Henry Meredith Leaf, (18 October 1862 – 23 April 1931) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rackets Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

player who competed in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. He won the silver medal in the men's singles event. In the men's doubles competition he won the bronze medal together with

Evan Noel Evan Baillie Noel (23 January 1879 – 22 December 1928) was an English rackets player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain. He won the gold medal in the men's singles event. In the men's doubles competition he won the ...

. Prior to taking part in The Olympics, Leaf made two appearances in

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 ...

, playing for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

in 1884 and GJV Weigall's XI in 1904. Leaf was a volunteer officer in the

Electrical Engineers Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, a volunteer unit of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(RE). Their role was to supplement the regular Royal Engineers in wartime by operating searchlights to defend major ports in conjunction with minefields controlled by Volunteer companies of Submarine Miners, RE. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, Leaf volunteered for active service. Early in the war, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell improvised searchlights to deter night attacks during the

Siege of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

. Soon afterward a detachment of the Electrical Engineers Volunteers went to South Africa where they operated electric

Arc lamp An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, ...

searchlights, the first use of such equipment by the Royal Engineers on campaign.Keith Brigstock 'Royal Artillery Searchlights', presentation to Royal Artillery Historical Society at Larkhill, 17 January 2007. Leaf was granted the temporary rank of Captain in the Army on 17 March 1900, and served with detachment, which was in South Africa from April to October 1900 in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

and

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

. He later served in the

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 ...

in France, and he was awarded a

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 ...

(DSO) for his services.Temporary Captain Henry Meredith Leaf,. R.M. For services with the Royal Naval Division-- Motor Transport Company in France.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaf, Henry 1862 births 1931 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Racquets players Olympic racquets players for Great Britain Racquets players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics