Lawrence le Fleming

Lawrence Julius le Fleming (3 June 1879 – 21 March 1918) was an English British Army officer who played first-class cricket for Kent and the Army.[1]

Early life and family

Le Fleming was born at Tonbridge in Kent. He was the sixth son of John le Fleming of Tonbridge; his older brother, also John, played cricket for Kent and was capped once for England at rugby union. Lawrence le Fleming married in December 1914, but his wife died in July 1917 leaving two small daughters.[2]

Cricket

Educated at Tonbridge School where he was in the school cricket team, le Fleming was a right-handed middle-order batsman.[3] In his first first-class game for Kent in 1897, he made 40 out of a total of 123 against Middlesex, but this remained his highest score and he did not appear in county cricket after 1899.[4] His only other first-class appearance was in the game between the Army and the Royal Navy in 1912, the first year in which inter-services matches were given first-class status.[5]

Military career

Le Fleming was commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment as a second lieutenant on 18 October 1899 and saw active service during the Second Boer War, when he was present at the relief of Ladysmith and took part in the battles at Colenso and Spion Kop.[2] While in South Africa, he was promoted to lieutenant on 30 january 1901.[6] Following the end of the war in June 1902, Le Fleming returned to the United Kingdom on the SS Golconda which arrived at Southampton in early September.[7]

He was on the staff at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst when the First World War broke out, but resigned to rejoin his regiment.[2] He was wounded twice and returned to Sandhurst in 1915 in charge of a "gentlemen corps" of cadets, but went back to active service in 1917 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in charge of a battalion of the East Surrey Regiment, and was killed at Maissemy, Aisne, France in March 1918.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Lawrence le Fleming". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Fallen Officers". The Times (41757). London. 6 April 1918. p. 8. (Subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ "Obituaries during the War, 1918". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack/www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "Scorecard: Middlesex v Kent". www.cricketarchive.com. 26 August 1897. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Scorecard: Army v Royal Navy". www.cricketarchive.com. 30 May 1912. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Hart´s Army list, 1903
  7. ↑ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times (36858). London. 28 August 1902. p. 9.
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