RUGBY MATTERS
Varsity war heroes to be honoured at Twickenham
A CENTURY on from the height of World War 1 it is right that we continue to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the Varsity match is doing just that this year by specifically remembering both an Oxford and Cambridge captain who fell in 1917. Both former Cambridge captain John Argentine Campbell and Oxford’s Cecil Baker will be honoured before the game and earlier the month both their respective schools – Sherborne and Fettes College – dedicated matches to their memory. It would be fair to say that the Buenos Aires-born Campbell was a larger than life character on and off the field. He captained the Light Blues to a 22-0 win in 1899 in what was his third Varsity Match and then went on to win one cap for Scotland in 1900, giving him the distinction of being the first Argentine-born player to play international rugby. An athletics Blue, he also played cricket for Argentina and, as a ninegoal polo player was one of the highest rated in the world at the time. Only one British player in history – Gerald Blading, granddefied father of broadcaster Claire – has ever been ranked higher.
Campbell returned from his ranch to serve in World War 1 when, as a lieutenant in the 6th Dragoons (Inniskilling), he was reported missing in action in France on December 1, 1917, and died of wounds in a German field hospital a day later at the age of 40.
His son, JD ‘Jock’ Campbell played at Twickenham in 1927 for Cambridge having also gone to Fettes while grandson, also Jock, is now in charge of the ranch in BA having also attended Fettes and Cambridge. He is sending his niece, her husband and their eight-year-old son to the game next week to represent the family.
Baker was 46 when he was killed on the Western Front, another who had somehow his age and wrangled a commission so that he could join the fray. Baker made his debut in the Oxford pack in 1891 and was due to skipper the side a year later, but injury prevented him from playing in the Varsity Match.
He played again in 1893, when Oxford won 3-0, and also played for Blackheath before becoming a leading member of the London Stock Exchange. On joining up in 1915 he was made an acting captain in the Grenadier Guards and was killed in action at Le Bois des Crapouillots, near Ypres on July 29, 2017 and is buried at Duhallow ADS (Advanced Dressing Station) Cemetery near Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the Lord’s Cricket Ground MCC Members’ World War One war memorial in the Lord’s Pavilion.
“The two men have been designated as the first ‘Varsity Match Icons’ for this year’s match. As well as linking with their schools, we will also be joining forces with their colleges in the build-up to the big day at Twickenham in December and their lives will be recorded in the match programme,” says Varisty Match spokesman Jeremy Macklin.