Oswald Charles Dawson (1 September 1919 – 22 December 2008) was a South African

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 str ...

er who played in 9 Test matches, all against England, in the 1947 and 1948–49 series. He was a medium pace bowler and a useful late middle order batsman who was an important player for

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

from 1938–39 to 1949–50 and

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

from 1951–52 to 1961–62. He also played baseball for Natal. His brother Denis played cricket for Kenya and East Africa. Before he came to prominence on the cricket field, he had a distinguished record in

World War II 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 opposing ...

. He served with the

Royal Durban Light Infantry The Durban Light Infantry is a Motorised Infantry regiment of the South African Army. It lost its status as a Mechanised infantry regiment in 2010 in line with the rationalisation of resources. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equival ...

at the

Battle of El Alamein There were two battles of El Alamein in World War II, both fought in 1942. The Battles occurred in North Africa, in Egypt, in and around an area named after a railway stop called El Alamein. * First Battle of El Alamein: 1–27 July 1942 * Secon ...

and later won a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

References

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* 1919 births 2008 deaths South African people of British descent White South African people South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Border cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Recipients of the Military Cross South African military personnel of World War II South African Army officers South African recipients of British honours {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-1910s-stub