Hugh Mawdesley Lindley-Jones (22 June 1920 — 10 August 2015) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class

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. The son of Francis Lindley-Jones, he was born at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in June 1920. He was educated at Radley College until 1938, after which he trained to become a chartered accountant. Lindley-Jones served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, being commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

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 ...

in April 1941. He was present during the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

, as Japanese forces pushed British forces back to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. In his capacity as a gun control officer, he based at Fort Canning. As the Japanese advanced into Singapore, he came under heavy Japanese artillery bombardment while attempting to retrieve a field gun, while on another occasion he assisted Chinese workers in emptying hundreds of bottles of whiskey to ensure they didn't fall into enemy hands. He was one of the first to learn of the Surrender of Singapore and decided to disobey orders to surrender by escaping with around a dozen other soldiers. Near the Raffles Hotel, they commandeered a small boat, hoping to sail out to a junk. While attempting to reach the junk, the small boat was holed, necessitating the need to swim the remaining half a mile to the junk; Lindley-Jones was among those who made it to the anchored junk, though others turned back and one man drowned. Once aboard the junk, they started its engine and set sail for

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. He served throughout the war in the Royal Artillery, reaching the rank of

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 ...

. While serving in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Lindley-Jones made a single appearance 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 ...

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 ...

against the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

in a Madras Presidency Match at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in December 1942. Playing as a lower-middle order batsman in the Europeans side, he was dismissed for 3 runs in their first innings by C. R. Rangachari, while in their second innings he was not required to bat. Following the war, he became a publisher and was a member of the Worshipful Company of Turners. He became Master of the Company in 1965 and was a member of it for 74 years; at the time of his death he was the Father of the Company, being succeeded by Sir Brian Neill. Lindley-Jones died at

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

in August 1915.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindley-Jones, Hugh 1920 births 2015 deaths People from Bromley People educated at Radley College English accountants Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II English cricketers Europeans cricketers English printers