Not to be confused with American lawyer and public official

Horace Holmes Thomas Horace Holmes Thomas (December 18, 1831 – March 17, 1904) was a lawyer, Union Army officer, state legislator, and appraiser in Illinois who served in the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate. He was a Speaker of the Illinois ...

Horace Wyndham Thomas (28 July 1890 – 3 September 1916) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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 ...

fly-half who played club rugby for

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. He won just two caps for

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 was one of thirteen Welsh internationals to die in conflict during World War I.

Rugby career

Thomas was born to a rector from

Bettws, Bridgend Bettws , ( cy, Betws) is a small ex-mining and farming village in the South Wales Valleys in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. Bettws is also an electoral ward to the county council. Bryngarw Country Park is approximately one mile away, wit ...

, but moved to England when he gained a place at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

after winning a choral scholarship. At Cambridge, Thomas studied History and was a keen sportsman. He played cricket for the Cambridge seconds, represented the athletics team and won a Blue at rugby. While playing for Cambridge he was first selected to represent Wales in 1912 in a game against the touring South African team. When Thomas was selected for the South African game he was chosen against a stipulated agreement, that stated that no Welsh player could be chosen to represent the country if they played within the London area, but did not play for London Welsh. Eight selectors travelled to Cambridge to watch Thomas play in a Varsity match which saw Cambridge victorious for the first time in seven years.Billot (1974), pg 99. The Thursday before the game, Thomas was named in the squad at a conference at the Queens's Hotel in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Wales lost the game 3–0, but at one point after Thomas attempted a drop goal, the crowd mistakenly believing that the kick had succeeded, cheered thinking that Thomas had won the game for Wales.Billot (1974), pg 100. Thomas would play only one more game for Wales, under the captaincy of

Tommy Vile Major Thomas Henry Vile MBE (6 September 1882 – 30 October 1958) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He played club rugby predominantly for Newport, captaining the side twice and played county rugby for Monmouthshire. He also repres ...

, in the team's opening match of the

1913 Five Nations Championship The 1913 Five Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the thirty-firs ...

against England. Wales lost the game and Thomas ended his international rugby career without a win. Thomas left Britain to take up a post in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. While in Calcutta he joined and later became captain of the Calcutta Football Club.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 472. * 1913 * 1912

Later life

In 1916 Thomas volunteered to serve his country in World War I. He reached the rank of

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 ...

within the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

and was killed in battle at Hamel, north of the river Ancre, in September 1916. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated at the

Thiepval Memorial The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the ...

.Rugby Heroes who went to War

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

Matthew Ferris, November 2008

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Photograph of Horace Thomas in military dress

Low resolution image of Thomas in Welsh strip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Horace 1890 births 1916 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players London Welsh RFC players Rifle Brigade officers Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Bridgend Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Welsh military personnel Missing in action of World War I