Charles Richard Gillett (24 August 1880 – 22 January 1964) was an English first-class

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 striki ...

er and British Army officer. The son of the cricketer and clergyman

Hugh Gillett Hugh Hodgson Gillett (19 June 1836 – 22 January 1915) was an English first-class cricketer and clergyman. The son of Gabriel Edward Gillett, he was born in June 1836 at Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire. He was educated at Winchester Coll ...

, he was born in August 1880 at Compton, Surrey. He began his military career in January 1900, when he graduated from the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned 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 ...

into the Royal Artillery. Promotion to lieutenant followed in April 1901, with Gillett appointed a gunnery instructor in April 1906. He was 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 December 1910 and was made an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

in February 1912. Gillett served in the First World War with the Royal Artillery, during which he was 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 ...

in July 1915. He was decorated by France with the ''

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

'' in December 1916 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the

1917 New Year Honours The 1917 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in several editions of ''The London Gazette'' in Ja ...

. He was appointed to the staff in January 1917 as an Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, He was made a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

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 June 1918. Following the war, he made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club against the

British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy side had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in 1920. Batting twice in the match, he made scores of 3 and 2, being dismissed by

Fernley Marrison Fernley Marrison (13 October 1891 – 13 February 1967) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. Marrison spent over twenty years as a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Army Service Corps, during which he served in ...

and Charles Sutton respectively. By November 1928, he held the rank of colonel. He was appointed an '' aide-de-camp'' to George V in February 1934, serving his successors

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

and George VI. Gillett retired from active service in October 1937. He died at

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

in January 1964.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillett, Charles 1880 births 1964 deaths Cricketers from Guildford Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Companions of the Distinguished Service Order English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Military personnel from Guildford 19th-century British Army personnel