John Manners: Naval war hero and world’s oldest former first-class cricketer

He was decorated for his service in the Second World War, and went on to score more than 1,000 runs in an 18-year playing career limited by his forces commitments

Kenneth Shenton
Friday 27 March 2020 16:15 GMT
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Manners is 1948: a pugnacious, attacking right-handed batsman
Manners is 1948: a pugnacious, attacking right-handed batsman

Achieving distinction in both naval career and sporting career, John Manners, who has died aged 105, was the last destroyer commander serving in the Second World War and the world’s oldest former first-class cricketer.

Having made his debut for Hampshire as a 21-year-old early in 1936, in addition to being the county’s most senior former player, he was also the last surviving cricketer to have appeared in the first-class game prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Born in Exeter, the middle son of Admiral Sir Errol Manners KBE, RN, the family being descendants of the 2nd Duke of Rutland, John Errol Manners was educated at Ferndown School before, aged 13, he followed in the family tradition by attending Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Enlisting as a naval cadet in 1932, he became a midshipman later that year.

By 1935 he was a sub-lieutenant, and two years later he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Having for a time been a member of the crew of the royal yacht Victoria and Albert, Manners then proceeded to serve on torpedo boats. Initially based in the Mediterranean, he later underwent tours of duty throughout Asia.

It was while helping crew the royal yacht during August 1936 that Manners scored 81 on his county championship debut for Hampshire against Gloucestershire at the United Services Ground in Portsmouth. A pugnacious attacking right-handed batsman, his penchant for the pull shot may have frequently caused the elevation of purist eyebrows but regular glances at the scoreboard merely served to confirm the basic soundness of his method. Over the next fortnight he scored another 212 runs, comfortably topping the county’s batting averages before naval duties once again took priority.

When the war broke out in 1939, Manners was serving aboard HMS Birmingham at Singapore. Later, commanding destroyers HMS Fame, Eskimo and then Viceroy, he escorted convoys supplying Malta and then Russia, before supporting landings in north Africa and the Allied invasion of Sicily. It was in April 1945, while in command of HMS Viceroy, then part of the Rosyth Escort Force, having tracked German U-boat 1247 north of Newcastle, that the submarine was eventually sunk. Its 44 crew all perished. Promoted to lieutenant commander, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He then took part in the liberation of Norway, receiving the German surrender at Trondheim.

Subsequently loaned briefly to the Royal Australian Navy, back in England in 1947, he became naval liaison officer at Sandhurst. The move meant Manners was able to resume his cricketing career, particularly with both the Royal Navy and Combined Services. Twelve months later, he returned to the Hampshire side, making a maiden first-class century, 121 in 160 minutes, against Kent. The last of his first-class appearances was for the Free Foresters against Oxford University at the Parks in 1953. Manners amassed 1,162 runs in a first-class career that stretched from 1936 until 1953, but was limited to just 21 matches due to his naval commitments. His highest score was the 147 he made for the Combined Services against Gloucestershire in August 1948.

Retiring from the navy 10 years later, Manners then spent the next 18 years as bursar at Dauntsey’s School in West Lavington, Wiltshire. In later years, alongside publishing his naval memoirs, he was a keen photographer, and also compiled a series of books illustrating country crafts.

In 2012 he was invited to the Russian embassy to be presented with a Russian Convoy Medal. Only last autumn he had been honoured for the part he had played in the liberation of Norway. Two years earlier, in the company of fellow centenarian and former Test match cricketer Eileen Ash, he had appeared in the ITV documentary programme 100 Year Old Driving School.

His wife, the actor Mary Downes, whom he married in 1940, died in 1995. He is survived by a son and two daughters.

John Manners, cricketer and naval officer, born 25 September 1914, died 7 March 2020

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