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Olympians

 
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spoons



Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 4991
Location: St John's Town of Dalry

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:20 pm    Post subject: Olympians Reply with quote

Eric Liddell won a gold and a bronze in the 1924 Paris Olympics and is listed on the Scottish Rugby Union Memorial at Murrayfield.

Capt Henry Maitland Macintosh of the A&SH was the son of a minister (Rev William Macintosh) and was born in Kelso. He represented Great Britain at the 1912 Olympic games and was part of the gold medal winning sprint relay team. He was killed in action on the Somme on 26th July 1918 and is listed on the Kinross memorial.

Capt Wyndham Halswelle (Halswell) served with 1st Bn HLI won a gold medal at the 1908 London Olympics after his American competors refused to race. He was killed in action on 1st April 1915. I have not found him on any memorial.

\Paul
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DelBoy



Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 4858
Location: The County of Angus

PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No Scottish connection known except his regiment. So unlikely on a memorial in Scotland.

THORNTON, JOHN St. LEDGER
Rank: Major
Service No: 137019
Date of Death: 18/08/1944
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: Seaforth Highlanders
Grave Reference: V. D. 21.
Cemetery: BANNEVILLE-LA-CAMPAGNE WAR CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of the Revd. Claude Cyprian Thornton, M.A., and Alice May Thornton; husband of Joan Coulton-Thornton, of Oldcotes, Nottinghamshire. B.A., Hons. (Cantab.). Represented Great Britain at Hurdling in the Olympic Games, 1936.

Derek.
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spoons



Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 4991
Location: St John's Town of Dalry

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

of course they might be on regimental memorials but I am not aware of any (looked at St Giles in Edinburgh and St Mungos in Glasgow).

\Paul
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DerekR
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 3013
Location: Hawick, Scotland

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hawick’s First Olympic Medal

Ivan Laing was born in the family home of Springbank, the mill house situated above their Dickson and Laing’s factory in Commercial Road. Ivan grew up to be a distinguished all-round athlete, noted for his skill at swimming, rugby, where he played for the “Greens” and hockey. Indeed, all four Laing brothers played for the Teviotdale mixed hockey team which regularly competed against other Border teams.

The Olympic games of 1908 were held in London. This was the first time that hockey was played as an Olympic sport and the Scottish Hockey Association only reluctantly agreed to send a team to play with the other 3 home unions, France and Germany.
Ivan was a last minute inclusion into the Scotland hockey team and it has passed into Hawick folklore that as he stood on the platform at Hawick railway station, the train carrying the team to London pulled in. A team official recognised Ivan and he was asked if he would like to make up the team’s numbers.
Whatever the truth of the matter, on the 29th October, 1908, at the White City in London, Scotland beat Germany four-nil but were beaten six-one by England in the semi-finals the next day. Ivan played in both games, his first cap against Germany being memorable because he scored the first ever Olympic hockey goal in the very first Olympic hockey match. The Scotland team won the Olympic Bronze medal.

Not many years later Ivan Laing found himself playing in a much more serious and deadly game, serving as an officer in the Coldstream Guards during the First World War.
At the Battle of the Somme in 1916 he was awarded a Military Cross for his bravery.

On November 30th, 1917, at Cambrai in France, Walter Laing, an officer in the Coldstream Guards, composed a letter to his brother, Captain Maurice Laing of the artillery. It was an unpleasant letter to write because it told of the death of their brother Ivan:
‘they were ordered to retake Gouzeacourt which they did, but Ivan was killed by a machine-gun just as he had reached our objective and died instantly having been shot in the head.”

Ivan Laing was Hawick’s first medal winning Olympian and died aged just 32 years.
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DerekR
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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Location: Hawick, Scotland

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/597598/HALSWELL,%20WYNDHAM


HALSWELL, WYNDHAM

Rank:
Captain
Date of Death:
31/03/1915
Age:
32
Regiment/Service:
Highland Light Infantry

1st Bn.
Awards:
Mentioned in Despatches
Grave Reference
III. J. 2.
Cemetery
ROYAL IRISH RIFLES GRAVEYARD, LAVENTIE

Additional Information:

Son of Helen Halswell, of Wylmington Hayes, Honiton, Devon, and the late Keeley Halswell. Held the Amateur running records for quarter mile, 300 yards, and 220 yards.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Halswelle
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Stewartry



Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 274
Location: nr Nottingham

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:35 am    Post subject: Wyndham Halswelle Reply with quote

From the HLI Chronicle: Captain Wyndham Halswelle



Captain Wyndham Halswelle, Highland Light Infantry, who was killed on March 31, was one of the finest athletes the Army ever produced. At the Olympic Games in London in 1908 he broke the record for the quarter·mile, covering the distance in 48 2.5 seconds.

Born on May 30, 1882, and educated at Charterhouse and Sandhurst, he received his commission in the Highland Light Infantry in 1901, was promoted in 1905, and got his company in September, 1911. In the South African War he served with the Mounted Infantry, and took part in the operations in the Transvaal from February to May, 1902. He received the Queen's Medal with four clasps.
Those who followed the running at the Olympic Games in 1908 will remember the exciting final for the quarter-mile. Halswelle's rivals were T. C. Carpenter. W. C. Robbins, and J. B. Taylor (a negro), all representing the United States. At the critical point in the race Carpenter ran wide and elbowed Halswelle, forcing him very nearly off the track. The judges broke the tape before the runners could finish and declared the race void, disqualifying Carpenter. Halswelle, Robbins, and Taylor were ordered to run the race again in strings, but the two Americans declined to compete again, and the Englishman ran over the course in 50 see. In the semi-final his time had been 48 2.5 sec., which, as stated above, was a new Olympic record. In its account of his final run The Times said : - “He was accompanied round the course by loud cheers of sympathy. His own wish had been not to run unless the Americans, Robbins and Taylor, took part in the race. That was the real public school spirit, Scotch or other. He was ready to give up the coveted gold Olympic medal rather than take it when it was already his for fear of seeming in the very least degree unsportsmanlike. But of course there was no question of that. The officials of the A.A.A. quite rightly insisted on his running, and though he was denied the solid satisfaction of a real contest he has the consolation not only of having won the medal for his country but of having done the best time recorded in the race.” Captain Halswelle on one occasion won four international championships in one afternoon, creating two national records. In addition to the amateur record for the quarter-mile made at the Stadium, he held that for 300 yards, his time for the distance being 31 1.5 sec.

Captain Halswelle was wounded on March 12, but rejoined the 1st Battalion Highland Light Infantry as soon as the doctors would allow him, and, as already stated, was killed on March 31.—The Times, April 6th, 1915.
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David McNay
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 11425
Location: Lanarkshire, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some of Halswelles athletic medals are on display in the Royal Highland Fusiliers museum in Glasgow.
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DelBoy



Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 4858
Location: The County of Angus

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:04 am    Post subject: Re: Olympians Reply with quote

spoons wrote:
Eric Liddell won a gold and a bronze in the 1924 Paris Olympics and is listed on the Scottish Rugby Union Memorial at Murrayfield.
Paul


And at his site of death, with a memorial, in China. BBC Article

Derek.
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 7312
Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thomas Gillespie was a 1912 silver medallist in rowing. He was killed on 18th October 1914 at la Bassee whilst serving with the KOSB.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gillespie_(rower)

I've found him on Linlithgow War Memorial and the Cargilfield School War Memorial.

Adam
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