Surgeon Rear Admiral Arnold Ashworth Pomfret (1 June 1900 – 3 April 1984) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, ophthalmologist and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer.

Life

The son of John Pomfret of

Blackburn, Lancashire Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, he was educated at

Blackburn Grammar School Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational state-funded comprehensive free school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a co-educational all-through free school with over 1200 stude ...

. He studied at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, graduating there in 1922, and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

. He joined the Royal Navy in 1923 as a Surgeon Lieutenant on a short service commission.''Surgeon Rear Admiral A. A. Pomfret CB, OBE, MB, CHB, DO, DOMS'', British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition) Vol. 289, No. 6454 (Nov. 10, 1984), p. 1319. Published by: BMJ After leaving the navy to concentrate on his medical training, Pomfret rejoined as a Surgeon Lieutenant in August 1926. He was one of the first naval medical officers to specialise in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

and was the first to undertake major eye surgery. Pomfret became a Surgeon Lieutenant Commander in 1929, and worked at the Royal Naval Hospital,

Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...

from 1931 to 1934. He became a

Surgeon Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in August 1934 and in 1940 he was medical officer in charge of the Royal Navy Sick Quarters on

Liugong Island Liugong Island ( zh, s=, t=, p=Liúgōng Dǎo, w=Liu-kung Tao) is a small island located on the northeastern edge of Shandong Peninsula, China, at the mouth of Weihai Bay. It is known as the "birthplace of China's first modern navy" and is also ...

, Wei Hai Wei, and in that capacity received a Japanese military delegation of the Wei Hai Wei occupying forces. Pomfret subsequently withdrew from Wei Hai Wei along with the remainder of British forces following the occupation. The following year he was made an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1941 New Year Honours The 1941 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1940.United Kingdom and Briti ...

and was promoted to the rank of Surgeon Captain in June 1944. He was appointed an Honorary Surgeon to the Queen in November 1953, a capacity he served in until his retirement from active service in October 1957. Pomfret retired with the rank of

Surgeon Rear-Admiral In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, having been promoted to that rank in October 1954. He was made a Companion to the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in the 1957 Birthday Honours. Pomfret retired to

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, where he died in April 1984.

Cricket

Pomfret played

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the

, for which he is recorded playing in 1929. His three appearances in 1929 came against the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC), the

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 ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Against the MCC he took a

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Taking ...

, with figures of 6 for 39 in the MCC second-innings, which contributed to a 23 runs victory for the Royal Navy, despite having been asked to

follow-on In cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team who batted f ...

from their first-innings. A right-arm

fast-medium bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also i ...

, he ended his brief first-class career with 12 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 24.25.

Family

Pomfret married in 1928 Carlene Blundstone: they had a son and two daughters. Their daughter Jocelyn married Alexander Crawford Simpson Boswell in 1956. Carlene Pomfret's memoir ''Cabin Trunks & Far Horizons'' was published in 1991.

References

External links

*
Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 at unithistories.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomfret, Arnold 1900 births 1984 deaths People from Blackpool People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn Alumni of the University of Manchester 20th-century English medical doctors British ophthalmologists Royal Navy Medical Service officers English cricketers Royal Navy cricketers Royal Navy personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy rear admirals Companions of the Order of the Bath