The Greater Game

• 10th Aug 2008 at 9:24:49 pm by Liam Doyle
• Item type: product

Sporting Icons Who Fell in The Great War

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At the outbreak of war in the summer of 1914, Dr. W. G. Grace urged cricketers to join the colours by declaring it not fitting

that able-bodied men should be playing day by day and pleasure-seekers look on. There are so many who are young and able and are still hanging back. I should like to see all first-class cricketers of a suitable age set a good example....

Like hundreds of thousands of others from all walks of life, sportsmen were not slow to respond to their country's call.

In The Greater Game, authors Clive Harris and Julian Whippy tell the stories of some of those who did not return. Both authors are qualified and well-respected battlefield guides with Battle Honours Limited and so are well acquainted with the battlefields, memorials and cemeteries the book describes. Within its pages are Olympic gold medallists, Wimbledon champions, a Tour de France winner, international rugby players and professional footballers.

Of the book's 19 chapters, 11 are devoted to famous sportsmen of the pre-war period (3 rugby union players, 2 footballers and 1 each from tennis, Aussie rules, ice hockey, rowing, rugby league and cricket, of whom six are English, two are Australian and one Canadian, one New Zealander and one Scot) who were later killed in action. The remaining 8 chapters cover French sportsmen (including the 1909 Tour de France winner, Francois Faber), boxers, association football, Heart of Midlothian FC, a golf-dominated chapter entitled "Sporting Units", the 'Footballer's Battalions', the 'Sportsman's Battalions' and finally the Army Physical Training unit.

Each chapter is well researched and well written, and often very moving (I can think of no better way of describing the emotions that the Great War generates, so often borne out in this book, than by quoting historian Richard Holmes, who wrote the foreword for this book, who said "the sufferings of my grandfather's generation both lifted my spirits and broke my heart") and as such has appeal to both the sports fan and the Great War historian (and I have a foot in both camps!).

Both authors are football fans so this probably explains why so much of the book focuses on footballers. Whilst their sacrifices are no less moving than those of other sportsmen, I found it a little disappointing that so much space should be given over to once sport at the expense of others. For instance, whilst rugby does get a fair amount of coverage, there was no mention of the 30 Scottish rugby internationals killed in action, the highest casualty rate amongst the home unions. If nothing else, the story of David Revell Bedell-Sivright who captained both Scotland and the British Lions and who died at Gallipoli on 1915 is worth telling (the Commonwealth War Graves Commission produce an excellent leaflet featuring some of rugby's Great War dead).

Unfortunately, just a single cricketer, Colin Blythe, is included (the Australian, Tibbie Cotter is mentioned in the same chapter). There is no mention of the numerous of cricketers who were killed in action (34 county cricketers alone), including Major Booth, Percy Jeeves (whose name lives on as P. G. Wodehouse's fictional butler) and the South African, Gordon White.

An obvious omission from this book is the USA. Whilst they didn't join the war until 1917 (but it is worth remembering that not every combatant nation went to war in August 1914), they too lost several sports stars (for instance Captain Eddie Grant – baseball's "Harvard Eddie" - who was killed in the Argonne Forest in October 1918). Then there are the Russians, Belguims and Italians, and should the book have also covered the Central powers (Germany, Austro-Hungary, Turkey and others)? The latter would have been a particular challenge, but undoubtedly of value considering how little attention this particular area has received to date.

You have probably guessed that I am no football fan, but saying this, one of the most fascinating chapters was the story of footballer Sandy Turnball (demonstrating that the concept of match fixing is not a modern cricket phenomena). Another chapter of particular interest was that about the Sportsman's Battalions (I grew up in Hornchurch where this particular unit was based in 1914-15).

I can't help the feeling that the authors would have preferred to concentrate solely on football. In so doing, the result would have still been an important piece of research, but would have had less broad appeal. But by covering a broader range of sports there are always going to be omissions - frustrating if you are interested more in one particular sport over others. Saying this, however, shouldn't detract from the fact that this is still a decent book and an important contribution to the study of both the Great War and the history of sport.

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