Eric Gordon Loudoun-Shand MC TD (born Eric Gordon Shand; 31 March 1893) was a

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 ...

international who played for

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 ...

and captained

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 ...

's Rugby side in the 1919

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

. During what would have been the prime of his playing career he fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

Eric Gordon Shand was born on 31 March 1893 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. He was one of the ten children of John Loudoun Shand and his wife Lucy, and was the youngest of the five brothers. His father, who originated from Scotland, adopted his middle name Loudoun as the first part of a double-barrelled surname, and all members of the family followed suit. His father, John Loudoun Loudoun-Shand (died 2 February 1932 at Craigellie, Alleyn Park, Dulwich. Aged 86 years) was a prominent plantation owner in what was then called

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Arriving in the Island in 1864 Mr. Loudoun-Shand did a lot of planting chiefly in the Dimbula and Dickoya districts and in 1879 and 1880 was elected Chairman of the Planters' Association of Ceylon in what was a difficult period. Known as "Silver-tongued Shand" due to his oratory prowess, in 1882 and 1884 he was Planting Member of the Legislative Council. He was also an Honorary Life Member of the Ceylon Association in London. His mother died in September 1930The Straits Times, 22 September 1930, Page 10 in Ceylon. She had travelled there in 1872 to be married. Along with his four brothers, Eric attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

. His eldest brother, William, followed his father into the planting business. The second of the brothers Stewart was a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Alexander, the third brother, became a Commander in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

and was the head of the

Royal Australian Naval College HMAS Creswell is a training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that includes the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Beecroft Weapons Range, and an administrative support depa ...

. The fifth of the five brothers was C. B. Loudoun-Shand who resided Delta,

Pussellawa ''Pussellawa'' . , is a l town in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It is located along the A5 road between Gampola and Nuwara Eliya. Legend says ancient kings of List of rulers of Sri Lanka#Kingdom of Gampola, Gampola Kingdom established by the great ...

for a while. He was known as 'Bosun' Loudoun-Shand and was the Colonel of the volunteer force ' Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps' .

Rugby career

Eric learnt his rugby at

. Whilst there he played in an unbeaten first XV in 1909 which contained five future internationals dubbed the 'Famous Five'. These five would all go on to play in the 1913

Varsity match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

, (and also produced the captains of both

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1919), and all served in the

. They were Eric Loudoun-Shand himself and Grahame Donald who both went on to play for Scotland, William David Doherty who went on to play for and captain Ireland, Jenny Greenwood who went on to play for and captain England and the record-breaking

Cyril Lowe Cyril Nelson "Kid" Lowe, (7 October 1891 – 6 February 1983) was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, a First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and suppose ...

. From Dulwich College, Eric went to

. He was selected to play as a Centre in the 1913 varsity match against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In that same year he was selected to play for

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

on 15 March. In that match, which Scotland lost by 3-point to nil due to LG Brown's try, he wore the number 4 shirt. On the opposing side were two of his former school teammates, CN Lowe and JE Greenwood. His international career was then interrupted by the outbreak of the

. He joined the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

and during the war rose to the rank of Major and received 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 ...

. He was also a holder of the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

. He did not return to international rugby, but he did make a return for

in 1919. He captained the side and his opposing captain was his former school teammate J. E. Greenwood. It was due to a chance encounter with Eric Loudoun-Shand that Greenwood was allowed to captain the Cambridge side that year. It was within the prerogative of the Oxford captain to deny Cambridge the chance to field Greenwood, who had left the university just prior to the war. However, the long association proved to be to Greenwood's good fortune. Eric Loudoun-Shand played that match with a severely injured arm, an injury from the Great War. So bad was this injury that he later had to have the arm amputated.J.E. Greenwood, ''A Cap for Boots'', p98 (Hutchinson Benham:London) 1977

Personal life

In 1923 Eric married Dorothy Feldtmann with whom he had a son Keith born in 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loudoun-Shand, Eric 1893 births 1972 deaths People educated at Dulwich College King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Recipients of the Military Cross Rugby union centres Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Rugby union players from Edinburgh Scottish amputees British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Edinburgh