David Merry (1923 – 4 May 1944) was a Tobagonian
first-class cricketer and
Royal Air Force officer.
Born in Tobago in 1923, Merry was educated at the
Queen's Royal College, where he played cricket and
association football. He appeared in two first-class matches for
Trinidad against
Barbados, both in February 1941 and both at the
Queen's Park Oval in
Port of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
.
During these two matches, Merry scored 135
runs with a
batting average of 45 and a
high score of 80.
He also represented
North Trinidad in two matches of the
Beaumont Cup The Beaumont Cup was a Trinidadian first-class cricket competition which regional sides competed for, the matches taking place over three days.
History
The competition began in 1925–26, when Rolland Beaumont, the South African Test player who ...
, scoring 114 runs in his second appearance.
Merry's final cricket match, representing the
West Indies against
Lancashire, took place on 7 June 1942 at
Longsight.
He gained 9 runs before being
caught
Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground.
If the ball h ...
by
Henry Butterworth and
bowled by
Winston Place.
Merry served as a
flying officer in the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...
during the
Second World War and was assigned as a
flying instructor to the
No. 36 Service Flying Training School in Canada.
Piloting
Airspeed Oxford ''X6734'' during a night training exercise on 4 May 1944, Merry died when the aircraft crashed near
Penhold. He had held the aircraft steady to allow his pupils to bail out and was consequently killed.
Merry is buried at the
Red Deer Cemetery.
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merry, David
1923 births
1944 deaths
Date of birth missing
Tobagonian cricketers
Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago representative cricketers
North Trinidad cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II
Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II
Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Canada
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944
Trinidad and Tobago aviators
Accidental deaths in Alberta
Trinidad and Tobago military personnel
Burials in Canada
Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II