Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Alexander Lechmere Mein (15 July 1854 – 30 November 1927) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spending the majority of his career in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The only active service that he saw was during the

Anglo-Afghan War Anglo-Afghan Wars may refer to: * Expedition of Shah Shujah Durrani (1833–1834) * First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842) * Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) * Hazara Expedition (1888) * Chitral Expedition (1895) * Tochi Expedition (1897� ...

in 1878 to 1880. In his youth, he was a keen amateur sportsman and played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

for the

, being on the winning side in the 1875 FA Cup Final.

Family and education

Mein was born on 15 July 1854 at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, where his father, Major George Mein (1817–1896) was

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

with the 21st Dragoons. Mein's mother, Marianne (1815–1885), was the daughter of Frederick Coore, a solicitor. Mein was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

before enrolling at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

in 1872.

Sporting career

Mein played

at Wellington College and for the Royal Military Academy before joining the Royal Engineers in 1873, where he was described as a "brilliant" inside-left, who "worked untiringly", "making many good runs". Mein also played rugby for Richmond Rugby Club in 1874. Royal engineers 1875

At this time, the

were among the top football teams in England, having reached the final of the first FA Cup tournament in

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

and again two years later, finishing on both occasions as runners-up. In the run to the 1875 final, Mein scored in a 3–2 victory over Clapham Rovers on 30 January 1875, helping to set up a semi-final against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. This was hard-fought, with the Engineers emerging victorious with a 1–1 draw followed by a 1–0 victory in the replay, thus reaching the FA Cup Final for the third time in four years. In the final, played on 13 March 1875 at

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

, the Engineers met the

Old Etonians This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians. Former pupils Politics *Robert ...

. The match was played in a strong gale and the Engineers spent most of the match against the gale, with the rules requiring ends to be changed after each goal. Alexander Bonsor scored for the Old Boys after 30 minutes followed by an equaliser from Capt Renny-Tailyour within five minutes. Shortly after the equaliser, Lt. Ruck collided with Cuthbert Ottaway who was forced to leave the field with a serious ankle injury; in his absence, the Old Boys were regarded as fortunate to have held on for a 1–1 draw. The replay was three days later; although the Engineers were able to field the same eleven as in the first match, the Etonians had to make four changes, losing the match 2–0, with both the Engineers' goals scored by Capt Renny-Tailyour. At the third attempt, the Royal Engineers won their first, and only, FA Cup Final.

Military career

Mein graduated from the Royal Military Academy after a year, when he was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Royal Engineers from 29 April 1873. Mein spent the first three years of his military service at Chatham before being sent to India in September 1876. (See Section 01, pages 32&33) In November 1878, Mein took part in the

as assistant field engineer with the 2nd Division Peshawar Valley Field Force, and was involved in the opening battle of the war at Ali Masjid. Subsequently, Mein and the Royal Engineers were engaged in building forts along the lines of communication. Mein returned to Afghanistan, as assistant field engineer with the Khyber Line Force, for the second phase of the war in October 1879, taking part in the Wazir Khugianis Expedition, the Hissarak Expedition in April 1880 and the Lughman Valley Expedition in May 1880. For his services in the war, Mein was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) 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 of t ...

and received the Afghanistan Medal. Mein remained in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

for most of the remainder of his military career, receiving promotion to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 8 January 1885 and to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 1 October 1892, Mein returned to England in June 1893, and was posted to Portsmouth, before returning to India in February 1895. He was further promoted to lieutenant colonel from 24 January 1900 and to brevet colonel on 24 January 1904. Mein retired on an Indian pension of £700 per annum on 15 July 1911.

Marriage and children

On 1 June 1887, at St Paul's Church, Sarisbury, near

Titchfield Titchfield is a village and former civil parish in the Borough of Fareham, Fareham district, in southern Hampshire, England, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the villa ...

, Hampshire, Mein married Alice Ellen Turner-Irton (1861–1934). The marriage service was conducted by the Dean of Winchester, The Very Reverend George Kitchin. Ellen's father, Robert Lambert Turner-Irton (1825–1901) was a retired

with the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers. Alexander and Alice Mein had six children: *Evelyn May (born in

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

on 3 August 1888, died at six weeks old) *Gladys Irton (born in Jabalpur on 21 December 1889) *Lechmere Irton (born in

Mussoorie Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...

on 18 April 1892) *Robert George (born in

Alverstoke Alverstoke is a village in the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a cree ...

, Hampshire on 9 September 1894) *Dudley Gerald (born in

Chakrata Chakrata is a cantonment town and also a sub district/tehsil, in Dehradun district. in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It lies between the Tons River, Tons and Yamuna rivers, at an elevation of 2118 m, 98 km from the state capital, Dehrad ...

on 1 May 1898) *Leslie Coore (born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland on 25 April 1901) Lieutenant Dudley Mein MC served with the 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers during the First World War and was killed on 26 October 1918 near

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

in Syria.

Death

Alexander Mein died on 30 November 1927 at the family home at Gang Bridge,

St Mary Bourne St Mary Bourne is a village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It lies on the valley of the Bourne Rivulet, a tributary of the River Test, northeast of Andover. Governance The civil parish of St Mar ...

near

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the River Test, Test, and lies alongside the major A303 road, A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, ...

. His funeral was held at St. Peter's Church at St Mary Bourne on 3 December 1927.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mein, Alexander 1854 births 1927 deaths Men's association football forwards British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War English men's footballers English rugby union players Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Richmond F.C. players Royal Engineers A.F.C. players Royal Engineers officers People from St Mary Bourne Military personnel from York Footballers from York Rugby union players from York