David Merry (1923 – 4 May 1944) was a Tobagonian first-class cricketer and

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 ...

officer. Born in Tobago in 1923, Merry was educated at the

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College (St Clair, Port of Spain, St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the Secularity, secular c ...

, where he played cricket and

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 ...

. He appeared in two first-class matches for

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

against

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, both in February 1941 and both at the

Queen's Park Oval The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

. During these two matches, Merry scored 135 runs with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 45 and a

high score In video games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score ...

of 80. He also represented North Trinidad in two matches of the Beaumont Cup, scoring 114 runs in his second appearance. Merry's final cricket match, representing the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, took place on 7 June 1942 at

Longsight Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester City Centre, city centre, bounded by Ardwick and Gorton, West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park, Man ...

. He gained 9 runs before being

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch ...

by Henry Butterworth and

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. ...

Winston Place Winston Place (7 December 1914 − 25 January 2002) was an English cricketer who played in three Tests in 1948. An opening batsman for Lancashire, he shared a prolific partnership with Cyril Washbrook and was part of the county championship wi ...

. Merry served as a

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was assigned as a flying instructor to the No. 36 Service Flying Training School in Canada. Piloting

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...

''X6734'' during a night training exercise on 4 May 1944, Merry died when the aircraft crashed near

Penhold Penhold is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Penhold is surrounded by Red Deer County, south of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 2A and Highway 42. It is located north of Calgary, east of the Red Deer River. History Originally, Penhold ...

. He had held the aircraft steady to allow his pupils to bail out and was consequently killed. Merry is buried at the

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

Cemetery.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merry, David 1923 births 1944 deaths Date of birth missing Tobagonian cricketers Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago cricketers North Trinidad cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Canada Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Trinidad and Tobago aviators Accidental deaths in Alberta Trinidad and Tobago military personnel Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II