Alan Roderick Haig-Brown DSO (6 September 1877 – 25 March 1918) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and author who served as commander of the Lancing

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

and later fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was also an amateur

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

and played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

Early life

Haig-Brown was the son of

William Haig Brown William Haig Brown (1823–1907) was an English cleric and reforming headmaster of Charterhouse School. Life Born at Bromley by Bow, Middlesex, on 3 December 1823, he was third son of Thomas Brown of Edinburgh and his wife Amelia, daughter of J ...

, headmaster of

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, where he was born on 6 September 1877. His elder sister was the headteacher Rosalind Brown. After attending the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

and Charterhouse School, Haig-Brown matriculated at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1896 and graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied L ...

in 1899. He was awarded a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

in 1898 and 1899. In 1899, Haig-Brown was appointed Assistant Master at

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

Army career

Haig-Brown's

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

career began at Lancing College in 1906, as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the Lancing

and by the end of the year, he had been promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In 1908, his commission was transferred to the Territorial Army. Haig-Brown commanded the Lancing Officers' Training Corps until 1915, by which time the British Army was fighting in the

. On 1 January 1916, he was transferred to the 23rd Battalion of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

on 1 January 1916, promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and appointed

second-in-command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...

of the battalion. Haig-Brown was appointed a temporary

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in September 1916 and given command of the battalion. Haig-Brown saw active service on the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Italian fronts between 1916 and 1918, was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

twice and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. He was killed by machine-gun fire whilst conducting a rear guard action on the

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a farmi ...

Sapignies Sapignies () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Sapignies lies south of Arras, at the junction of the D31E and N17 roads. Population Places of interest * The church of St.Pierre ...

road, France on 25 March 1918, the first day of the German spring offensive. Haig-Brown was buried

Achiet-le-Grand Achiet-le-Grand () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography A farming village located 12 miles (19 km) south of Arras, at the D7 and D9 road junction. The SNCF railway has a station here. History The commun ...

Communal Cemetery Extension.

Author

Haig-Brown authored three books, ''Sporting Sonnets: And Other Verses'' (1903), ''My Game Book'' (1913) and ''The O. T. C. and the Great War'' (1915).

Personal life

Haig-Brown had a wife, a son (

Roderick Haig-Brown Roderick Langmere Haig-Brown (February 21, 1908 – October 9, 1976) was a Canadian writer and conservationist. Early life Haig-Brown was born in Lancing, Sussex, England. His father, Alan Haig-Brown, was a teacher and a prolific writer, ...

) and two daughters.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haig-Brown, Alan 1877 births 1918 deaths People from Godalming English men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football outside forwards British Army personnel of World War I Middlesex Regiment officers British military personnel killed in World War I Officers' Training Corps officers Old Carthusians F.C. players Cambridge University A.F.C. players People educated at Charterhouse School People educated at The Dragon School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Corinthian F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Worthing F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Southern Football League players Shoreham F.C. players Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Military personnel from Surrey Footballers from Surrey