Colonel Sir Michael Picton Ansell, CBE, DSO (26 March 1905 – 17 February 1994) was a soldier,

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

rider,

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player, and horse show administrator.

Early life

Ansell was born on 26 March 1905 at the Curragh,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. His father George Ansell died in the First World War, while serving as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the British Army. After attending St Michael's Westgate-in-Sea and Wellington he went to Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

In 1924 he was commissioned into the

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World W ...

and in the 1930s was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

officer, show jumping rider, and international polo player. He was a Commander by 1935. His service number was 30796. In France in March 1940, during World War II, he was given charge of the 1st Lothians and Border Horse, becoming the British Army's youngest commanding officer at the time. He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), but was shortly afterwards wounded in the hand and eyes by " friendly fire", blinding him permanently, and then became a prisoner of war (POW). All four fingers on his injured left hand were later amputated. He was repatriated from a German POW camp in 1943. From 1957 to 1962 he was Colonel of the

Showjumping

An invitation to take up the position of chairman of the

British Showjumping Association British Showjumping is the Great Britain governing body for the equestrian sport of showjumping. It provides the competitors for Team GBR in international competition and sets the rules under which affiliated competitions are held. It is one of ...

led to him being credited with revitalising the sport. He restarted the Royal International Horse Show and initiated the

Horse of the Year Show The Horse of the Year Show - also known as HOYS (pronounced /hois/)- was founded to be a culmination of the British equestrian events year. The Show was the idea of Captain Tony Collings and was realised by the then Chairman of BSJA (now British ...

. He was Chairman of the British Horse Society and Chaired the British Showjumping Association from 1945 until 1964. He was the first president of the British Equestrian Federation.

Honours/Affiliations

In 1967, when his address was given as "Pillhead House, Bideford", he was High Sheriff of Devon. He was President of St Dunstan's, a charity for blind servicemen, from 1977 to 1986. Picton was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1951 New Year Honours and a Knight Bachelor (Kt) in the

1968 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1968 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

. He appeared on the television programme ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' on 28 March 1960, and as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme '' Desert Island Discs'' on 14 July 1973. His autobiography, ''Soldier On'', was published in 1973. It had a foreword by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

. His final book, ''Leopard: the story of my horse,'' featured a foreword by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

. In 1977, he was a recipient of the Silver Olympic Order.

Death

He died on 17 February 1994 in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, aged 88.

Bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

*
White City - The Man Behind The Horse Show
' 1955 British Pathe newsreel, showing Ansell at work at the International Horse Show
Background on Butlins Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansell, Michael 1905 births 1994 deaths Military personnel from County Kildare Irish amputees British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British show jumping riders Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People from County Kildare Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor British Army personnel of World War II British blind people 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers Sportspeople from Bideford High Sheriffs of Devon Lothians and Border Horse officers British male equestrians Recipients of the Olympic Order Military personnel from Bideford