Victory in Europe Day – VE-Day – was the day on which Germany formally and unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on 8 May 1945. This brought World War II to an end throughout Europe.
Eighty years on, Heritage Officer David Griffin looks back at Derbyshire County Cricket Club’s contribution to the war effort.
During World War I, six Derbyshire cricketers and one coach lost their lives. Thankfully, in World War II, no Derbyshire cricketers or officials died while serving their country.
During WWII the county then had an abundance of coal mines and mining and related occupations were absolutely critical for the war effort. Though miners might have wanted to join the armed forces, their work underground was considered too important.
The County Ground, Derby was used by military organisations during the war with searchlights and anti-aircraft guns positioned on the ground to offer some protection to the town. And although no first-class cricket was played between 1939 and 1945, teams representing Derbyshire did play some one-day and two-day matches. Games also took place around the county including at Queen’s Park, Chesterfield.
Here are the details of our cricketers’ much-valued contributions to the Second World War effort.
The players’ ages relate to the end of 1939, shortly after the outbreak of war:
Albert Alderman (32) – Served in Civil Defence and the Home Guard as a warden and stretcher bearer. He had been an ever-present member of the 1936 County Championship-winning side.
Robin Buckston (31) – Invalided out of the Army as a Lieutenant after ill health. He then served as a Captain and Adjutant in the Home Guard. He captained Derbyshire in 71 of his 72 first class matches.
Sam Cadman (62) – Served with the National Fire Service. Cadman was one of Derbyshire’s finest cricketers scoring 14,056 runs and taking 803 wickets and was the architect of the Derbyshire ‘Nursery’ which produced many of the 1936 Champions.
Donald Carr (13) – Joined the Army at the age of 18 in January 1945 as an officer cadet. The war ended in August 1945 before he could see active service. Carr went on to score 14,667 first class runs for Derbyshire and is the only Derbyshire cricketer to captain England in a Test match.
Bill Copson (31) – A former miner, he worked in mining haulage and later munitions. An England Test match fast bowler, in 1936 Copson had taken 140 wickets at the remarkably low average of 12.80 to help Derbyshire to the County Championship title.
George Dawkes (19) – Worked at Armstrong Whitworth before being called up by the RAF. Dawkes played 391 first class matches for Derbyshire completing 875 dismissals behind the wicket.
Charlie Elliott (27) – Although accepted by the Royal Navy, he served in the National Fire Service. Elliott appeared in the 1936 title-winning side and had a long career at Derbyshire serving as President in the 1990s. He became a Test match umpire and Test match selector.
Cliff Gladwin (23) – Working in coal mining and the Home Guard, Gladwin subsequently became one of Derbyshire’s finest fast bowlers taking 1,452 wickets and opening the bowling for England in Test cricket.
Arnold Hamer (23) – Served with the Army in Malta. Joining Derbyshire from Yorkshire, Hamer scored 15,277 first class runs for Derbyshire with 19 hundreds. Only five players have scored more first class runs for the county.
Gilbert Hodgkinson (26) – Served with the Sherwood Foresters as a Captain and then joined the Highland Division. He suffered a severe head wound in France and was in a hospital in Fecamp when it was captured by the Germans. He was treated well by his captors and later repatriated via Sweden in a prisoner exchange in 1943. The 1941 edition of Wisden recorded his death, although fortunately his wife and family had received news that he was missing three months’ earlier. After the war, with the club struggling to find an amateur captain in 1946, he was a good club cricketer who willingly filled the breach, captaining the side 16 times.
Tommy Hounsfield (29) – Served as a Major in the Home Guard. Hounsfield appeared in ten first class games for the county in the two seasons before war broke out.
Les Jackson (18) – Was denied his wish to join the Royal Navy and worked in the coal mines. Jackson became a legendary figure in Derbyshire cricket and remains the leading wicket taker with 1,672. He appeared in two Test matches for England.
Tommy Mitchell (37) – Worked in the coal mines. An enigmatic character, and undoubtedly the leading spin bowler in Derbyshire’s history. His remarkable strike rate of a wicket every 42 balls is not remotely matched by any Derbyshire spin bowler taking more than 100 wickets. Mitchell ended his career with 1,417 first class wickets including 116 in the Championship-winning year of 1936.
Alf Pope (30) – Worked in the coal mines. Brother of George, Alf Pope was a fine pace bowler who took 94 wickets at 17.72 in 1936 as Derbyshire won the County Championship.
George Pope (28) – Served with the Royal Signals but was discharged with a knee injury and then carried out war work. An outstanding pace bowling all-round cricketer, Pope is one of only two Derbyshire players to perform the double scoring 1,152 runs at 38.40 and taking 100 wickets at 17.24, aged 37 in 1948.
Alan Revill (16) – Worked as a colliery electrician before playing 321 first class games for Derbyshire scoring 13,334 runs with 15 hundreds.
Arthur Richardson (32) – Served as a Major in the Royal Artillery. The only man to captain Derbyshire to the County title, in 1936, Richardson was highly regarded by his fellow players throughout the 1930s.
Bert ‘Dusty’ Rhodes (23) – Served with the Royal Artillery as a Lance Bombardier in North Africa and Italy. Albert Ennion Groucutt ‘Dusty’ Rhodes was the father of future Derbyshire and England fast bowler Harold Rhodes. ‘Dusty’ scored 7,195 runs for Derbyshire and took 642 wickets including a county record four hat tricks.
Ken Shearwood (18) – Served in the Royal Navy on destroyers. As the commander of a tank landing craft at Salerno and Anzio in Italy, he was awarded DSC. He played one match for Derbyshire against Gloucestershire at Bristol in 1949 scoring six runs and keeping wicket. His sole dismissal behind the stumps was a stumping.
Denis Smith (32) – War work in munitions. Until the emergence of overseas players alongside players like Kim Barnett and John Morris in the 1980s, Denis Smith was widely regarded as Derbyshire’s greatest batsman. A tall, stylish left-hander, Smith scored 20.516 first class runs for the county – only Barnett has made more – played Test cricket twice for England and appeared in all 28 matches in the County Championship-winning side in 1936.
Arnold Townsend (27) – Served abroad with the RAF as a Leading Aircraftman, and then with the Royal Observer Corps. Brother of the more celebrated Test cricketer Leslie, Arnold Townsend played the bulk of his 116 matches for the county in the first four seasons after World War II scoring 4,313 runs.
Les Townsend (36) – War work. One of Derbyshire’s finest all-round cricketers and the first to complete the double – in 1933 – scoring 1,373 runs and taking 113 wickets. He was a member of the title-winning team in 1936 and ended his career with 17,667 runs and 969 wickets. He also played Test cricket for England.
Guy Willatt (21) – Served as a Captain in the Royal Artillery in North Africa and Italy. Willatt moved to Derbyshire from Nottinghamshire and captained the side in the 1950s. His biggest achievements came off the field, working as Chairman of Cricket alongside Phil Russell and Kim Barnett as Derbyshire won the Sunday League in 1990 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1993.
Stan Worthington (34) – Served with a light anti-aircraft unit in Gibraltar and was then commissioned in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) where he rose to the rank of Captain. One of Derbyshire’s greatest players and the only one to score a Test hundred for England while on the Derbyshire staff, Worthington was a hard-hitting batsman and a fine pace bowler. He scored 17,000 first class runs for Derbyshire and took 624 wickets and was a member of the Championship-winning team in 1936.
