Robert Melsome
Encyclopedia
Brigadier
Robert George William Melsome MBE
(16 January 1906–3 November 1991) was a senior British Army
officer and English cricket
er. He saw active service during the Second World War, but spent much of the war as a prisoner of war
in Germany.
A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace
bowler, he played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
between 1925 and 1934. He also played first-class cricket
for the Army
and Combined Services
in addition to international matches for Egypt
and Nigeria.
match against Glamorgan
in July 1925. He played seven more County Championship matches that season
, all at home. He played first-class cricket for the Army for the first time in the 1926 season
, playing against Oxford University
, Cambridge University
and the Royal Navy
. He also played a County Championship match against Hampshire
and against Australia for Gloucestershire.
His cricket career took on a somewhat international dimension over the following few years. In April 1927 he played twice for the Free Foresters
against Egypt, once in Cairo
and once in Alexandria
. In May 1928 he played for Shanghai
against Hong Kong
and in 1931 played for the Gezira Sporting Club
against HM Martineau's XI
.
Back in England
during the 1931 season
, he played first-class cricket for the Combined Services
against New Zealand and for the Army against the MCC
. He returned to Egypt
the following year, playing twice for their national side against HM Martineau's XI.
He played five times for Gloucestershire during the 1933 English cricket season
, four County Championship matches and a match against Oxford University. He also played a first-class match for the Army against the West Indies.
His final match for Gloucestershire was a County Championship match against Sussex
during the 1934 season
, but he continued to play representative cricket for the Army, playing a first-class match against Cambridge University every year between 1935 and 1938, also playing non-first-class matches against Australia in 1934 and 1938 and against the West Indies in 1939.
In 1937 he played a first-class match for the Combined Services against New Zealand and his final first-class match came the next year when he played for the Army against Oxford University. He later played for the Nigerian national side against Gold Coast in April 1949.
as a second lieutenant
on 4 February 1926 and was promoted to lieutenant
exactly three years later. On 30 January 1936 he was seconded to command a Cadet Company at Sandhurst, he was promoted to captain
on 7 July 1937, remaining at Sandhurst.
He continued his service into the Second World War, but was captured early in the war, on 28 May 1940, during the Battle of France
and spent most of the war in German prisoner of war
camps. Despite his capture, he was promoted major on 4 February 1943. After the war he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 14 November 1946 for his actions as a POW, the recommendation for the award describes how he was held at Oflags VIB and Oflags VIIB where he worked on the escape committee and other organisations set up by the POWs, and between October 1942 and February 1945 he managed to establish contact with the War Office
and transmit various pieces of useful secret information. His work was also highly commended by Major General Sir Victor Fortune
and other senior officers.
Melsome was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 6 January 1948, and employed in that rank until 6 January 1951. He was promoted colonel on 7 February 1952, and to the substantive rank of brigadier (having previously held the rank on a temporary basis) on 12 September 1957. He retired on 1 March 1961.
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Robert George William Melsome MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(16 January 1906–3 November 1991) was a senior British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer and English cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. He saw active service during the Second World War, but spent much of the war as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in Germany.
A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
bowler, he played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
between 1925 and 1934. He also played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for the Army
British Army cricket team
The Army cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Army. The team played a number of first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined "Army and Navy" side had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team in 1910 and 1911...
and Combined Services
Combined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
in addition to international matches for Egypt
Egypt national cricket team
The Egypt national cricket team was the team that represented the country of Egypt in international cricket matches. They were active from 1909 until World War II.-Early years:...
and Nigeria.
Cricket career
Robert Melsome made his debut for Gloucestershire in a County ChampionshipCounty Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
match against Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
in July 1925. He played seven more County Championship matches that season
1925 English cricket season
The 1925 English cricket season did not have a Test series and the focus was ostensibly upon the County Championship, except that proceedings were dominated by Jack Hobbs who scored a then-record 16 centuries and 3024 runs. Along the way, Hobbs equalled and then surpassed the career record for...
