Eric Antony Rollo Gore-Browne (13 June 1890 – 3 July 1918) 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 who was killed in action in the First World War.

Early life and education

Gore-Browne was the son of the Rev. Robert Melvill Gore-Brown (son of Rt. Rev.

Harold Browne Edward Harold Browne (usually called Harold Browne; 6 March 1811 – 18 December 1891) was a bishop of the Church of England. Early life and education Browne was born on 6 March 1811 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the second son of Robert ...

) and his wife Hon. Agnes Catharine Rollo, daughter of John, 10th Lord Rollo. He was born at Ryde on the Isle of Wight in June 1890. He was educated firstly in Hampshire at Twyford School and Eastam's School at Southsea. From there he attended Oundle School in Northamptonshire. After completing his education, Gore-Browne decided on a career in the British Army and attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

He graduated 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 Dorsetshire Regiment. He spent some time with the regiment in British India, during which he was promoted to lieutenant. Gore-Brown was seconded to the King's African Rifles in December 1913. He served with the Rifles in the First World War, during which 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 April 1915. He was wounded in action on 21 September 1915 at

Longido Longido is a small town and ward in Arusha Region in Tanzania. It is the administrative seat for Longido District. Most of the inhabitants are Maasai, but there are other East African tribes as well. Longido is at the foot of Mount Longido, which ...

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

. He was evacuated by stretcher and mule cart to where he was treated for his wounds. Upon his recovery he trained troops in Nairobi and was decorated 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 ...

'' for his work in training troops in Nairobi and other places in East Africa. He had returned to active service by early 1918, where he commanded the fort at Namacurra in Portuguese East Africa. The fort came under attack from 1–3 July by a superior German force commanded by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Seeing little option but to retreat, Gore-Browne ordered an orderly withdrawal of his forces toward a wide stream where he hoped to take up stronger defensive positions on its opposite bank. However, the retreat was not orderly and the troops under his command panicked. In the chaos nearly half of his force were either shot by the pursuing German forces, drowned, or were attacked by crocodiles. Gore-Browne himself drowned during the rout.

Cricket career

While in India, he made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Europeans cricket team against the Parsees at

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in the 1912/13 Bombay Presidency Match. Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed for 12 runs by M. D. Parekh in the Europeans first innings, while in their second innings he was dismissed without scoring by J. N. Elavia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gore-Brown, Eric 1890 births 1918 deaths People from Ryde People educated at Oundle School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Dorset Regiment officers English cricketers Europeans cricketers King's African Rifles officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) British military personnel killed in World War I Deaths by drowning Accidental deaths in Mozambique