Tuesday, 7 January 2014

1914 England rugby team pose for photo before being calledto fight in First ...


  • Lives of every Rugby Union player who perished in WWI to be honoured


  • Includes flanker who died at the Somme and forward in Zeebrugge Raid

  • Screenwriter Nigel McCrery spent two years researching the men

  • Found over 140 players from nine teams died in the war by combing archives

  • Next year marks 100-year anniversary of the Great War, which killed millions


By

Lizzie Edmonds



PUBLISHED:


13:35, 30 December 2013


|
UPDATED:


12:21, 31 December 2013




Proudly wearing their pristine white kits bearing the red rose, the England rugby union team pose for a photograph before a match against their arch-rivals Scotland in March 2014.


They won the crunch international 16-15 and a month later defeated France to clinch a Grand Slam in the Five Nations Championship.


But after playing for their country, five of this team would go on to die for it – slaughtered in the Great War.


Now their tragic stories have been pieced together in a book commemorating the lives and deaths of every rugby union international killed in the 1914-18 conflict.


Team: Back row, left to right: Alfred Maynard, Arthur Dingle, Bungy Watson, Cyril Lowe, Sidney Smart, G Ward, Joseph Brunton, JE Greenwood. Front row, left to right: William Johnston, Cherry Pillman, HC Harrison, Ronald Poulton-Palmer, Bruno Brown, Francis Oakeley, WJA


Team: Back row, left to right: Alfred Maynard, Arthur Dingle, Bungy Watson, Cyril Lowe, Sidney Smart, G Ward, Joseph Brunton, JE Greenwood. Front row, left to right: William Johnston, Cherry Pillman, HC Harrison, Ronald Poulton-Palmer, Bruno Brown, Francis Oakeley, WJA ‘Dave’ Davies



In action: England


In action: England’s Francis Oakeley (centre) tries to break down the wing, with support from teammates Alfred Maynard (left), Sidney Smart (second right) and Ronald Poulton-Palmer (right)


The project has been undertaken by

rugby fan Nigel McCrery, the screenwriter who created the BBC television

series Silent Witness and New Tricks.


He

spent two years combing sporting and military records to identify

players who fought in the ‘war to end all wars’, which left almost

908,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers dead.


1914 ENGLAND TEAM: THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AND WHERE



Lt Alfred Frederick Maynard: Hooker. Died on the first day of Battle of Ancre 1916, having survived being shot in Gallipoli.


Captain Arthur James Dingle: Wing. Killed during disastrous second attack at Scimitar Hill 1915. His body was never found.


Surgeon James Henry-Digby ‘Bungy’ Watson: Centre. Died when the HMS
Hawke was sunk by a German submarine in 1914. 500 men perished in attack.


Lt Ronald Poulton­-Palmer: Captain. Died on the Western Front, close to Belgium border in 1914. Reportedly said he would ‘never play at Twickenham again’ as he died.


Lieutenant Francis Eckley Oakeley: Scrum half. Died on HMS D2 submarine when the vessel was rammed and sunk in 1914.


Some fought at sea or in the air, but many experienced the horror and bloodshed of the trenches on the Western Front.


Mr

McCrery found 140 players from nine teams who died in battlefield. Most

were from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or

South Africa but some represented France and the USA.


Of

the 15 England players pictured in this poignant photograph taken

before the Calcutta Cup game against Scotland at Inverleith, north of

Edinburgh, a third did not survive the war.


The

skipper, Lieutenant Ronald Poulton-Palmer, led an unbeaten side in the

two season’s before the outbreak of war in August 1914.


In

the last Test match – a 39-13 victory over France in April 1914 – the

centre scored four tries. He was hailed one of the greatest players in

the world.


He was killed by a

sniper close to the Belgian border in 1915, five weeks after arriving

on the Western Front. It was reported that his last words were, ‘I shall

never play at Twickenham again’.


Surgeon James ‘Bungy’ Watson, who played centre, served with the Royal Navy on HMS Hawke.


In

September 1914, the warship was blown up by a German submarine while on

patrol. She sank in eight minutes, with the loss of  500 men.


Captain

Arthur ‘Mud’ Dingle, a flying winger, died during a disastrous attempt

to capture Scimitar Hill, an offensive during the Battle of Gallipoli,

in August 1915. His body was never found.


Lieutenant

Alfred Maynard, who played in the scrum at hooker, died on the first

day of the Battle of the Ancre in France in November 1916, the final

large British attack of the bloody Battle of the Somme. He had earlier

survived being shot in the leg at Gallipoli.


Fallen:
Lt Ronald Poulton-Palmer. Died on the Western Front near to the Belgium border in 1914


Fallen: ‘Bungy’ Watson (left) who was one of 500 who died when the HMS Hawke was sunk in 1914. Lt Ronald Poulton-Palmer. Died on the Western Front near to the Belgium border in 1914



Lieutenant Francis Eckley Oakeley. Died on HMS D2 submarine 1914 when it went missing in action
Lt Alfred Frederick Maynard.Died Battle of Ancre 1916


Lieutenant Francis Eckley Oakeley (left) who died on HMS D2 submarine 1914. Lt Alfred Frederick Maynard who died Battle of Ancre 1916



And Lieutenant Francis Oakeley, the scrum half, died on HMS D2, a submarine which was sunk by a German warship in 1914.


Brave: Captain Arthur James Dingle. Died Battle of Scimitar Hill 1915


Brave: Captain Arthur James Dingle. Died Battle of Scimitar Hill 1915



Other

England rugby internationals killed included burly forward Lieutenant

Commander Arthur Harrison, a serving naval officer who played against

Ireland and France that season.


He fought in the sea battles of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 and at Jutland in 1916.


