Lt. Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the army, armies, most Marine (armed services), marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use t ...

Gilbert Faraday Collett DSO (18 July 1879 – 25 February 1945) was an English sportsman who was an international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

wing and

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 for

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire 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 Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...

. As a rugby footballer he represented

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and Cheltenham at club level. Collett also played international rugby for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

during the 1903 tour of South Africa but was never selected for the England national team.

Personal history

Collett was born in 1879 in Wynstone Place, near Gloucester to John Martin Collett, of Guy's Cliff, Wolton. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

before matriculating to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1898. He gained his BA in 1901, and his MA in 1905, before becoming managing director of family company, J. M. Collett and Co. Ltd, a chemical manufacturer. A prewar officer in the

5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

, Collett was called up on the outbreak of the First World War, and later succeeded became commanding officer of the 2/5th Battalion of the Gloucesters with the rank of

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 colonel. ...

. During the war Collett was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

three times and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. In 1934, on reaching the age of 55 he was retired from the Territorials, but retained his rank and uniform.

Rugby career

Collett first came to note as a rugby player when he represented Cambridge University. In 1898, Collett was part of the Cambridge team that faced

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 the ...

in the Varsity Match, winning his first and only sporting 'Blue'. After Oxford lost Nelson, their captain, to an ankle injury, Cambridge took control of the forward positions and won the game comfortably. The 1898/99 season saw Collett invited to join touring team, the Barbarians. By 1903, Collett was playing club rugby for Cheltenham and county rugby for Gloucestershire. Although he had not played international rugby before, he was offered a place on the 1903 British Isles tour of South Africa. Collett played in 20 of the 22 match tour, including all three Test games against the

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. Collett was a prolific scoring during the first half of the tour, with a dropped goal in his first match against an invitational Western Province Country team, followed by eight tries over the next 11 games, including two tries in both games against King William's Town and Griqualand West. In the final eight games he was selected for, including the three tests, Collett failed to add to his score tally. During the First World War, Collett was touch judge for a rugby match played between British troops from the Gloucestershire Regiment, which included club county and international players. The match was played between the South Midland Division (48th) and the 4th Division.The Life of Ronald Poulton
Poulton, Edward Bagnall (1919)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collett, Gilbert 1879 births 1945 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England British Army personnel of World War I Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Companions of the Distinguished Service Order English cricketers English rugby union players Gloucestershire cricketers Gloucestershire Regiment officers People educated at Cheltenham College Rugby union players from Gloucester Rugby union wings