Henry Hastings Cavendish Withers (11 October 1904 — 6 September 1948) was a British Army officer, engineer and Ireland international rugby union player of the 1930s.
| Full name | Henry Hastings Cavendish Withers | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 11 October 1904 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bengal, India | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 6 September 1948 (aged 43) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Millbank, London, England | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Cheltenham College | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Army officer / Engineer | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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The son of an Army colonel, Withers was born in Bengal and educated at Cheltenham College.[1]
Withers, a forward, was a product of Army rugby and gained five Ireland caps. He played all of Ireland's 1931 Five Nations fixtures and featured against the touring Springboks at the end of the year.[2]
A graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Withers was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and posted to India in 1934. He served as a garrison engineer in Quetta and in 1940 was decorated with Distinguished Service Order for "gallant and distinguished services" on active service during World War II.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Obituary". Sussex Express. 17 September 1948.
- ^ "Withers a great success". Ireland's Saturday Night. 3 January 1931.
- ^ "Awarded the D.S.O." The Gloucestershire Echo. 16 July 1940.
External links
edit- Hal Withers at ESPNscrum