In Memory of Major REGINALD OSCAR SCHWARZ M C 6th Bn., King's Royal Rifle Corps attd. H.Q., 1st Echelon who died on 18 November 1918 South African Cricketer - played in twenty test matches. Remembered with honour ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY Major Reginald Oscar Schwarz, known as Reggie (born 4 May 1875 in Lee, London, England, died 18 November 1918 in Etaples, France) was a South African cricketer and international rugby footballer. Schwarz won three caps for England at rugby against Scotland in 1899, and Wales and Ireland in 1901. Schwarz played a handful of games for Middlesex in 1901 and 1902 before emigrating to South Africa and joining Transvaal; but it was on his return to England with the South African cricket team in 1904 that he made his mark, having learning from Bosanquet how to bowl the googly. Unusually, he bowled it as his stock delivery, with considerable success: in 1904 and 1907 he topped the bowling averages, in the latter year taking 137 wickets at just 11.70 apiece, and he was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1908. On that 1907 tour, the first on which South Africa played Tests in England, they had no fewer than four leg-break and googly bowlers, Schwarz having passed on the secret of the googly to Aubrey Faulkner, Bert Vogler and Gordon White. Schwarz retired from regular playing after the 1912 season, though he appeared thrice more for L Robinson's XI over the next two seasons. In all he took 398 wickets at a fine 17.58 average, and in Tests he took 55 at 22.60. Despite his poor batting -- he passed fifty only twice in first-class cricket -- Schwarz did make a century: 102 in a non-Test game against an England XI at Lord's in 1904. Schwarz was a major in the King's Royal Rifle Corps regiment of the British Army who fought on the Western Front in World War I. He survived the war, but died in the Spanish flu epidemic in Etaples, France just seven days after the Armistice had been signed. He was 43. Reginald Oscar Schwarz (South Africa) The status of South African cricket received a dramatic boost in the Edwardian era through the success of a quartet of googly bowlers, the pioneering member of which was the modest and retiring Reggie Schwarz. He was born in England and capped as a rugby-union player before going to South Africa. In 20 Test matches he took 55 wickets at 25.76, and altogether in first-class cricket 398 wickets at 17.58. He began his First World War service in German South-West Africa, where he won a Military Cross, and later, as a major in the 6th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, was twice wounded in France and also Mentioned in Despatches. He survived the hostilities, but then by a cruel irony was admitted to hospital on the day of the Armistice, suffering from broncho-pneumonia, from which he died seven days later, on 18 November 1918, aged 43. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, France
Schwarz, Reginald Oscar MC played for England Internationals: 3 : 1899 S- ; 1901 W- I- Reginald Schwarz was born on 4 May 1875, at Lee, Kent Played as a Fly half for: St Paul’s School, Cambridge University (Blue 1893), Richmond, Barbarians, Middlesex Profession: Stockbroker Remarks: Played for Barbarians: v Hartlepool Rovers (14-9) in 1897; v Stade Français (33-0) in 1899; v Newport (3-9) v Cardiff (6-6) in 1901. A right handed batsman and right arm medium bowler, he played cricket for Oxfordshire 1899-1900, Middlesex 1901-1905, South Africa (5 tests v England, debuting on 2 January 1906 at Old Wanderers’ Ground, Johannesburg), and England (4 tests v Australia, debuting on 15 July 1912 at Lord’s); MCC tour of USA 1907. War service: Served in the German South West Africa Campaign 1914-1915. Captain, later Major, 6th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps on the Western Front; wounded, Mentioned in Despatches, MC Gazetted 1 January 1917. The battalion into which he was commissioned was a training unit, which did not leave the United Kingdom. Hence, he must have transferred to another battalion when he went to the Western Front. Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General from 25 March 1916. Promoted Captain 11 September 1916. Divisional Deputy assistant Director of Labour from 28 May 1917. He died of influenza a week after the Armistice on 18 November 1918 (19 November 1918 [a]), and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery [Grave XLV. A. 4.].
Extract from the Stock Exchange Memorial Book - MAJOR REGINALD OSCAR SCHWARZ, M.C., King's Royal Rifle Corps, was born in 1875, and educated at St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. He was a brilliant athlete. He was the best cricketer at St. Paul's, but it was many years later that he became one of the most famous slow bowlers in the history of the game, for to .him was due, as much as to anyone, the development of that method of concealing the break on a ball, known as "Googly" bowling. When at his best he was the most consistent and least punished of all the bowlers of his type. He played as a regular member of the South African Test Match team for many seasons. At Rugby football he was one of the great half-backs of his time, playing for his school, University, and England. He became a member of the Stock Exchange in 1911 and a partner in the firm of Parsons and Henderson. During the war he served in German South-west Africa for a year as a Staff Captain, being mentioned in despatches, and in January 1916 went to France, where he served on the staff of a division. Early in 1918 he was transferred to the Salvage Corps through ill health, and he died on 18 November of that year. For his services in France he was awarded the Military Cross and again mentioned in despatches. One of his Commanding Officers wrote: “Combined with far more than his share of good looks, and the lithe figure of the trained athlete, he possessed the most supreme modesty and self-effacement. Tremendously cheerful, bubbling over with fun and good spirits, and possessing a real sense of humour, it was small wonder that he owned such a host of friends. If one were asked to sum him up in a sentence, one would say that it is inconceivable that he could ever have had an enemy.”
