The Coming Storm, page 13
Jose made two first-class appearances, his debut being for South Australia against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 January 1919. Victoria won the toss and made 374, the Australian test cricketer Warwick Windridge Armstrong making 162 not out. In reply South Australia made 359, Jose being run out for a duck. Percy Davies Rundell made a century. The Victoria and Australian test bowler Edgar Arthur McDonald (Wisden cricketer of the year 1922) taking six wickets for 111 off 20 overs. In their second innings Victoria made 252, the South Australian bowler Richard James Bruce Townsend taking five wickets for 27 off 12 overs. In reply South Australia made 159. Jose was bowled by McDonald for a duck. McDonald took six wickets during the innings for 69 off 12 overs. Victoria won by 108 runs.
Jose made his second first-class appearance for South Australia against the MCC at the Adelaide Oval on 11 March 1921. South Australia won the toss and decided to bat making 195, Jose making 16 before being caught by Jack Russell (Wisden cricketer of the year 1923) off the bowling of the famous Percy Fender (Wisden cricketer of the year 1915). Fender took seven wickets during the innings for 75 runs off 24 overs. In reply the MCC made 627. Wilfred Rhodes (Wisden cricketer of the year 1899) made 210, Jack Russell 210 and John William Henry Tyler Douglas (Wisden cricketer of the year 1915) 106. In their second innings South Australia made 369, Jose lbw Frank Woolley (Wisden cricketer of the year 1911) for two. Percy Rundell made 121. The MCC won by an innings and 63 runs.
Jose took a commission into the Australian Army Medical Corps on 31 October 1940 at Woodville South Australia. Rising to the rank of major, he was attached to the 10th Australian General Hospital and was taken prisoner of war when the Japanese captured Singapore. He was kept at Changi and died there of dysentery on 27 March 1942. The record of his death notes, ‘Gilbert Jose (MO Major SX11028) died at 0645 after dysentery lasting only a few days. Extreme toxaemia and delirium for about 3 days, then coma for 2. Buried in AIF Cemetery Changi, about 1½ miles from Roberts Barracks on main Singapore road. Maximum number of dysentery cases 469.’
He is buried in Kranji War Cemetery grave reference 2. A. 11.
Jose had two brothers, Wilfred Oswald who was killed in action on 2 April 1917 aged 22 as a lieutenant with the 10th Battalion Australian Infantry, and Ivan Bede, also a surgeon, who won the MC during the First World War later becoming chief surgeon at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and being knighted. His son, Tony Jose, was also a first-class cricketer playing twenty-nine first-class matches, for South Australia, Oxford University and Kent.
Batting and fielding averages
Bowling averages
Captain John Robert Shadwell
Europeans (India)
One first-class appearance
1st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment
Died 25 April 1942, aged 23
‘A fine man and officer’
John Shadwell was born in 1919 in Stockbridge, Hampshire. He was the son of Frederick Charles and Elsie May of Over Wallop.
Shadwell made one first-class appearance, for the Europeans against the Indians in a Madras Presidency match played on 12 January 1941 at the Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk. India won the toss and decided to bat making 209, the Indian bowler J.S. Versey-Brown taking five wickets for 47 off 22 overs. In reply the Europeans made 164. Shadwell was caught by T.D. Narayanaswami Rao off the bowling of Amritsar Govindsingh Ram Singh for one, the Indian test cricketer Commandur Rajagopalachari Rangachari taking five wickets for 41 off 19 overs. In their second innings the Indians made 168, Versey-Brown once again taking five wickets, for 64 off 24 overs. In reply the Europeans made 116, Shadwell making one before being caught and bowled by A.G. Ram Singh who took six wickets for 59 off 22 overs. The Indians won by 97 runs.
On the outbreak of war the 1st Battalion was stationed in Bangalore. Shortly afterwards they moved to Madras to take up costal defense duties. They were destined to remain in India until 1944 with many men getting posted to units elsewhere.
Captain John Robert Shadwell was taken ill and died on 25 April 1942. He is buried in Kirkee War Cemetery, Poona, on the Plateau above Bombay, grave reference 3. G. 3.
