Grahame Lawrence Cruickshanks (2 March 1913 – 8 September 1941) was a South African

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 and airman. A left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and occasional

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, he 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 Eastern Province and whilst serving in the military in the mid-1930s for

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in five matches.Grahame Cruickshanks
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-10-01. He was killed on active service in 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 ...

during

World War II 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 ...

Biography

Cruickshanks was born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

in 1913, the youngest son of Alexander and Agnes Cruickshanks.Wing Commander Grahame Lawrence Cruickshanks

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. Retrieved 2022-10-01. His brother Clive Cruickshanks also played cricket for Eastern Province. He was educated at

Grey High School Grey High School is a State school, semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the coun ...

in Port Elizabeth, playing cricket and football for the school's teams.McCrery N (2017) ''The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two''. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. The Southern African History Musings of Ross Dix-Peek
22 December 2011. Retrieved 2022-10-01. Cruickshanks played his only two first-class matches in December 1931, playing for Eastern Province in

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

matches against

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

and

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

, scoring a total of 27 runs with a highest score of 19. He played five times for Egypt against HM Martineau's XI between 1935 and 1938 whilst serving in the military, and played for the RAF side, including twice in inter-service matches, during 1939, top-scoring in both innings against the

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 ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

with scores of 90―run out "rather stupidly", according to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''Services match at Lord's, ''

'', 18 July 1939, p. 6.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2022-10-02. )―and then 70

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

.Cruickshanks, Wing Commander George (sic) Lawrence
Obituaries during the war, 1942, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1943. Retrieved 2022-10-01. His ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' obituary described him as a "powerful left-handed batsman and sound

", whilst match reports in ''The Times'' commented on his willingness to "make ground with his feet" to score boundaries and that he hit the ball hard.Drawn match at Lord's, ''

'', 19 July 1939, p. 6.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2022-10-02. ) He married Phyllis "Billie" Austin during the late 1930s; the couple had one son, born in Egypt.''South Africa Magazine'', 20 July 1940, quoted a
The Southern African History Musings of Ross Dix-Peek
Retrieved 2022-10-01.

Military service and death

Cruickshanks worked for

Shell Petroleum Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

in South Africa before travelling to England to join the

in 1933. After serving with 14 Squadron in

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom o ...

and Egypt for the period, he trained South African and

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

n air crew during the early years of World War II. He served in 9 Squadron and was appointed Acting

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior 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. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

in September 1940, before moving to lead 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron flying

Wellington bomber The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of ...

s in August 1941.Cruickshanks, Grahame Lawrence
Traces of War. Retrieved 2022-10-01. Cruickshanks died when the Wellington he was flying was shot down over Berlin in September 1941 aged 28. At the time of his death he held the rank of Acting

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior 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. Wing commander is immediately se ...

based at

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...

in Suffolk. He is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the city. In July 1942 he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Supplement to the London Gazette
', 28 July 1942, p. 3303. Retrieved 2022-10-01.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshanks, Grahame 1913 births 1941 deaths Cricketers from Gqeberha Egyptian cricketers South African cricketers Eastern Province cricketers Royal Air Force wing commanders Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Alumni of Grey High School