Paul John Leonard Randles (21 May 1922 – 1 May 1979) was a South African cricketer, rugby player and lawyer. 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

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 ( ...

between 1952 and 1957. Paul Randles was born in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

and educated at Hilton College, where he was head boy. He volunteered in

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 ...

, serving in the Umvoti Mounted Rifles. He was taken prisoner at the fall of

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

in June 1942 and held in several PoW camps in Italy (PG 60, PG 41, PG 49 and Dulag 226). When the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943 he was released by the camp commandant and remained a fugitive for four months. During December 1943 he was sheltered and fed by the Pellegrini family near San Donato Val di Comino. In January 1944 he was recaptured by the Germans and imprisoned in

Stalag VII-A Stalag VII-A (in full: ''Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager VII-A'') was the largest prisoner-of-war camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, located just north of the town of Moosburg in southern Bavaria. The camp covered an area of . It se ...

Moosburg Moosburg an der Isar ( Central Bavarian: ''Mooschbuag on da Isa'') is a town in the ''Landkreis'' Freising of Bavaria, Germany. The oldest town between Regensburg and Italy lies on the river Isar at an altitude of 421 m (1381 ft). It ...

. Later that year, he was moved to

Stalag IV-B Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II, located north-east of the town of Mühlberg. It held Polish, French, British, Australian, Soviet, South African, Italian and other Allied prisoners of war. ...

, Mühlberg, and then to Stalag IV-G,

Oschatz Oschatz () is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 60 km east of Leipzig and 60 km west of Dresden. Geography Site and climate Oschatz lies in the Saxon Lowland and is located on the river Döllnit ...

, a forced labour camp, where he remained until the end of the war. After the war, Randles studied law and became senior partner in the law firm Randles Davis and Wood in Pietermaritzburg. He represented Natal at both rugby and cricket. He was Natal's

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 ...

from 1952–53 to 1957–58. His most successful season was his first, when he scored 272 runs at an average of 22.66, including his highest first-class score of 67 against

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 ...

, and took 18 catches and 10 stumpings.

References

External links

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Paul Randles
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Randles, Paul 1922 births 1979 deaths Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa) South African military personnel of World War II South African cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Cricketers from Pietermaritzburg