Theodore Arthur Tapp (5 April 1883 – 21 October 1917) was an

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first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer. The son of Charles Tapp, he was born in April 1883 at Shortlands, Kent. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, before going up to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of ...

. He played cricket for the college, but did not play for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

. Despite this, he did play

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 ...

while at Cambridge, appearing once for London County against Cambridge University at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orch ...

in 1904. With his right-arm

fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

he took a

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in the Cambridge first innings, with figures of 5 for 99. He batted twice in the match, scoring 5 runs in London County's first innings, before being dismissed by

Guy Napier Lieutenant Guy Greville Napier (26 January 1884 – 25 September 1915) was an English cricketer and World War I combatant. Following his death from wounds received in France, '' Wisden'' declared him "one of the best medium pace bowlers seen in t ...

, while in their second innings he was dismissed for 4 runs by John Hopley. After graduating from Cambridge, he intended to pursue a career in the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited t ...

, but ill health put paid to that ambition and he instead joined the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

in 1905, becoming a partner in the firm C. Andreae and Company. His sporting interests outside of cricket included

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

. Tapp served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and was commissioned at the start of the conflict as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremoni ...

in September 1914. On 25 January 1915, he was wounded in action while operating a machine gun. Undeterred, he had his wound treated and returned to his post on the same day to assist with a British counter-attack. Following this action he returned home to recover. He was made a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in April 1915, gaining the rank in full in October of the same year. He remained in the trenches of the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

until he was again wounded in action in January 1916, which necessitated another period of recovery at home. Upon his return to the front, he was assigned to the

Guards Machine Gun Regiment The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was a regiment of the British Army, formed for service in the First World War. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, it included three machine gun companies, with a fourth added in March 1917. In A ...

. He held the temporary ranks of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and major, while commanding a machine gun company, relinquishing the latter in June 1916. 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 ...

in July 1917 for actions during the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

. Four nights before the

First Battle of Passchendaele The First Battle of Passchendaele took place on 12 October 1917 during the First World War, in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. The attack was part of the Third Battle of Ypres and was fought west of Passchendaele village. T ...

, Tapp personally inspected the British guns while under heavy shelling and sniper fire. For this he was awarded what would turn out to be a posthumous

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to his Military Cross. Tapp was seriously wounded on 11 October 1917, one day before the commencement of the First Battle of Passchendaele. He was evacuated to a casualty clearing station, where he succumbed to his wounds on 21 October.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapp, Theodore 1883 births 1917 deaths People from Shortlands Cricketers from the London Borough of Bromley People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English cricketers London County cricketers English stockbrokers British Army personnel of World War I Coldstream Guards officers Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel killed in World War I 19th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English businesspeople Cricketers from Kent