Batting and fielding averages
Bowling averages
Pilot Officer Ross Gerald Gregory
Australia-Victoria
Two tests, thirty-three first-class
appearances
215 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force
Died 10 June 1942, aged 26
Right-handed bat/Leg break
‘one of nature’s gentleman’
Ross Gregory was born on 28 February 1916 in Murchison, Victoria. He was the son of Arthur Gerald St John Gregory and Olive Annie, of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia. He was educated at the Gardenvale State School where his talent for cricket first came to notice. He was in the school XI, later captaining the side which won the premiership in 1930. By the time he was 15 he had twice been selected to play for the Victorian’s schoolboys. He went up to Wesley College, Melbourne, and while there was considered a schoolboy prodigy, making his first-class debut for Victoria while still at school. The match was played against Western Australia on 15 February 1934 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Western Australia won the toss and decided to bat making 185. Gregory took four wickets for 50 runs off 16 overs: Francis James Alexander caught and bowled for 45, Richard John Bryant caught Edward Henry George Vernon for four, Albert James Ditchburn caught and bowled for two, and John Raymond Jones caught and bowled for seven. In reply Victoria made 438, Gregory making five before being bowled by Mervyn Inverarity. Arthur Henry Allsopp made 146. In their second innings Western Australia made 133, Gregory taking one further wicket for 23 off nine overs.
Gregory was also a gifted rower, and in the winter represented Wesley’s senior Australian Rules football side. Gregory was a good student and would eventually become a qualified accountant.
He went on to play against the MCC, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and New Zealand in Australia. He also turned out for D.G. Bradman’s XI against V.Y. Richardson’s XI and K.E. Rigg’s XI against S.J. McCabe’s XI and D.G. Bradman’s XI. On 20 November 1936 he played for an Australian XI against the MCC taking two wickets and scoring 14 runs. The match was drawn.
He made his final first-class appearance for Victoria against South Australia on 24 February 1939 in the Sheffield Shield at the Adelaide Oval. South Australia won the toss and decided to field. Victoria made 321. Gregory made 33 before being bowled by Harold Norman Jack Cotton. The Australian test cricketer Lindsay Hassett made 102. In reply South Australia made 207. Gregory bowled two overs taking no wickets for 13 runs. The match was drawn.
Gregory made his test debut a few weeks after his twenty-first birthday, being nicknamed ‘Baby’ because of his youth. He was selected for the fourth test during the 1936-7 Ashes series. The test was played on 29 January 1936 at the Adelaide Oval. Australia won the toss and decided to bat making 288. Gregory made 23 before being lbw off the bowling of Wally Hammond. In reply England made 330, Gregory bowling three overs for no wickets for fourteen 14 runs and Charles John Barnett making 129. In their second innings Australia made 433, Gregory making 50 before being run out. Donald Bradman made 212. Wally Hammond took five wickets for 57 off 15 overs. In their second innings England made 243. Gregory caught George Oswald Browning ‘Gubby’ Allen off the bowling of Ernest McCormick. Leslie O’Brien Fleetwood-Smith took six wickets for 110 runs off 30 overs. Australia won by 148 runs.
He was selected again for the fifth test on 27 February 1937 played at the Melbourne Cricket Club. Australia won the toss and decided to bat making an impressive 604, Gregory making 80 before being caught by Hedley Verity (Wisden cricketer of the year 1932) off the bowling of Kenneth Farnes. Farnes took six wickets from the innings for 96 off 28 overs. Bradman made 169, McCabe 112 and Jack Badcock 118. In reply England made 239. Following on, England made 165. It was a disaster for England as Australia took the match by an innings and 200 runs. Australia also took the series 3-2.
These were to be Gregory’s only two test appearances, however he continued to play for Victoria and his club side, St Kilda.
During his career played in two tests, making 153 runs his highest score being 80 against England. He also bowled 24 balls for 14 runs. He took one catch. He also made thirty-three first-class matches, making 1,874 runs, his highest score being 128 for Victoria against the MCC, his stand with Ian Somerville Lee for 262 being a fourth wicket record against an England team. He also made seventeen fifties. He bowled 3,709 balls taking 50 wickets, his best figures being five for 69. He made twenty catches.
