David Frank Walker (31 May 1913 – 7 February 1942) was an English

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 ...

er. He was a right-hand batsman and slow left-arm bowler who played

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 ...

for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. Born in Loddon,

, Walker began his cricket career with

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ...

XI topping the batting averages in his three seasons (1930-1932) with them.Wisden 1943 - Obituaries

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 ...

, Retrieved on 13 December 2008 At this time Walker also played for Norfolk, in his second match scoring 73

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 ...

against Kent Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship, the innings was the highest for Norfolk that season. He scored his maiden century for Norfolk two seasons later against the same opposition. Walker continued to play for Norfolk until the Second World War, in nine seasons scoring 4034 runs at an average of 62, seven times he topped the County averages and three times heading the Minor Counties Competition's. His highest score came in 1939 when he made an innings of 217 against

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, he shared in a Minor Counties record first-wicket partnership of 323 with

Harold Theobald Harold Ernest Theobald (18 March 1896 – 20 July 1982) was an English cricketer. Theobald was a right-handed batsman. He was born at Norwich, Norfolk, and was educated at both Bracondale School and Taunton School. Theobald made his debut in ...

. While attending Brasenose College, Oxford, Walker played 34 first-class matches for the University team between 1933 and 1935, scoring 1799 runs at 30.49 with two centuries. The first came against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in only his second appearance, the second 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 ...

in 1934. He was appointed captain of the team in 1935, his highest score of that season came against the touring

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

ns, he scored 83 having shared in a 198 run stand with Mandy Mitchell-Innes. After he left Oxford, Walker taught at Harrow School, where he was master in charge of cricket.

Military career and death

In September 1939 he undertook an educational role in Sudan, then joined the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in South Africa. On 7 February 1942, Flight Lieutenant Watson, part of No. 608 Squadron, took off as the pilot of a

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...

with 4 aboard. The plane was assigned to take off from

RAF Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

and conduct an anti-shipping operation along the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

coast. The plane was either shot down or crashed into fjords, and 1 crew member died. Walker was mortally wounded, and died of wounds a day after the crash. The other two crew members went missing, and their fates are unknown, though it is presumed they died in the crash. Aged 28 at the time of his death, Walker had married three months earlier.

References

External links

Cricket Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, David 1913 births 1942 deaths English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Oxford University cricketers Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Norfolk cricketers People from Loddon People educated at Uppingham School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force officers Military personnel from Norfolk Cricketers from Norfolk