Cyril Hamilton

Major Cyril Penn Hamilton (12 August 1909 – 10 February 1941) was an Australian born English soldier and sportsman. He played racquets, squash, hockey and first-class cricket and rose to the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery. Hamilton was born in Australia in 1909 and died near Keren in Italian Eritrea at the age of 31 in 1941 whilst on active service during World War II.

Cyril Hamilton
Personal information
Full name
Cyril Penn Hamilton
Born(1909-08-12)12 August 1909
Adelaide, South Australia
Died10 February 1941(1941-02-10) (aged 31)
Keren, Italian Eritrea[lower-alpha 1]
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm slow
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1932–1936British Army
1935Kent
FC debut22 June 1932 Army v South America
Last FC23 May 1936 Army v Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 8
Runs scored 475
Batting average 39.58
100s/50s 2/1
Top score 121
Balls bowled 241
Wickets 6
Bowling average 33.83
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 5/83
Catches/stumpings 8/–
Source: CricInfo, 8 June 2008

Early life

Hamilton was born at Adelaide in South Australia in 1909,[1] the son of James and Virginia Hamilton. His mother was Australian and his father a colonel in the Royal Engineers. Hamilton spent much of his youth in the north of Ireland.[2] He was educated at Wellington College in England between 1922 and 1927 where he played cricket in the school First XI and rackets and acted in theatre productions.[1][3][4]

Military career

After leaving school Hamilton won a cadet scholarship to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[1] He graduated from Woolwich in 1929[5] and joined the Royal Artillery (RA), eventually rising to the rank of Major. He served in Egypt and Mandatory Palestine in 1938 and 1939 with 3rd Regiment RA as World War II broke out.[2]

Hamilton took command of 25th Regiment RA, part of 4th Indian Division, in 1940 in North Africa. He died near Keren in Italian Eritrea on 10 February 1941 during the early stages of the Battle of Keren, part of the East African Campaign.[1][2] He is buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Keren.[6]

Sporting career

Hamilton was an all-round sportsman.[1][7] He played rackets for his school and for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was the Army and the Amateur squash champion.[3] He also represented Scotland at hockey[7] in 1936 and 1937 and was a fine cricketer for his school, the Army, the Royal Artillery and a variety of other teams.

He played cricket whilst at Woolwich and appeared regularly for the Royal Artillery Cricket Club, including playing in the annual matches against the Royal Engineers. He made his first-class cricket debut for the Army in 1932 against a touring South American side and went on to play in eight first-class matches, making his final appearance in 1936 against Cambridge University at Fenner's. As well as playing for the Army, Hamilton made two first-class appearance for Kent County Cricket Club in the 1935 County Championship and played for the Gentlemen against the Players in 1934 at Folkestone.[1][2][8]

Hamilton also played cricket for a team representing Egypt, where he was stationed, in 1938 and 1939, for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Gezira Sporting Club and United Services as well as making one appearance for Kent Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship.[1] He scored 205 runs in 1938 playing for the Royal Artillery against the Royal Engineers at Woolwich[7] and scored two first-class centuries, his highest first-class score of 121 runs being made against the touring West Indian team in 1932.[1]

Family

Hamilton married Angela Garnier in 1938 in Norfolk. The couple had one son and lived at Shropham in the county. In 1943 his widow married Peter Studd, who also served in the Royal Artillery during the war.[2][9]

Notes
  1. Some sources, including Hamilton's Wisden obituary, give his place of death as Libya. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his date of death as 10 February 1941 and he is buried at Keren, over 1,500 km from Libya. His Wisden obituary also gives his age at death as 33 and appears unreliable in this context

References
  1. McCrery N (2017) 'Major Cyril Penn Hamilton' in The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two, pp. 46–47, Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
  2. Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939, pp. 87–88. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-07-01.)
  3. Major Cyril Penn Hamilton, Page 42 - Wellington Roll of Honour 1939-1945. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  4. Jeater D (2020) County Cricket: Sundry Extras (second edition), p. 73. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
  5. The London Gazette, 1929, p. 5644.
  6. Major Hamilton, Cyril Penn, Casualty record, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  7. Hamilton, Major Cyril Penn, Obituaries during the war, 1941, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1942. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  8. Cyril Hamilton, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-10-18. (subscription required)
  9. Sir Peter Studd, Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 2003-06-30. Retrieved 2020-12-24.

Cyril Hamilton at ESPNcricinfo

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