Lieutenant-Colonel Allen Whitty, DSO (5 May 1867 – 22 July 1949) 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

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such a ...

who competed in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

representing Great Britain.

Biography

Whitty joined the

Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regimen ...

aged only 13 by concealing his age, and soon saw service in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

where he developed his skills as a marksman. He returned home as a regimental

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in the ...

in 1897. After the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in late 1899, several regiments of the army were augmented to increase the overall number of available soldiers. Whitty was commissioned a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

with the honorary rank of

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 new 3rd battalion of his regiment on 17 March 1900. He was later gazetted to a commission in his county regiment in June 1916, and later that year was 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 ...

(DSO) and promoted to

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 ...

. Whitty was a well-known figure at Army and national rifle meetings. He was a member of the Army VIII at various times between 1897 and 1920 and he shot in the King's Hundred five times, the last being in 1938 as a 71-year-old. At the 1924 Olympics, Whitty only competed in the running deer, double shot, events, and after finishing in 18th place individually, he won a gold medal as a member of the team that defeated Norway by single point.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitty, Allen 1949 deaths 1867 births Military personnel from Worcestershire British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Worcestershire Regiment officers Worcestershire Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British male sport shooters Running target shooters Olympic shooters for Great Britain Shooters at the 1924 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Child soldiers