Guy Saxon Llewellyn Gregson-Ellis (3 November 1895 – 12 August 1969) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. He had a military career that spanned 32 years and two world wars, as well as appearing in four first-class cricket matches for the

Europeans cricket team The Europeans cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament and Lahore tournament. The team was founded by members of the European community in Bombay who played cricket at the Bombay Gymkhan ...

in British India.

Early life and World War I

Gregson-Ellis was born at

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

to Charles James Gregson-Ellis and his wife Mildred Agnes Scholefield. He attended

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

in 1909. After leaving Charterhouse, Gregson-Ellis attended the

Royal Military College at Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, upon graduating he entered into the Royal Berkshire Regiment 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 ...

shortly before the outbreak of World War I. While serving in the war during December 1914, he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant, with him obtaining the rank permanently in March 1915, which was antedated to January 1915. In July 1915, he was promoted to the temporary rank of

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 ...

, with this rank being relinquished in July 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross in the

1916 Birthday Honours The 1916 Birthday 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 made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. He took part in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

from July–November 1916, playing a key role in helping to reorganise the 2nd Battalion after heavy losses during the battles first day. He later obtained the rank of captain permanently in February 1917.

Post-war first-class cricket

Following the war, Gregson-Ellis made his debut for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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 ...

in 1920, with Gregson-Ellis making fifteen appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

between 1920 and 1923. He 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 July 1922, with him ceasing to be an adjutant in July 1925. While stationed in British India, he made his debut in first-class cricket for the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

against the

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

at Lahore in the 1925/26 Lahore Tournament. He made three further first-class appearances for the Europeans, playing in the final of the 1925/26 tournament against the

Muslims cricket team The Muslims cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament. The team was founded by members of the Muslim community in Bombay. The Muslims joined the Bombay tournament in 1912, when they accep ...

, before making two appearances against the

Parsees Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim co ...

and the Hindus in the 1926/27 Bombay Quadrangular. He scored 116 runs across his four first-class matches, with a top score of 45. He retired from military service in January 1931 and ceased to belong to the reserve of officers having reached the age limit for liability to be recalled. He returned to service in World War II with the Royal Berkshire Regiment and was promoted to the rank of brevet

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 April 1940. He once again retired from service following the war, whereby he was made an honorary

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 May 1946. He died in hospital at Banbury, Oxfordshire in August 1969, at the age of 73.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregson-Ellis, Guy 1895 births 1969 deaths Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington People educated at Charterhouse School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Berkshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross English cricketers Berkshire cricketers Europeans cricketers British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Kensington