Into Touch Rugby Internationals killed in the Great War by Nigel McCrery.
This offers a poignant snapshot of a lost generation.
We learn about the 130 amateur rugby players of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales plus those of France, United States of America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand who played with distinction on the rugby field and died with valour on the battle field.
The poignancy is in seeing a picture of each of the players caught in time, a time passed, from another era and then reading a description of their playing career and how they died in the First World War.
Amongst the stories we read about Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Roberts Mobbs DS0 7th Northamptonshire Regiment who died on July 31 1917.
We learn how Edgar Mobbs died at the age of 35-years-old.
In 1903 he played for Olney, Weston Turks and Northampton Heathens before joining Northampton.
He was club captain between 1907 – 1913, scoring 177 tries and was won seven caps for England between 1909 and 1910.
Mobbs tried to enlist in August 1914 but was turned down by The Army for being too old.
To fight in the war, Mobbs formed his own company known as the ‘Sportsmen’ or ‘Mobbs Own’.
His bravery shone through as he was wounded three times before he was wounded again at Messines in June 1917.
Within three weeks he was back with his battalion.
Mobbs was killed in action during the battle of Passchendale.
There is also the story of the captain of the 1905 All Blacks (The Originals) Dave Gallaher who died aged 43.
Gallaher is an important figure in New Zealand rugby as his 1905 team captures the heart and soul of what it means to be an All Black.
They were the first All Blacks team to tour Great Britain and France.
The exploits of the ‘Originals’ have gone down in rugby legend.
Despite being exempt from conscription, Gallaher still enlisted by taking three years off his age to become a corporal in the 2nd Battalion Auckland Infantry Regiment
He was promoted to sergeant and then company sergeant major.
On October 4, 1917, Gallaher was wounded in the head by a piece of shrapnel and died later the same day.
The book is crammed with gems such as finding out John Buchan dedicated his book The Thirty Nine Steps to Captain Thomas Arthur Nelson, 1st Lothians and Border Horse who died on April 9, 1917.
Nelson played for Scotland once in 1898, winning his cap in a 3-3 draw against England at Powderhall in Edinburgh.
There is the tale of Lieutenant James Laidlaw Huggan, Royal Army Medical Corps, attd 3rd Bn Coldstream Guards who died trying to rescue 60 wounded German soldiers.
Huggan won one cap for Scotland against England in 1914.
And The Reverend Rupert Edward Inglis, Royal Army Chaplains Department died aged 53-years-old on 18, September 1916.
On the day he died he was helping to bring wounded soldiers in from no man’s land and was hit by shrapnel.
While his wound was being dressed, a shell fell close by killing him.
Inglis won three caps for England in 1886.
We are left with heart warming and heart breaking stories of men gone but like countless others not forgotten.
Into Touch Rugby Internationals killed in the Great War by Nigel McCrery is published by Pen Sword Book Ltd and costs £25.
All the royalties from this book are being donated by its author Nigel McCrery to Help for Heroes.
Article source: http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/latest/denton-signs-contract-extension-with-edinburgh-rugby-1-3239374
Rugby Union"s lost heroes who died in the First World War
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