4 Aug 2014 | Cricket
Today (August 4th) is the hundredth anniversary of Britain declaring War with Germany in 1914, so it is a most appropriate time to pay tribute to Glamorgan batsman Archer Windsor-Clive who was the first county cricketer to die during the Great War.
Archer Windsor-Clive of Glamorgan and St. Fagans CC was the first cricketer of note, and one of the first officers to die in World War One, being killed on 24th August 1914, just a fortnight or so after leaving British soil to serve with the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of Mons.
Archer was the third son of the Earl of Plymouth who lived at St. Fagans Castle and had a long and close association with the local cricket. The Earl was also President of Glamorgan CCC from 1901 until 1922 - a period when the Club metamorphosed from being a Minor County into a first-class side, with the Earl taking great delight in seeing Archer turn out for the county side from 1908. Indeed, many believed that Archer would become a future captain of Glamorgan CCC. Given his great interest in cricket, and wanting to see his son do well, the Earl would have greatly approved of Archer becoming a leading figure with the county club as they entered the County Championship - tragically, it was not to be.
Born in November 1890, Archer attended Eton College, and made his debut for the school's XI in 1907. In the Autumn of 1909, Archer went up to Trinity College, Cambridge and for the next few summers he mixed playing for the university side, the Glamorgan county team and his father's village team at St.Fagans, as well as gentlemen's teams such as I Zingari.
On coming down, he commenced a military career and joined the Coldstream Guards. On 12th August, 1914 he was amongst the first wave of British troops to head across the Channel to fight on foreign soil with his battalion proceeding to Harveng where defensive positions were dug on 23rd August.
The following day, other troops in the British Expeditionary Force began their retreat from Mons, so half of Archer's battalion were deployed to delay the advancing Germans. Around dusk that evening, an officer appeared in French uniform, and speaking in French announced that a large body of French troops were approaching, adding that he had come in advance to alert the 600 or so Coldstream Guards so that they did not fire on their allies by mistake.
Sadly, it was a cruel trick as shortly afterwards the column duly appeared, singing French songs and those at the front wearing French and Belgian uniforms. But at the back were German troops and artillery who opened fire on the Coldstream Guards, with Archer being struck by a shell as he and his men defended an important bridge. Archer never recovered from the awful wounds he sustained and was one of three Guardsmen to be killed in these initial skirmishes.
News of the death of the popular and much admired young gentlemen came as a huge shock to the residents of St. Fagans, and his many friends in and around both Cardiff and London. It was many weeks before the Earl got over the tragic loss, although contemporaries say that life was never the same either at the cricket club or in the House following Archer's death, with his bedroom being left untouched as a tribute to the loss of a favourite son.