Charlie Pritchard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charles Meyrick Pritchard (30 September 1882 – 14 August 1916) was a Welsh international
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
. He played club rugby for
Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...
and county rugby for
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
. Pritchard was one of 13 Wales international players to be killed serving in the First World War. Charles Meyrick Pritchard is not related to Clifford Charles Pritchard


Rugby career

Pritchard joined Newport in 1901, and on 25 January played his first senior game, facing
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
. He spent his entire rugby career with Newport and during the 1905/06 season was made vice-captain; but after the captain Wyatt Gould was unable to fulfil his duties, Pritchard acted as stand-in captain. The next season, he was given the captaincy, a role he held for three consecutive seasons.


International career

Pritchard made his debut for
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
against Ireland in 1904, while playing club rugby for Newport. Pritchard would play in a further 13 internationals including the famous '' Match of the Century'' victory against the 1905 All Black touring team. Although all the Welsh players on the day played their part in the victory over the New Zealanders, Pritchard was commended for his all out defensive play and continual heavy tackling against the All Blacks. He was seen as the star of the Welsh pack and was 'always in the thick of the fight';Smith (1980), pg 162. fellow Welsh international George Travers would sum up Pritchard's aggressive play against the All Blacks as 'He knocked 'em down like nine pins.' Pritchard would score his only international try in a 16–3 win against England in a home nations match on 13 January 1906. After a serious injury in 1908 he returned to the Welsh side in the 1909/10 season and played his final game against England in 1910.Thomas (1979), pg 44.


International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910 * 1910 * 1904, 1906, 1907 * 1905 * 1905, 1906, 1907 *
1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...


Military service and death

In May 1915 Pritchard was commissioned as a Second lieutenant in the 12th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers (3rd Gwent), a unit in which the other ranks were ' bantams', men below the normal Army regulation height, many of them miners from South Wales. In November 1915 he was promoted 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 ...
, and in June 1916 he went out to the Western Front with his battalion. On the night of 12 August 1916 he led a trench raid near Loos to capture a German prisoner. Although the raid was successful in its objective, Pritchard was seriously wounded and was carried to No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station a few miles behind the front at Chocques. His last reported words were to ask if they had got the "Hun", and when told they had, he replied 'Well, I have done my bit.' Pritchard died of his wounds at the clearing station on 14 August 1916 and is buried in Chocques Military Cemetery.Lt.-Col. F.E. Whitton, ''History of the 40th Division'', Aldershot; Gale & Polden, 1926/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-843428-70-1, p. 38.


Bibliography

* * * * Prescott, Gwyn (2014). ''Call Them to Remembrance: The Welsh Rugby Internationals who died in the Great War''. St. David's Press. .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Charlie 1882 births 1916 deaths British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Rugby union players from Newport, Wales Rugby union flankers South Wales Borderers soldiers Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Newport RFC players Monmouthshire County RFC players South Wales Borderers officers British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Newport, Wales