David Gilbert-Smith, MC (3 December 1931 – 24 March 2003) was a

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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 ...

footballer and 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. Gilbert-Smith played as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

Rugby union career

Amateur career

Gilbert-Smith played for London Scottish. He also played for the

Army Rugby Union The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partr ...

side and played 17 games for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

between 1961 and 1963.

International career

Gilbert-Smith was capped for once, in 1952, in the Five Nations Calcutta Cup match against .

Army career

Gilbert-Smith joined the

in 1951. He won the

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

as a result of his bravery when with the

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

in the

Battle of the Hook Battle of the Hook refers to few engagements during the Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South ...

in Korea in 1953. He fought in the battle alongside another Scotland international rugby player,

Mike Campbell-Lamerton Colonel Michael John Campbell-Lamerton (1 August 1933 – 17 March 2005) was a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international player. He was also a British Army officer. Military career He was educated at Ottershaw School ne ...

. The two became lifelong friends. Gilbert-Smith also served in the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS).

Business career

Gilbert-Smith subsequently worked as a Training Manager for Bulmers. He later founded the Leadership Trust in 1975, working with Janet Richardson, a behavioural psychologist, whom he married in 1985.

References

External links

Liddell Hart Military Archives, King's College LondonArmy international capsLeadership Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert-Smith, David 1931 births Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Rugby union flankers 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Pune Army rugby union players London Scottish F.C. players Duke of Wellington's Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Korean War Recipients of the Military Cross Special Air Service officers People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford Rugby players from Maharashtra British people in colonial India