Wilfrid Francis Reay (12 June 1891 − 8 October 1915) was an English 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 and British Army officer. The son of J. H. Reay, a civil servant, he was born at Wallington in June 1891. He worked in the London Stock Exchange as an authorised clerk, and was married to Dorothy Katherine Livermore. He made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Gentlemen of England against Oxford University at Eastbourne in June 1910. Batting once in the match, he scored 5 not out in the Gentlemen of England first-innings, while with the ball he took a single wicket in the Oxford first-innings when he dismissed Charles Hooman, finishing with figures of 1 for 51 from eleven overs. He served in the First World War with the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

as part of The Stockbrokers' Battalion, enlisting in August 1914 as a lance corporal. He landed in

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

in on 30 July 1915, with his battalion sent to

Tilques Tilques (; vls, Tileke) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region in northern France. The placename derives from medieval Flemish: ''Tilleke''. Geography Tilques is located 4 miles (6 km) north of Saint-Omer, at ...

. He was killed in action nearby on 8 October 1915. 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 ...

. His brother, Gilly, was also a first-class cricketer.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reay, Wilfrid 1891 births 1915 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Sutton Missing in action of World War I People from Wallington, London Cricketers from the London Borough of Sutton English cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Fusiliers soldiers British military personnel killed in World War I