Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Bernard Howlett (18 December 1898 – 29 November 1943), known as Swifty Howlett, was a professional soldier in the

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 ...

who was killed in action in Italy in 1943.Howlett, Brigadier Bernard
Obituaries in the war, 1943, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', 1944. Retrieved 2017-11-14. He served as a young officer at the end of 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 ...

and commanded the 6th Battalion,

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

between the wars. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he fought in France, North Africa and Italy, commanding the 36th Infantry Brigade from December 1942 until his death. Howlett also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

as an amateur for Kent County Cricket Club in 1922 and 1928 and for a range of other

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

teams.Bernard Howlett
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-11-16.

Early life

Howlett was born in Stoke Newington in London in 1898.Bernard Howlett
CricInfo. Retrieved 2017-11-14. His father, Reverend Thomas Edwin Howlett, was the vicar of St Michael & All Saints in Stoke Newington, and his mother was Gertrude Howlett.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939'', pp.95–96.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-23.)Tonbridge men who died in World War 2 and later conflicts: D – J
Tonbridge History, Tonbridge Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-11-16. His father died when Howlett was five years old.Lewis P (2013) ''For Kent and Country'', pp.211–214. Brighton: Reveille Press. He was educated at St Edmund's School in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

from 1908. He played football, hockey and cricket for the school and was a house captain and a sergeant in the school OTC.McCrery N (2017) ''The Coming Storm: test and First Class Cricketers Killed in World War II'', pp.222–224. Barnsley: Pen & Sword
Available online
Retrieved 2017-11-16. On leaving school he entered the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

in December 1916.

Military career

Howlett was at Sandhurst during

World War I 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 ...

on one of the shorter, war-time courses for young officers. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1918 into the

(RWK) and served in the Special Reserve in England throughout the summer of 1918.Supplement to the London Gazette
1918-04-18, p.4848. Retrieved 2017-11-16.''The Queens Own Gazette'', no. 517, August 1918, p.3817–3819.
Available online
. Retrieved 2017-11-16). In August he was posted to the Western Front and served with the 7th Battalion of the RWK in the

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

, seeing action almost immediately at

Sailly-Saillisel Sailly-Saillisel is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated some northeast of Amiens, on the N17 and D172 roads, close to the border with the Pas-de-Calais. History * Theatr ...

. During the following months he fought in the more mobile advances around

Ronssoy Ronssoy () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and terri ...

, Le Cateau and Cambrai until the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

in November. After the end of the war Howlett fell ill and underwent treatment in England before serving with the 1st Battalion RWK.''The Queens Own Gazette'', no. 528, July 1919, p.3944.
Available online
. Retrieved 2017-11-16). Promoted to

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 ...

in October 1919, he remained in the army during the interwar period, and was promoted further to captain. He was stationed at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

at the RWK depot before being posted to India in the mid-1920s. From 1930 he spent four years serving as adjutant of the 4th Battalion RWK, a Territorial Army (TA) unit based at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

, between December 1930 and December 1934.Howlett, Bernard "Swifty"
British Army Officers 1939-1945. Retrieved 2017-11-16. He then spent time as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

with the

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

, another TA formation, from April 1936 to March 1939 and was promoted to major in 1938. On leaving the divisional staff he was promoted to

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section dire ...

of the TA 132nd Infantry Brigade and, soon after the outbreak of

, served with the brigade in France with the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) before being withdrawn from Dunkirk when the BEF was evacuated. He was Mentioned in Dispatches in December 1940.Lewis ''

Op. cit. ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

'', p.362. In October 1940 Howlett was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and assumed command of the 6th Battalion, RWK, then serving as part of the 36th Infantry Brigade. The brigade was trained in amphibious warfare in Scotland and took part in the amphibious landings at Algiers in November 1942 before advancing across North Africa to Tunis, taking command of 36th Brigade as acting

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

during December 1942 and, temporarily, 139th Brigade in March 1943.Howlett, Bernard
Generals of World War II. Retrieved 2017-11-16.Rolf D (2015) ''The Bloody Road to Tunis'' p.156. Barnsley: Frontline Books.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-11-16). He led the brigade in the attack on Longstop Hill and 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, ty ...

