Leslie_Hancock_(cricketer)

Leslie Hancock (cricketer)

Leslie Hancock (cricketer)

English cricketer and British Army officer (1899–1944)

Leslie Frank Hancock OBE (25 October 1899 – 12 July 1944) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

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Hancock was born at Jamnagar in British India to a British Indian Army major. He was educated in England at Cheltenham College, deciding upon the completion of his education to take a career in the military.[1] Going up to the Royal Military College, he graduated into the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant in July 1921,[2] before gaining the rank of lieutenant in July 1923.[3] He played first-class cricket twice for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1926 against Wales and Cambridge University, with both matches played at Lord's.[4] He scored 24 runs in his two matches,[5] in addition to taking a single wicket with his right-arm medium-fast bowling, that of Wales' Cyril Rowland.[6]

He was granted the temporary rank of captain while serving as an adjutant with the Territorial Army in October 1929,[7] later gaining the rank in full in July 1932.[8] Hancock later served in the Second World War with the Royal Engineers, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.[1] In the aftermath of the Normandy Landings in June 1944, Hancock commanded engineers constructing advanced landing grounds (ALG). While overseeing the construction of the Royal Air Force ALG B-12 at Ellon, Hancock was killed when the jeep he was travelling in struck a landmine near Maupertus-sur-Mer on 12 July.[9] His body was buried shortly thereafter at the Bayeux war cemetery.[10] He was survived by his wife, the actress Ellen Pollock, with whom he had one son.[11] He was posthumously made an OBE in the 1945 New Year Honours for his services during the war.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    McCrery, Nigel (2011). The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two. Vol. 2nd. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1526706980.
  2. [2]
    "No. 32404". The London Gazette. 26 July 1921. p. 6000.
  3. [3]
    "No. 32844". The London Gazette. 13 July 1923. p. 4885.
  4. [4]
    "First-Class Matches played by Donald Ray". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  5. [5]
    "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Leslie Hancock". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  6. [6]
    "Marylebone Cricket Club v Wales, 1926". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  7. [7]
    "No. 33551". The London Gazette. 12 November 1929. p. 7307.
  8. [8]
    "No. 33845". The London Gazette. 12 July 1932. p. 4559.
  9. [9]
    "ALG B-12 – Ellon". www.dday-overlord.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  10. [10]
    "Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Frank Hancock". www.cwgc.org. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  11. [11]
    The World Who's who of Women. Vol. 10. Melrose Press. 1900. p. 666.
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