John Edward Rhodes (13 February 1870 – 6 February 1947) was an English sailor 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 ...

for Great Britain. He was a crew member of the British boat ''Cobweb'', which won the gold medal in the

8 metre class The International Eight Metre class are class of racing yachts. Eight Metre boats (often called "Eights" or 8mR) are a ''construction class'', meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in ...

. He was the eldest son of John William Rhodes of Hennerton,

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 ...

, a lieutenant in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

(KRRC), by Marie Ada, eldest daughter of Edward Mackenzie of Fawley Court.''Burke's'': 'Sutton'. He was commissioned 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 the part-time

3rd (Royal Berkshire Militia) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment The Royal Berkshire Militia was an auxiliary military regiment in the county of Berkshire in Southern England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands, in 1572 and their service during the Armada Crisis and in the English Civil War, th ...

, on 7 June 1887 and was promoted to lieutenant on 17 November 1888. He then transferred to the Regular Army as an officer in the KKRC on 29 October 1889.Thoyts, p. 310. He was posted to the Isle of Wight (IoW) in 1892 and joined the Island Sailing Club.. He later lived at Apley Rise in Ryde, IoW. On 18 February 1897 he married Beatrice Zoe, youngest daughter of the late Sir Richard Sutton, 4th Baronet. Among his fellow sailors in the crew of ''Cobweb'' in 1908 were his brothers-in-law Henry Sutton and Blair Cochrane. He served with the KKRC in the Second Boer War. On his return home he resigned from the army but on 23 May 1913 he took command of Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles of the Territorial Force as Lieutenant-Colonel. In World War I he commanded the battalion in the disastrous action at

Suvla Bay file:Suvla from Battleship Hill.jpg, View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landi ...

during the Gallipoli campaign, but was evacuated with sunstroke.''Army List''. He then served in wartime food control in the IoW and Channel Islands. He served as commodore of the Bembridge Sailing Club and was a member of the Royal Victoria, Solent, and Lymington sailing clubs as well as the Island sailing club. His wife died on 7 November 1921.

References

Sources

* * * * ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. * Emma Elizabeth Thoyts, ''History of the Royal Berkshire Militia (Now 3rd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment)'', Sulhamstead, Berks, 1897/Scholar Select, ISBN 978-1-37645405-5. 1870 births 1947 deaths British male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Great Britain English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 1908 Summer Olympics – 8 Metre Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics King's Royal Rifle Corps officers {{UK-yachtracing-bio-stub