Robin Evelyn Whetherly MC (23 July 1916 – 27 November 1943) was an English

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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

er and soldier who died in action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The son of Lieutenant Colonel William Stobart Whetherly, a decorated veteran of the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Whetherly was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

, where he kept wicket for the first XI in his final year, 1935, before going up to Magdalen College, Oxford, to read history. He played several matches as a wicket-keeper for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1937 and 1938, but was overlooked for the annual match against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in favour of Michael Matthews in 1937 and

Roger Kimpton Roger Charles MacDonald Kimpton, DFC (21 September 1916 – 30 November 1999) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played 62 first-class games, mostly in the late 1930s. The majority of his appearances were for Oxford University and W ...

in 1938. He usually batted in the lower order, his only innings of more than 22 coming in the match against

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

(MCC) at Lord's in 1937 when he batted at number four and made 63, adding 132 for the third wicket with

Mandy Mitchell-Innes Norman Stewart "Mandy" Mitchell-Innes (7 September 1914 – 28 December 2006) was an amateur cricketer for Somerset, who played in one Test match for England in 1935. Between 1931 and 1949 Mitchell-Innes played 132 first-class matches, appear ...

. After working for a travel agency, Whetherly accepted a commission in the

1st King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd Ki ...

on the outbreak of World War II. He served in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

, where in April 1941 his regiment was attacked by the

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

. For his actions during the battle, in which he saved many of his men from capture, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He continued to serve in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

until 1943, when he joined the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

, and parachuted into

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

to serve as part of Macmis under Fitzroy Maclean, in assisting the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, Slovene language, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НО� ...

. He died at Glamoc Airfield near

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the foothills of Staretin ...

in November 1943 while on a

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing ...

piloted by

Croatian Air Force The Croatian Air Force ( hr, Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ) is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces whose primary task is to ensure the sovereignty of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia and to provide aviation support to other branc ...

defectors. The plane was strafed with bombs and machine-guns by a

Heinkel He 46 The Heinkel He 46 was a German Reich, German World War II-era monoplane designed in 1931 for the close Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance and Liaison aircraft, army co-operation roles. While it served with the ''Luftwaffe''s front-line units onl ...

, and Whetherly was killed by a bomb strike that hit while he and others were climbing out of the Dornier.

References

External links

*
Robin Whetherly at CricketArchive

Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Whetherly, Robin Evelyn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whetherly, Robin 1916 births 1943 deaths Military personnel from London English cricketers Oxford University cricketers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers British Army personnel killed in World War II Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Deaths by airstrike during World War II Recipients of the Military Cross Special Operations Executive personnel