(DSO) for his brigade's success in North Africa.Rolf ''

'' p.242. He fought in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and was awarded a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his DSO for the brigade's part in the

Battle of Centuripe The Battle of Centuripe was fought from 2 to 4 August 1943, as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II. The 78th ''Battleaxe'' Division, of the British Eighth Army, was engaged in fierce fighting around the town of Centuripe in ...

in August.Supplement to the London Gazette
1943-11-18. Retrieved 2017-11-16.The Battle for Centuripe July -August 1943
Italy Star Association, 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2017-11-16. The brigade then took part in the invasion of Italy in September. Howlett was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 24 November 1943, still acting as brigadier. 36th Brigade was engaged with the enemy along the River Sangro at the time and Howlett was killed by German artillery fire on 29 November at

Santa Maria Imbaro Santa Maria Imbaro (locally ''Sanda Marmàre'') is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern E ...

. He had gone forward on horseback to visit his forward troops and was caught in the artillery fire. He was 44 and had been due to be promoted to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

to command a division in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. Howlett is buried in the Sangro River War Cemetery.Howlett, Brigadier Bernard

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

. Retrieved 2017-11-16. He was posthumously mentioned in dispatches.

Cricket career

Howlett played cricket at school and for Sandhurst as a right-arm fast bowler. He played in a number of matches for the Royal West Kent side in 1918 whilst serving in England. He was described as bowling a "very fast ball" and the regimental magazine of the RWK remarked that he had needed to reduce his pace in regimental matches "as we are out to kill Huns and not our opposing team".''The Queens Own Gazette'', no. 519, October 1918, p.3842–3843.
Available online
. Retrieved 2017-11-16). Whilst stationed at Maidstone in 1919 he played for The Mote as well as the RWK, bowling 204 overs for the RWK 1st Battalion side during 1919, taking 64 wickets at a bowling average of 10.28 runs per wicket - easily the best figures for the battalion side.''The Queens Own Gazette'', no. 532, October 1919, p.3978.
Available online
. Retrieved 2017-11-16). He played for Kent County Cricket Club, making six first-class appearances in 1922 and 20 in 1928 as well as playing four times for the Second XI in 1923. He made his first-class debut for Kent in May 1922 against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

at Gravesend, going on to play in a total of 42 first-class matches, 26 of which were for the county side.Jeater D (2020) ''County Cricket: Sundry Extras'' (second edition), p.87.
Available online
at the

. Retrieved 2020-12-23.) He played for a variety of teams in India, most frequently for the

Europeans cricket team The Europeans cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament and Lahore tournament. The team was founded by members of the European community in Bombay who played cricket at the Bombay Gymkha ...

for whom he appeared eight times in competitions such as

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

Tournament and in

Madras Presidency Match The Madras Presidency Match was an annual first-class cricket fixture played in Madras (now Chennai) from the 1915–16 season to 1951–52 between teams called the Indians and the Europeans (i.e., Europeans who were living in India). The matche ...

es. He played some matches for the Army team between 1928 and 1931 and made his last first-class appearance for the Army team in July 1931 against the RAF team at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. He also appeared for MCC in 1931 and was still playing for the Royal West Kents in 1934. Primarily a bowler, he took a total of 108 wickets in first-class matches. His highest score batting was 58 runs, the only half-century of his career.

Family

Howlett married Helen Whitby in 1929 at Holy Trinity Church, Bangalore. The couple had one daughter.

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Bernard 1898 births 1943 deaths British Army cricketers British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel killed in World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order English cricketers Europeans cricketers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Mumbai cricketers People educated at St Edmund's School Canterbury People from Stoke Newington Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers British Army brigadiers of World War II Military personnel from London