On 18 August 1940 Gregory enlisted into the ranks of the Royal Australian Air Force, later becoming a sergeant. After his initial training, he was selected to become a navigator before embarking on the Awatea in June 1941 bound for England. After further training in Scotland he was posted to 99 squadron RAF where he flew in both Vickers and Wellingtons. He took part in his first operation in December 1941 in an attack on Le Havre. This was followed by several more operations over Germany and Norway. He was transferred to 215 Squadron and commissioned to pilot officer shortly before departing for India to engage the Japanese. On 10 June 1942 Gregory, together with other Boston Bomber aircraft from 215 squadron, left base in Calcutta to bomb targets in Burma. As the squadron flew across East Bengal (now Bangladesh) they were caught up in a severe storm. Witnesses on the ground stated that the aircraft was trailing smoke before it disintegrated in mid-air, scattering the aircraft and six crew over a wide area. Locals managed to retrieve the bodies of the crew, including Gregory, and bury them in a communal grave near the crash site (due to severe tropical storms the graves were later lost). Whether he had a premonition or was just trying to comfort his family if anything did happen, he wrote to his family shortly before his death, ‘take a certain amount of comfort from the knowledge that I went down doing my duty.’
He is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial in Kranji War Cemetery, column 421. Fourteen days later the news of his death reached Australia. St Kilda Cricket Club’s Ross Gregory Oval is named in his honour. Gregory is also commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.
Batting and fielding averages
Bowling averages
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bevan
Army
One first-class match
3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards
Died 12 June 1942, aged 42
Right-handed bat
‘Died fighting bravely to the end’
Thomas Bevan was born on 14 February 1900 in Crayford, Kent. He was the son of Wilfred and Ethel Marion Bevan. Bevan, a fine cricketer, was educated at Eton where he was quickly in the XI. During 1918 he played against Eton Ramblers (drawn), Charterhouse (won by an innings and 72 runs), Harrow (drawn) and Winchester (drawn).
Deciding on a career in the army he first went to Sandhurst before taking a commission into the Grenadier Guards. He continued playing cricket, turning out mainly for the Household Brigade, but also the Coldstream Guards, the MCC, and Suffolk. He also played for the Army twice, once against the Public Schools on 3 August 1927 at Lord’s (drawn) and against the RAF. The latter was a first-class game.
Bevan played for the Army against the RAF on 13 June 1928 at the Oval. The RAF won the toss and decided to bat making 303. In reply the Army made 105, Bevan making six before being caught by Morton Swan Shapcott off the bowling of Richard Peter Hugh Utley. Forced to follow on, the Army made 205. Bevan made one before being caught by Reginald Fulljames off the bowling of Charles Blount. The RAF won by ten wickets.
Moving through the ranks, Bevan finally became a lieutenant colonel and commanded the 3rd Battalion the Coldstream Guards.
During all of this he also found time to meet and marry Sylvia (née Harker) of Oakham, Rutland.
Sent to the Western Desert he took part in the battle of Gazala and the Cauldron.
Between late January and May, following their withdrawal from the German front at Agedabia, the British created the ‘Gazala Line’. This was made up not of a straight line of well dug-in trenches, but a series of defended ‘boxes’ running from Gazala on the eastern side of Jebel south into the desert. A full brigade was dug in behind belts of barbed wire, and minefields supported each box. The boxes were too widely separated to provide mutual support so the areas between them were patrolled by roving armoured units. One of these defensive positions was called the ‘Knightsbridge Box’. This box was manned by the 201st Guards Brigade. German tactics against these defences involved a full-frontal assault to the north before sending their Panzers around the southern flank. The Germans put their plan into action on 26 May 1942, with a hook east and north towards Sidi Rezegh. This assault was immediately successful. By the afternoon of the 27th the German attack had shattered the 7th Armoured Division and they were in position to assault the 201st Guards Brigade in the Knightsbridge Box.
