Brigadier-General Hugh Frederick Bateman-Champain, CMG (6 April 1869 – 7 October 1933) was an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

officer and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Bateman-Champain was a right-handed batsman who played 11 first-class matches for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, with his debut for the county coming in 1888 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and his final first-class match for the county coming against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in 1902. He also represented 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 a single first-class match in 1902 against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Bateman-Champain died at Ascot,

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 ...

on 7 October 1933.

Family

Educated

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 ...

and

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

. Eldest son of Colonel Sir John Underwood Bateman-Champain, KCMG, RE and Harriet Sophie Currie. Bateman-Champain was part of a large cricketing family. His brothers

Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

and John all played first-class cricket, as did his uncles

Fendall Currie Major general (United Kingdom), Major-General Fendall Currie (24 November 1841 – 4 December 1920) was an English people, English first-class cricketer, barrister and British Indian Army officer. He served in the Bengal_Army#Cavalry, Bengal Cava ...

, Sir Frederick Larkins Currie, Robert Currie and William Currie. He married in

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

on 3 February 1904 Dorothy Gertrude Arbuthnot, daughter of politician George Arbuthnot, and had two daughters.

Military career

He joined the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was ...

in 1889. He transferred to the Indian Army and joined the

1 Gorkha Rifles 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), often referred to as the 1st Gorkha Rifles, or 1 GR in abbreviation, is the most senior Gorkha Infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as part of the East India Company's Bengal Arm ...

in 1891. During the Great War he served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and then was posted to

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

1914–15. He was promoted to Brigade Commander and sent first to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

followed by North Persia 1917–20 with

36th Indian Brigade The 36th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. It took part in the Mesopotamian campaign and later formed part of the North Persia Force. It r ...

. He continued to serve in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. During the Anzali Operation he was made prisoner of war when, on 18 May 1920, the red Russian Caspian sea flotilla under Admiral Raskolnikov with a 1500 men naval commando completely surprised the British Caspian Flotilla at Enseli in neutral Persia. In exchange for all ships (10 auxiliary cruisers and 7 transports) and weapons (50 artillery pieces with 20 000 shot) he and the British crews were released.This episode led to his being relieved of command. (Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921, Antony Beevor pp443) He gained the rank of Colonel (Honorary Brigadier-General) in the service of the Indian Army. He retired in 1921 and became General-Secretary of the British Red Cross Society from then until his death.

References

External links

Hugh Bateman-Champain
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Hugh Bateman-Champain
at CricketArchive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman-Champain, Hugh 1869 births 1933 deaths People from Ashford, Surrey English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People educated at Cheltenham College Indian Army generals of World War I West Yorkshire Regiment officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Sportspeople from Gloucestershire