Harold Hodges

Harold Augustus Hodges (22 January 1886 – 22 March 1918) was an English sportsman and soldier who played international rugby union for England. He also played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire.

Harold Hodges

Birth name	Harold Augustus Hodges
Date of birth	22 January 1886
Place of birth	Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, England
Date of death	22 March 1918(1918-03-22) (aged 32)
Place of death	Ham, France
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1906 England 2 (0)

Hodges, a prop, was capped twice for England in the 1906 Home Nations Championship. He took part in their losses to Wales and Ireland.[1] At club level, he played for Nottingham and while studying at Trinity College in 1908 was captain of the Oxford University RFC.

In 1911, he made his first-class cricket debut, against Derbyshire at the Miners Welfare Ground in Blackwell. He made his highest first-class score of 62 in his only innings, which the highest by a Nottinghamshire player in a low scoring match and bettered by only Derbyshire's Arthur Morton, who was the one that dismissed Hodges.[2] The following year, he made two further appearances and finished his first-class career with 141 runs, at an average of 47.[3]

During World War I, Hodges served with the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment. On the night of 22 March 1918, he entered a small factory on a road between Ham and Eppeville, hoping to make contact with a British battalion. He instead encountered enemy troops and was shot dead.[4]

References

1. "Harold Hodges". ESPN Scrum.
2. "Harold Hodges". CricketArchive.
3. "Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire in 1911". CricketArchive.
4. "Harold Hodges". The Rugby History Society.