This Armistice Day, Derbyshire County Cricket Club remembers the players and officials who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War of 1914-18.
Cricket like all areas of life was touched greatly by the Great War. As a mark of respect to our fallen heroes, below is a role of honour that commemorates the lives of Derbyshire County Cricket Club players that served their country during World War One.
Frank Miller Bingham
Amateur. Born Alfreton, 17 September 1874. School – St Peter’s, York. Rugby for Blackheath. Lower order
batsman, right-arm medium pace bowler, played in one match for Derbyshire 1896. Killed in action serving with King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Sanctuary Wood, Belgium 22 May 1915, aged 40.
Henry (Harry) George Blacklidge
Professional. Born Stoughton, Surrey 14 July 1884. Lower order left-hand batsman, left-arm fast-medium or slow left-arm bowler. Played in seven matches for Surrey 1908-13. Appointed coach to Derbyshire’s newly-formed cricket nursery in 1914 and was to play for the county when qualified but the outbreak of war prevented this. Died from dysentery serving with Army Gymnastic Staff, Amara, Mesopotamia 23 May 1917, aged 32.
Charles Barnett Fleming
Amateur. Born Derby 28 February 1887. Middle order right-hand batsman. Played one match for Derbyshire in 1907. Died of wounds while serving with the Tank Corps, Grevillors, France 22 September 1918, aged 31.
Geoffrey Laird Jackson
Amateur. Born Birkenhead, 10 January 1894. School – Harrow. A member of the family which owned the Clay Cross Company, he was a brother of G.R. (Derbyshire) and cousin of A.H.M Jackson (Derbyshire). Middle order right-hand batsman, right-arm medium-pace bowler, good cover point. Played in four matches for Derbyshire 1912-14 and three for Oxford University 1914. Killed in action serving with Rifle Brigade Faimpoux, Arras, Belgium 9 April 1917, aged 23.l
Arthur Marsden
Amateur. Born Buxton 28 October 1880. School – Cheethams School, Manchester. Opening right-hand batsman. Played one match for Derbyshire 1910. Died at St Pancras, London 31 July 1916, from wounds received on the Somme, aged 35.
Charles Niel Newcombe
Amateur. Born 16 March 1891, Yarmouth. Lower order right-hand batsman, slow medium left-arm bowler. Played one match for Derbyshire 1910. Killed in action serving with King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Fleuraix, France 27 December 1915, aged 24.
Guy Denis Wilson
Amateur. Born Melbourne, Derbyshire 30 November 1882. School – Derby School. Middle order batsman. Played in two matches for Derbyshire 1902 and 1905. Killed in action serving with Royal Field Artillery Cambrai, France 30 November 1917, his 35th birthday.
Richard Romer Claude Baggallay (1884-1975)
DCCC Captain in 1913-14. During the 1914 August Bank Holiday match against Essex at Derby he received a telegram from the Army whilst he was batting which read “Adjutant – Mobilise.” Baggallay said: “I showed the telegram to the Essex captain, J.W.H.T Douglas, and we agreed that we must abandon the match unless it ended that day, which it did.” Eight days later he was in France. During the conflict
Lieutenant-Colonel Baggally was awarded the MC and DSO.
Guy Rolfe Jackson (1896-1966)
Captained DCCC 1922-1930. Served in Macedonia and Salonika with Derbyshire Yeomanry. Reached the rank of Captain and was awarded the Military Cross, the French Legion d’Honneur and the Greek Military Cross for gallantry on the field of battle. Twice mention in dispatches. It was in Salonika that, while leading his troops, he was approached by Bulgars carrying a flag of truce. They asked for an armistice and Jackson sent them to headquarters. It was the end of Bulgaria’s participation in the war.
William Ferguson Parrington (1889-1980)
Played 1926. Was awarded the MC for conspicuous gallantry at Ypres.
Walter Reader-Blackton (1895-1976)
Played 1914-21. Enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters, he was commissioned in the Leicestershire Regiment and won the MC.
William Thomas Taylor (1885-1976)
Secretary 1908-59 – 51 years, 149 days. One of the first to enlist he was badly wounded on the Somme, July 1916. Returned to France only to suffer a further wound. Captain W.T. Taylor was about to be promoted Major when he was demobilised in 1919. From a Wirksworth family, Will Taylor lost two brothers in the 1914-18 war.
Christopher Lowther (1887-1934)
His mother was a Beresford, a family with strong Derbyshire connections. Played in club and ground matches and it was thanks to his generosity that the Nursery was established in 1914, with Blacklidge appointed coach. Served with Westmoreland and Cumberland Yeomanry, receiving a severe wound in France in September 1915.
Among other players who also served in the 1914-18 war were:
A. Blount, G.P.Brooke-Taylor, G.M.Buckston, J.Chapman, G.Curgenven, H.Elliott, J.Horsley, N.M.Hughes-Hallett, C.N.B.Hurt, A.H.M.Jackson, H.G.B.Jordan, C.H.Lyon, C.F.Root, A.Rose, R.Sale snr, J.D. Southern and H.Wild.
We will remember them.
