Lives in Cricket No 26 - HV Hesketh-Prichard

116 War and its Aftermath lower rate for an infantry captain. He was recommended at this time for a Military Cross, but GHQ blocked it. The military mind of the Great War passes all understanding. He was gazetted as a temporary captain from 1 January 1916. He continued to work on new ideas, though the Army was still not going to provide telescopic sights, but by February 1916 his health was suffering and the doctor diagnosed eye strain and consequent neuralgia and sleeplessness and ordered a month’s rest. In fact he had an attack of fever followed by jaundice and ended up at home for three months. On return he was immediately very busy and then, at the beginning of August, the Army set up the 1st Army Sniping School and put Hex in charge, though he had to make all speed to stop the Royal Flying Corps snaffling his desired site as an aerodrome! Then in September he was awarded his Military Cross after all ‘for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when sniping under conditions of very great danger’. But perhaps more importantly the citation then said ‘ this officer has been responsible for more German casualties than any other officer in the Army.’ What it did not say was how many British lives had been saved as a result of Hex’s training: he was inclined to think that the most important part of his work: one of his fellow officers estimated he had saved 3,600 lives in three months. Then in November, having been mentioned in despatches, he was promoted, from temporary captain to temporary major. He continued to work furiously, with new ideas, particularly about night- time shooting, But he was getting very tired. On 28 March he wrote home referring to himself as feeling ‘little’, something that would recur when he was ill. Still sometimes there was cricket. Parker refers to a game arranged on the anniversary of the Gentlemen v Players of 1904, where Hex apparently succeeded in persuading the opposing captain that he had forgotten how to play! This was 12 July 1917: The Signalling School have challenged us to cricket. One of their officers was doing a talk, and I was asking him what kind of a game cricket was, and he was telling me! To-day their challenge. I replied that we were too bad a side probably, as none of us had played for years, and he accepted my apology very nicely with a ‘Oh, that’s all right. We want to get some sort of a match.’ He then went on: Yesterday we played that match, and went in. Lost four wickets for five. Riviere and Eaton and I took score to thirty-six, then all out forty-two. They went in and got thirty-four for four. Then a few good ones and thirty-nine for nine. Then a real beauty that pitched outside leg stump and hit off, and we won by three. As they had had five weeks every day [sic] and we did nothing but go on the range and catch a tennis ball to buck the side, this was highly satisfactory. The little officer, whom, by the way, I asked which leg to put the pad on, was flabbergasted! Of another encounter Hex said ‘in summer we played some cricket matches,