He

died heroically in 1918 taking part in a raid on Zeebrugge, an

audacious mission by the Royal Navy to blockade the German-held port.


He

was killed leading a landing party against heavily-defended enemy

positions, for which he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.


Captain

Robert Pillman played in the France match, replacing his brother,

Charles, who had broken his leg in the previous game against Scotland.


The

flanker was killed in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, on the

parapet of a German trench, while trying to bring his men back from a

night raid.


Mr McCrery

discovered that some players died of disease, while others, traumatised

by the conflict, committed suicide. Others survived the conflict went on

to fight in the Second World War.


He said: ‘I have a real interest in the Great War and Rugby Union – both inherited from my father.


‘I think it would be a tragedy if, after 100 years, these great men are forgotten.


Killed:


Killed: ‘Bungy’ Watson was posted to HMS Hawke (pictured). In September 1914 the ship was blown up and sunk in eight minutes by a German submarine, killing 500


‘These

men tell the story of the war. They fought and died in every service

and in every country. We can use their stories to remember the

sacrifices that were made.


‘It’s

about not forgetting them. As time goes on it’s easy to forget the

sacrifice they made on our behalf. You do not have to believe in war to

appreciate sacrifice.


‘I

want people who read the book to realise the effects of war. These were

exceptional people – not only great players, but intelligent men and

members of the community who were tragically lost.’


The

book covers the history of international rugby up to the First World

War and includes biographies of each player killed, with how and where

they died and photographs.


* Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed In The War will be published by Pen and Sword in January.


















Comments (112)


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MadMItch,


Portrush,


1 week ago


My son and i did the Western Front from Ypres to Verdun on our motorbikes last May. One of the places we stopped to visit was the Ploegsteert memorial near Ypres since my Great Uncle’s name was on this memorial. He was Bertie Mee and would have been the Uncle of Bertie Mee the Arsenal manager.

Opposite the memorial is a small graveyard to the Berkshire regiment. Poulton Palmer is buried in this cemetery. He was only visiting the trenches and on, i think the second, day was shot in the head by a German Sniper.

My great uncle was killed on the second day of the 1st battle of Ypres. Such bad luck in both cases.





Colin McKinnon,


Melbourne, Australia,


1 week ago


In fact, six players from each team were to die during the First World War. A seventh player for Scotland survived the war only to perish during World War Two. Arthur Harrison, hero of Zeebrugge, was not playing. He gained his first cap the previous month at Twickenham, where England defeated Ireland. His second and final cap was won in April 1914 in Paris, where England claimed a resounding victory. The Harrison in this England team, pictured in Edinburgh, was Harold Cecil Harrison, who won four caps ahead of the war. Although unrelated to the jutting-jawed Arthur Harrison VC, Harold was also a famous warrior, known in the army as “Tiny” and by seamen as “Dreadnought”. He was awarded a DSO in 1916. He survived the war and was awarded a CB in 1939.


Yes, they were all brave men.


London Scottish rugby club probably suffered more than most. On the final Saturday of the 1914 season 60 players took the field in four teams. Of those gallant men, only 15 survived the carnage to come.





RABIGYIN,


EDINBURGH,


1 week ago


No doubt, if you wanted to, you could trawl through so many sporting teams of 1914 and see how many were left after the Great War. Picking out the England rugby team reduces the way manr Scots, Welsh Irish sportsmen were also killed in action.





Tiger_Rider,


Utopia, Antarctica,


6 days ago


Oh shut up you plonker. This in no way reduces anything at all. Maybe it’s just because the RFU have found some pictures?






Ginistera,


Bedlam, Vatican,


1 week ago


Great article. Heartbreaking story. Good stuff, DM. Very thought provoking. Made me count my blessings…. More of the same, please! Happy New Year, one and all!





paulc,


gloster,


1 week ago


all very slim compared to today’s bulked up musclemen…





g55rumpy,


Toledo USA, United States,


1 week ago


pity their sacrifice was wasted with the treaty of versilles





Lachlan,


Oman,


1 week ago


My favourite football team, Heart of Midlothian, had individual players volunteer in the Autumn of 1914, but the nearly all players of the first and reserve teams volunteered en-masse in December 1914. Most joined a newly raised Kitchener battalion, 16th Royal Scots (McCrae’s Battalion, aka 2nd Edinburgh City Battalion). It was brigaded into 34th Division and saw its first major action attacking La Boisselle/Contalmaison on the first day of the Somme, 1st July 1916. Three Hearts players were killed that first day. By war’s end, seven Hearts players had been killed and six more players could not return at all to football having been too badly maimed or gassed.





maico,


london,


1 week ago


Around 10 million men on all sides where KIA in WW1, not 70 million as stated in the article. The UK military death toll was 870,000 which was just over 2% of the population at the time.





melaniejmathias,


La Linea, Spain,


1 week ago


This was when soldiers were real heroes.


2 of 3 repliesSee all replies





Robert Armstrong,


Singapore, United Kingdom,


1 week ago


Most unfortunate comment – not thought out ! Regretfully, every person who dies or every who serves is not automatically a hero. The men and women serving now are the same in many ways as those of the Great War, with the same failings and same attributes. The word hero is debased with so many nonentities being considered a hero for no apparent reason other than being in the news.






Ginistera,


Bedlam, Vatican,


1 week ago


ALL our soldiers are and were ‘real heroes’, Melanie.





Eoj,


Various, United Kingdom,


1 week ago


Would be interesting to see how the would do against modern-day players





expat.chris,


Bahrain,


1 week ago


Would be interesting to see how the modern day players kicked a “real” rugby ball made of leather when it was sodden wet and carrying half the field. Not too many conversions from the half way line, either then or certainly not now.



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Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/25310864


1914 England rugby team pose for photo before being calledto fight in First ...
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