Harold Augustus Hodges (22 January 1886 – 22 March 1918) was an English sportsman and soldier who played 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 ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He also 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 officiall ...

for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. Hodges, a prop, was capped twice for England in the

1906 Home Nations Championship The 1906 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 13 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1906 Championshi ...

. He took part in their losses to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. At club level, he played for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and while studying at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1908 was captain of the

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

. In 1911, he made his first-class cricket debut, against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

at the

Miners Welfare Ground The Miners Welfare Ground is a cricket ground in Blackwell, England that Derbyshire CCC Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents t ...

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

. He made his highest first-class score of 62 in his only innings, which the highest by a Nottinghamshire player in a low scoring match and bettered by only Derbyshire's Arthur Morton, who was the one that dismissed Hodges. The following year, he made two further appearances and finished his first-class career with 141 runs, at an average of 47. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hodges served with the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment. On the night of 22 March 1918, he entered a small factory on a road between

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...

and Eppeville, hoping to make contact with a British battalion. He instead encountered enemy troops and was shot dead.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Harold 1886 births 1918 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English rugby union players England international rugby union players Nottingham R.F.C. players Oxford University RFC players English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers British military personnel killed in World War I People from Mansfield Woodhouse Rugby union players from Mansfield British Army personnel of World War I Monmouthshire Regiment soldiers Military personnel from Nottinghamshire Rugby union props