Frederick Cecil Banes-Walker (19 June 1888 – 9 May 1915) was an English

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 officiall ...

er who played five matches for

Somerset County Cricket Club Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. Founded in 1875, Somerset was initially regarded as a minor ...

. He also played rugby for

Clifton Rugby Football Club Clifton Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club founded in Clifton, Bristol. Over the years the club's home games have been played in a variety of locations in northern Bristol, though never in Clifton itself; since 1976 they have ...

, and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

for Gloucestershire. He was killed in action during 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 ...

Cricket career

Known as Cecil Banes-Walker, he made his name at Long Ashton Cricket Club. He made his first-class debut in July 1914 in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

against

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 ...

. Batting at number nine, he made 5 and 28 in a nine wicket loss. For his next match against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, he was promoted to number three as Somerset fell for just 90 runs, chasing Yorkshire's 372. Following on, Banes-Walker remained

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

on 15, and Somerset lost by an innings. His home debut brought another loss,

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 His ...

the recipients this time, claiming a ten wicket victory, Banes-Walker's 8 and 23 while batting at number eight doing little to affect the match. His highest score came against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, as he hit 40 in the first innings at the

County Ground, Southampton The County Ground in Southampton, England was a cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season. The ground also served as the home ground ...

. Somerset lost by an innings again, and Banes-Walker finished his first-class career win-less as

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

eased to a ten-wicket victory in his final match.

Military service

On the outbreak of the

, Banes-Walker enlisted in the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

, but shortly after was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

into the 3rd Battalion,

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

(on probation) on 7 October 1914. He later completed a machine-gun course, and was attached to the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment as a machine-gun officer in March 1915. On 9 May 1915 the British launched the

Battle of Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive int ...

. The 2nd Devons were not involved in the assault, but seem to have been ordered into the front British trenches in support. The battalion's war diary records that as they were moving up, they came under heavy German artillery and machine-gun fire, and that between 6:45 and 7:30 Banes-Walker was killed, along with another second lieutenant. Four other second lieutenants were injured at the same time. On 19 May, ''The Bridgwater Mercury'' reported that his father received intelligence that his son had been killed. Banes-Walker was buried at Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery,

Fleurbaix Fleurbaix (; vls, Vloerbeek) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village some northeast of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction of the D176 and the D171 roads, at ...

, France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banes-Walker, Cecil 1888 births 1915 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Devonshire Regiment officers English cricketers English rugby union players Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers Rugby union players from Somerset Somerset cricketers Military personnel from Somerset