, all at home. He played first-class cricket for the Army for the first time in the 1926 season
1926 English cricket season
The 1926 English cricket season saw England regain the Ashes. Lancashire overcame its eternal rivals and began a hat-trick sequence of county titles.-Honours:*County Championship - Lancashire*Minor Counties Championship - Durham...
, playing against Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
, Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and the Royal Navy
Royal Navy Cricket Club
The Royal Navy Cricket Club is a cricket team representing the British Royal Navy and based at the United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth, Hampshire...
. He also played a County Championship match against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
and against Australia for Gloucestershire.
His cricket career took on a somewhat international dimension over the following few years. In April 1927 he played twice for the Free Foresters
Free Foresters Cricket Club
Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' club, having no home ground....
against Egypt, once in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and once in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. In May 1928 he played for Shanghai
Shanghai cricket team
The Shanghai cricket team was a cricket team that played various international matches between 1866 and 1948. With cricket in the rest of China almost non-existent, for that period they were the de facto Chinese national side.-History:...
against Hong Kong
Hong Kong cricket team
The Hong Kong cricket team represents Hong Kong in international cricket. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969....
and in 1931 played for the Gezira Sporting Club
Gezira Sporting Club
The Gezira Sporting Club is the largest multi-sport facility in Egypt. It was founded in 1882 and was originally called Khedivial Sporting Club. It is located on the island of Zamalek in Cairo.-History:...
against HM Martineau's XI
Hubert Martineau
Hubert Melville Martineau was an English patron of cricket and organiser of his own team. He also played three first-class matches between 1931 and 1932...
.
Back in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the 1931 season
1931 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Leicestershire II*Wisden - Bill Bowes, Charles Dempster, James Langridge, Nawab of Pataudi, senior, Hedley Verity-Test series:...
, he played first-class cricket for the Combined Services
Combined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
against New Zealand and for the Army against the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
. He returned to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
the following year, playing twice for their national side against HM Martineau's XI.
He played five times for Gloucestershire during the 1933 English cricket season
1933 English cricket season
In the 1933 English cricket season, Yorkshire's dominance continued with a third successive championship.-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - undecided...
, four County Championship matches and a match against Oxford University. He also played a first-class match for the Army against the West Indies.
His final match for Gloucestershire was a County Championship match against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
during the 1934 season
1934 English cricket season
The 1934 English cricket season saw England lose the Ashes they had won via Bodyline in 1932-3, with Don Bradman again the crucial difference between two very strong teams.-Honours:*County Championship - Lancashire...
, but he continued to play representative cricket for the Army, playing a first-class match against Cambridge University every year between 1935 and 1938, also playing non-first-class matches against Australia in 1934 and 1938 and against the West Indies in 1939.
In 1937 he played a first-class match for the Combined Services against New Zealand and his final first-class match came the next year when he played for the Army against Oxford University. He later played for the Nigerian national side against Gold Coast in April 1949.
Army career
After graduating from Royal Military College Sandhurst Melsome was commissioned into the Northamptonshire RegimentNorthamptonshire Regiment
The Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...
as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 4 February 1926 and was promoted to lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
exactly three years later. On 30 January 1936 he was seconded to command a Cadet Company at Sandhurst, he was promoted to captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...
on 7 July 1937, remaining at Sandhurst.
He continued his service into the Second World War, but was captured early in the war, on 28 May 1940, during the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and spent most of the war in German prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camps. Despite his capture, he was promoted major on 4 February 1943. After the war he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 14 November 1946 for his actions as a POW, the recommendation for the award describes how he was held at Oflags VIB and Oflags VIIB where he worked on the escape committee and other organisations set up by the POWs, and between October 1942 and February 1945 he managed to establish contact with the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
and transmit various pieces of useful secret information. His work was also highly commended by Major General Sir Victor Fortune
Victor Fortune
Major-General Sir Victor Morven Fortune KBE, CB, DSO was a British Army officer. He saw service in both World Wars...
and other senior officers.
Melsome was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 6 January 1948, and employed in that rank until 6 January 1951. He was promoted colonel on 7 February 1952, and to the substantive rank of brigadier (having previously held the rank on a temporary basis) on 12 September 1957. He retired on 1 March 1961.