William Drysdale (4 November 1876 – 29 September 1916) was a Scottish 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 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 ...

officer. The son of William Drysdale senior, he was born at

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

in November 1876. He was educated at

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...

, where he played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. After leaving Loretto, he decided on a career in the

and attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He graduated 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 ...

into the Royal Scots in September 1896. Shortly after graduating he served 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 ...

and

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, with promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

coming in August 1898. While in British India, he played

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 ...

on four occasions all against the Parsees cricket team in the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

between 1900 and 1902. He scored 92 runs in his four matches, with a high score of 55. He was awarded a medal for attempting to save the life of comrade from drowning in 1902. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in November 1902. He married Mary Louisa Mackenzie, the daughter of Sir John Muir Mackenzie, in January 1904. Drysdale later attended the Staff College in 1908 and 1909, captaining their cricket team. Drysdale served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, where he was wounded in action and earned the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

during the First Battle of Ypres for showing “an unsurpassed example of fearlessness and courage, refusing to quit his brigade when wounded”. In February 1915 he was promoted to

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 ...

. He was given command of the 7th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment in October 1915. He was made a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in June 1916, while the following month he was again wounded in action during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge when storming the village of Bazentinle-Petit. After recovering from his wounds, he returned to his battalion September, but was killed on the 29th of the same month by a German sniper when looking over a trench near

Gueudecourt Gueudecourt () is a Communes of France, commune in the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History During the Battle of the Somme (1916), Battle of the Somme, the town of Gueudecourt ...

. He is buried at the

Caterpillar Valley Cemetery Caterpillar Valley Cemetery is a World War I Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Longueval, France. The cemetery is named after Caterpillar Valley which was the name given by the British army to the long valley which rises eastwards to ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale, William 1876 births 1916 deaths Sportspeople from Kirkcaldy People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Scots officers Scottish cricketers Europeans cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Leicestershire Regiment officers British military personnel killed in World War I Deaths by firearm in France