Brigadier Adrian William Bay Becher (17 May 1897 – 29 March 1957) was a British Army officer and first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er. Born in Gloucestershire he was educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school ...

before entering the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

. Becher was commissioned into the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

(KOYLI) in the early months of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. After serving as an aide-de-camp he was promoted to the acting rank of captain and command of a company. He received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

on 16 August 1917 for his actions in leading his company in an assault on an enemy position. He received a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

to this medal on 19 November 1917 for holding a position with his company whilst a new trenchline was dug. In 1918 Becher served briefly as an observer officer with the newly founded

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. After the war Becher served as

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

with a KOYLI's Territorial Army battalion and as instructor with the

Small Arms School Corps The Small Arms School Corps (SASC) is a small corps of the British Army, established in 1853 by Lord Hardinge. Its personnel provide advice and instruction to infantry weapon trainers throughout the army, in order to maintain proficiency in th ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Becher commanded the 2nd battalion of the KOYLI in the defence of Burma. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

on 23 March 1944 for his service in the

Sicily Campaign The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

and promoted to the

temporary rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchy, hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibi ...

of brigadier. He was twice

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in 1945 for service in the

North West Europe Campaign The North West Europe campaign was a campaign by the British Commonwealth armed forces in North West Europe, including its skies and adjoining waters during World War II. The term Western Front has also sometimes been used informally. The United S ...

. Becher was also a commander of the Belgian

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium ...

and was awarded that nation's Croix de Guerre 1940 with palm. He retired from the army in 1948. Becher was a keen cricketer playing for his school team and for the

Europeans cricket team The Europeans cricket team was an Indian first-class cricket team which took part in the annual Bombay tournament and Lahore tournament. The team was founded by members of the European community in Bombay who played cricket at the Bombay Gymkha ...

in the Lahore Tournament whilst on service in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. When in England he played for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in the County Championship. Becher played twelve first-class matches.

Early life and cricket

The son of Charles Adrian Gough Becher, he was born in

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the villa ...

on 17 May 1897. Becher was educated at

, where he played for the school cricket team. While serving in the military in

, Becher made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

when he was selected to play for the

against the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

in the 1924–25 Lahore Tournament. Shortly after he returned to England, where he made his debut for

at Lord's against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

in the 1925 County Championship. Becher played for Gloucestershire during the remainder of the 1925 season, making seven first-class appearances. During the English winter, he returned to India where he made two further first-class appearances for the Europeans in the 1925–26 Lahore Tournament. He later made two first-class appearances for Gloucestershire, playing against Leicestershire in the 1926 County Championship and Worcestershire in the 1929 County Championship. In twelve first-class matches, Becher scored 327 runs at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 15.57; he made one half century, a score of 64 for Gloucestershire against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

in 1925.

Military career

First World War

Becher attended the

, as a gentleman cadet and on 11 November 1914 was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

(KOYLI). He was promoted to lieutenant on 14 April 1915, though this promotion was later antedated to 6 February. Becher served as an aide-de-camp until 9 April 1916. He was appointed to the acting rank of captain on 8 February 1917, whilst he held command of a company. During this time he led his company in an assault on enemy positions and was noted for keeping up their morale during three days of heavy shellfire. He was awarded the

for this action on 16 August 1917. Becher received a temporary commission in the rank of captain on 11 March and a regular commission on 4 May. He was awarded a

to the Military Cross on 19 November 1917 for his actions holding a position under heavy shellfire for five days. Becher had been buried by a shell explosion on the first day but recovered and maintained order in his company, allowing a new trenchline to be dug to consolidate the defences. Becher joined the newly established

(RAF) on 1 August 1918 as an observer officer. He held the RAF ranks of temporary second lieutenant and honorary captain, though he retained his captain's commission in the KOYLI. Becher returned to his regiment on 20 March 1919.

Inter-war period

Becher became adjutant of the KOYLI's 4th ( Territorial Army) battalion on 20 April 1926. He returned to the regular army on 20 April 1929. Becher was promoted to major on 15 January 1932. He was appointed an instructor at the

Netheravon Netheravon is a village and civil parish on the River Avon and A345 road, about north of the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire, South West England. It is within Salisbury Plain. The village is on the right (west) bank of the Avon, opposite Fittl ...

wing of the

on 4 April 1935 and held this position until 4 April 1938. Becher was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 24 April 1939.

Second World War

The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 CB(OPS)5008

In February 1942 Becher was leading the KOYLI's 2nd battalion in Burma and fought during the

Battle of Sittang Bridge The Battle of Sittang Bridge was part of the Burma campaign during the Second World War. Fought between 19 February and 23 February 1942, the battle was a victory for the Empire of Japan, with many losses for the British Indian Army, which was f ...

, the unsuccessful defence of the

Sittang River The Sittaung River ( my, စစ်တောင်းမြစ် ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittounghttps://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.75.pdf ) is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago ...

against the assaulting Japanese. He was appointed to the temporary rank of colonel on 23 March 1942. Becher completed his three-year period in command of his battalion on 24 April but was retained with the regiment in a supernumerary capacity. Becher was appointed an

on 23 March 1944 for his service in the

, in which the 1st battalion of the KOYLI served, and on 6 April was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier. On 22 March 1945 he was

for his service in the

North West Europe campaign The North West Europe campaign was a campaign by the British Commonwealth armed forces in North West Europe, including its skies and adjoining waters during World War II. The term Western Front has also sometimes been used informally. The United S ...

. He received a second mention in despatches on 20 May 1945. Becher was appointed a commander of the

with palm and also received the Croix de Guerre 1940 with palm, receiving permission to wear the insignia of both on his uniform on 25 September 1947.

Later life

Becher retired on 21 March 1948 as a lieutenant-colonel in the KOYLI. He was granted the honorary rank of brigadier. Becher died at Cheltenham,

, on 29 March 1957.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becher, Adrian 1897 births 1957 deaths People from Bourton-on-the-Water Sportspeople from Gloucestershire People educated at Repton School British Army personnel of World War I King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers Recipients of the Military Cross English cricketers Europeans cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers British Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Commanders of the Order of Leopold II Officers of the Order of the British Empire