On 29 May 1942 the Kensington Box was attacked by the 15th Panzer Division who were forced to stop their advance due to lack of fuel and ammunition. The Germans started to open lanes through the British minefield, however they were engaged by artillery from Knightsbridge and the Guards. The fighting continued with the Knightsbridge Box fighting furiously and hanging on. On 11 June, Rommel pushed the 15th Panzer Division and 90th Light Afrika Division towards El Adem and by 12 June had forced the 201st Guards Brigade to withdraw from the Knightsbridge Box to the Tobruk perimeter. The following day the Knightsbridge Box was virtually surrounded and was abandoned by the Guards Brigade. Due to these defeats, 13 June became known as ‘Black Saturday’ to the Eighth Army. It was during this action that the much-respected Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bevan was seriously wounded, dying of his wounds on 13 June 1942.
He is buried in Tobruk War Cemetery, grave reference 2. F 19.
Batting and fielding averages
Bowling averages
Pilot Officer Henry Filby Myles
Western Province, Rhodesia
Three first-class appearances
RAF Volunteer Reserve
Died 15 June 1942, aged 30
Right-hand bat
‘Could hit a ball harder than anyone I have ever seen’
Henry Myles was born on 6 June 1911 in Cape Town. He was the son of Henry and Rebecca Myles of Rondebosch.
Myles made three first-class appearances for Western Province and Rhodesia between 1930 and 1936, his debut being for Western Province against the MCC in South Africa on 8 November 1930 at the Newlands, Cape Town. Western Province won the toss and decided to bat making 113, Myles making the top score of the innings with 35 before being stumped by George Duckworth (Wisden cricketer of the year 1929) off the bowling of Wally Hammond (Wisden cricketer of the year 1928). Maurice William Tate (Wisden cricketer of the year 1924) took five wickets for 18 off 12 overs. In reply the MCC made 412, Bob Wyatt (Wisden cricketer of the year 1930) making 138 and Hammond 100. In reply Western Province made 122, Myers making five before being bowled by Morris Leyland (Wisden cricketer of the year 1929). Not surprisingly, given how many cricketers of the year filled their ranks, the MCC won by and innings and 177 runs.
Blenheim IV, as piloted by Myles.
Myles made his second first-class appearance for Western Province against Griqualand West. The match was played on 6 December 1930 at Newlands. Western Province won the toss and decided to bat making 290. Myles made 11 before being caught by Neville Anthony Quinn off the bowling of Ernest George Bock. Dave Nourse made 101 and Kenneth Charles Myburgh Hands 102. In reply Griqualand West made 148. In their second innings Western Province made 121, Myles only managing three before being bowled by Quinn. In their second innings Griqualand West made 133 all out. Western Province won by 177 runs.
Myles had to wait six years to make his final first-class appearance, this time playing for Rhodesia against the Transvaal. The match took place on 16 December 1936 at the Old Wanderers, Johannesburg. Transvaal won the toss and decided to bat making 262, John Heath Charsley taking six wickets for 92 off 29 overs. In reply Rhodesia only managed 83. Myles, opening for Rhodesia, was caught by Threlfall Werge Talbot Baines off the bowling of Neil Munro McAlpine for a duck. McAlpine took four wickets for 13 off 13 overs and Sydney Charles Parkyns five for 21 off ten overs. Forced to follow on, Rhodesia made 106. Myles made 12 before being bowled by Charles Henry Kingsley Jones. Transvaal won by an innings and 73 runs.
Myles joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve during the war being commissioned as a pilot officer and training as a pilot. Joining No. 1 (O) AFU in Scotland, he died on 15 June 1942 from multiple injuries when piloting Blenheim IV number P4858 when its engines cut out on take-off and it crashed into the ground near Trammonford Park, Wigtown. His crew was made up of Sergeant Observer John Russell and LAC Observer Ronald Stevenson Yeaman. They died with him.
Pilot Officer Henry Filby Myles is buried in Kirkinner Cemetery, grave reference 571.
Batting and fielding averages
Bowling averages
14963 Private Alastair Patrick Johnstone Monteath
Otago
Two first-class appearances
20th Battalion New Zealand Infantry
Died 27 June 1942, aged 28
Wicketkeeper
‘Died holding back Rommel’
Alastair Monteath was born on 12 September 1913 in Christchurch. He was the son of James and Muriel (née Devernish Meares) of 28 Poynder Avenue, Fendalton, Christchurch.
