, FLIGHT LIEUT. EDWARD GEORGE, who was killed in July, aged 31, while flying on active service, kept wicket for Uppingham in 1937, and at Cambridge appeared in Freshmen and Seniors matches, but, contemporary with J. T. H. Comber, he did not have a chance of getting into the XI. He played for Free Foresters. At Cambridge he was captain of the Eton Fives team.

VERITY, CAPTAIN HEDLEY, died a prisoner of war in Italy on July 31. See special memoir and statistics.

WALKER, LIEUT. D. F. G., was killed in North Africa early in the year after leaving Magdalen College School he played in freshmen and Seniors matches at Oxford, and for Lincolnshire in 1939.

WATSON, LIEUT.(A) D. J. F., R.N.V.R., killed in a Fleet Air Arm accident in U.S.A., was an inspiring leader, brilliant fielder and batsman for Sedbergh School in 1938, when he topped the batting averages with 51.33. His highest score that season was 114. Going up to Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1939, he played in the Freshmen's match under E. J. H. Dixon, the Oxford University captain, and scored 24 and 9 not out, his side winning by seven wickets. Watson was chosen to play for the University against Leicestershire towards the end of the season, and made 7 and 8 not out. But for the war he most likely would have gained a Blue in 1940.

WHETHERLY, MAJOR ROBIN EVELYN, M.C., First King's Dragoon Guards, who was killed in action in November, aged 27, kept wicket for Harrow in 1835, and nearly got his Blue at Oxford in 1938 after playing in Freshmen and Seniors matches in the previous seasons.

WHITEHOUSE, LIEUT. PETER MICHAEL WILLIAM, of the 13th Frontier Force, I.A., was killed in November, aged 26. For Marlborough from 1933 to 1935 he showed good all-round form, though used mostly for his right-hand medium, pace bowling, his action and length being admirable. He started at Oxford in 1936 with not out scores of 50 and 91 in the only innings he played for the University, but did not get his Blue until 1938, when he made 36 and 26 not out against Cambridge, his second display helping to avoid defeat. He averaged nearly 38, with a top score of 72, and took 21 wickets in this his last season for Oxford, and played a little for Kent without revealing his form.

WILLIAMSON, FLIGHT LIEUT. R. H., aged 28, was reported killed in January, while piloting a night fighter. For Uppingham in 1933, his second season in the XI, he averaged 36, and with his slow left-hand bowling took 32 wickets at 13 runs apiece. A valued member of the Sutton club, he appeared for Club Cricket Conference in 1936 and for Surrey Second XI.

SUPPLEMENTARY DEATHS IN THE WAR, 1942

BAGOT, 2ND LIEUT., killed while serving in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in August, aged 19, played in the Marlborough XI, 1940 and 1941. During his second season Bagot, making 70, helped G. E. S. Woodhouse, 132, in the match against Wellington College, put up 184 for the first wicket, a record opening stand for Marlborough; he did the best bowling in a well varied attack, and Marlborough, after declaring with four men out, won by 163 runs. That season Bagot averaged 26.57 and took 14 wickets at 19.14 each.

GARROW, SUB LIEUT. IAN PETER, D.S.C., R.N.V.R., who, reported missing, was presumed killed in November 1942, played in the Winchester XI, 1937-38. A useful batsman and bowler, with life off the pitch, he scarcely fulfilled expectations.

HADEN, F/O F. S., of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, died on active service during the autumn, 1942. Left-handed as batsman and slow bowler, he did well in Auckland cricket, and in 1942 he captained the first New Zealand Air Force team who played in England.

HARDING, P/O D. R., killed in November on active service, captained the Salesian College, Farnborough, team, and was a leading batsman for Ealing Dean. While training for his commission in South Africa he played for Johannesburg.

MANN, CAPT. ERIC WILLIAM EDWARD, unofficially stated to have died of wounds on May 31, 1942, aged 35, played in the 1925 Harrow XI, making 61, his side's highest score in a match which Eton were fortunate to draw. His father, E. W. Mann, captained Harrow in 1871. and Cambridge, for whom he played 1873 to 1875.