Wikipedia

Lionel Bostock

Lionel Carrington Bostock OBE MC (13 February 1888 – 30 January 1962) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. He served with the Manchester Regiment and during the First World War was also seconded to the West African Frontier Force and the British Indian Army. After the war Bostock was seconded to the Egyptian Army and became commander of the Equatorial Corps of the Sudan Defence Force. In 1927–28 he led a punitive expedition against a rebellion of the Nuer people and successfully defeated a force led by Prophet Garluark. Bostock retired in 1933 but was recalled to service during the Second World War.

Lionel Bostock
Personal information
Full name
Lionel Carrington Bostock
Born13 February 1888
Castries, Saint Lucia
Died30 January 1962(1962-01-30) (aged 73)
Ifield, Sussex, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 1
Runs scored 5
Batting average 5.00
100s/50s –/–
Top score 3
Balls bowled 120
Wickets 2
Bowling average 29.00
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 2/58
Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: Cricinfo, 9 January 2019

Early life

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Bostock was born at Castries, Saint Lucia, on 13 February 1888 the son of John Henry Bostock, a civil engineer, and Caroline Sophia (née Dewé).[1][2] He was educated in England at Windlesham House School,[2] before going up to Marlborough College.[2][3] Bostock played rugby union for Clifton in 1907–1908.[2] After completing his studies at Marlborough he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and after graduating entered the Manchester Regiment. On 25 May 1912, Bostock was promoted to lieutenant.[4]

During the early part of the First World War Bostock was seconded from his regiment to the 1st Battalion of the Nigeria Regiment of the West African Frontier Force.[5] He received promotion to the rank of captain on 10 June 1915 and returned to the Manchester Regiment on 29 July 1915.[6][7] Bostock served temporarily as second-in-command of one of the regiment's battalions from 31 August to 2 September 1916 and was granted the acting rank of major whilst he carried out this role.[8] On 11 January 1917 he was attached to an Indian Army headquarters unit as a staff captain and on 30 December 1918 was promoted to brigade major.[9][10][11]

Egyptian service

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On 15 March 1919 Bostock was seconded for service with the Egyptian Army (at that time Egypt, including Sudan, was a British protectorate) and on 3 June received the Military Cross for service on operations in that country.[12][13] Bostock was in England in 1925 when he made his sole first-class cricket appearance for the British Army cricket team against Cambridge University at Fenner's.[14] He scored 5 runs during the match, as well as taking the wickets of Hamer Bagnall and Thomas Tweed in Cambridge's first-innings.[15]

Bostock afterwards returned to Egypt where he served as commander of the Equatorial Corps of the Sudan Defence Force (Sudan was then under a joint Anglo-Egyptian condominium).[16] During this time the Nuer people of southern Sudan opposed British rule and remained active despite several British punitive expeditions. Led by Prophet Garluark, who formerly served the British as a regional ruler, an open revolt erupted in the Western Nuer territories in December 1927 in which the British district commissioner and 18 of his men were killed. A simultaneous uprising occurred by the Nuer of the Sobat River region.[17]

The British responded by launching two expeditions, one to the Sobat River under Captain JR Chidlaw-Robert and one against Garluark under Bostock.[18] Bostock's base of operations was at Shambe and his political officer was Captain HF Kidd, district commissioner for Yirrol.[19] Bostock divided his force into several independent columns that successfully established a cordon around Garluark's Nuer and allowed their destruction largely by aerial attack.[16][18] The operation was completed by 7 February 1928 and resulted in Garluark's capture and imprisonment at Malakal.[16][20] In recognition of his service in Sudan Bostock was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 3 June 1929.[21] Garluark was restored to his former position as regional ruler in 1935.[22]

Later career

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On 6 March 1931, Bostock was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and the next year was posted to the West Indies.[23][24] He retired from the army on 6 March 1933.[25] In April 1937 Bostock, who was then residing at the Sports Club in St James's Square, was declared bankrupt but the order was rescinded by June of that year.[26][27]

Following the outbreak of the Second World War Bostock was recalled to the army and chose to serve in the reduced rank of major.[28] On 9 March 1942 he was restored to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[29] Bostock reached the age limit for service in the reserves on 13 February 1943 and resumed his retirement.[30] He died in Ifield, West Sussex on 30 January 1962.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lionel Bostock". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Clifton Rugby Football Club History – Club Members 1872–1945". Clifton RFU. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ Hart, H. (1905). Marlborough College Register from 1843 to 1904 Inclusive: With Alphabetical Index. Marlborough College. p. 592.
  4. ^ "No. 28615". The London Gazette. 7 June 1912. p. 4133.
  5. ^ Gorges, Brigadier-General E. Howard (2012). The Great War in West Africa. Andrews UK Limited. p. 274. ISBN 9781781497494. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  6. ^ "No. 29198". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 June 1915. p. 5954.
  7. ^ "No. 29568". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 May 1916. p. 4456.
  8. ^ "No. 29991". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 March 1917. p. 2726.
  9. ^ "No. 30051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 May 1917. p. 4312.
  10. ^ "No. 31086". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 December 1918. p. 15167.
  11. ^ "No. 31965". The London Gazette. 6 July 1920. p. 7231.
  12. ^ "No. 31329". The London Gazette. 6 May 1919. p. 5748.
  13. ^ "No. 31371". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 May 1919. p. 6928.
  14. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Lionel Bostock". CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Cambridge University v Army, 1925". CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Woodward, Peter (1995). British documents on foreign affairs: Part 2. From the First to the Second World War. Series G. Africa, 1914–1939. Egypt and the Sudan, January 1927 – June 1929 / ed. Peter Woodward. Univ. Publ. of America. p. 109. ISBN 9780890936177. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. ^ Peil, Margaret; Oyeneye, Olatunji Y. (1998). Consensus, Conflict, and Change: A Sociological Introduction to African Societies. East African Publishers. p. 256. ISBN 9789966467478. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  18. ^ a b Woodward, Peter (1995). British documents on foreign affairs: Part 2. From the First to the Second World War. Series G. Africa, 1914–1939. Egypt and the Sudan, January 1927 – June 1929 / ed. Peter Woodward. Univ. Publ. of America. p. 104. ISBN 9780890936177. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  19. ^ Woodward, Peter (1995). British documents on foreign affairs: Part 2. From the First to the Second World War. Series G. Africa, 1914–1939. Egypt and the Sudan, January 1927 – June 1929 / ed. Peter Woodward. Univ. Publ. of America. p. 107. ISBN 9780890936177. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  20. ^ Daly, M. W. (2003). Empire on the Nile: The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898-1934. Cambridge University Press. p. 398. ISBN 9780521894371. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  21. ^ "No. 33501". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1929. p. 3672.
  22. ^ Daly, M. W. (2003). Empire on the Nile: The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898-1934. Cambridge University Press. p. 399. ISBN 9780521894371. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  23. ^ "No. 33699". The London Gazette. 17 March 1931. p. 1803.
  24. ^ Dawnay, Guy Payan; Headlam (bart.), Sir Cuthbert Morley (1932). The Army Quarterly. William Clowes & Sons, Ltd. p. 175. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  25. ^ "No. 33918". The London Gazette. 7 March 1933. p. 1514.
  26. ^ "No. 15383". The Edinburgh Gazette. 30 April 1937. p. 363.
  27. ^ "No. 15394". The Edinburgh Gazette. 8 June 1937. p. 503.
  28. ^ "No. 35352". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 November 1941. p. 6694.
  29. ^ "No. 35527". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 April 1942. p. 1699.
  30. ^ "No. 35948". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 March 1943. p. 1351.
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