Lawrence le Fleming

Brevet Lieutenant-colonel Lawrence Julius Le Fleming (3 June 1879 – 21 March 1918), sometimes known as Lawrie Le Fleming, was an English British Army officer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and the Army. He was career army officer who served in the Second Boer War and World War I, during which he rose to command a battalion on the Western Front. He was wounded twice during the war and killed in action in France in March 1918.

Early life and family Le Fleming was born in June 1879 at Eton House, Tonbridge in Kent, the sixth and youngest son of the Reverend John and Harriette Le Fleming. His father was employed as an Army tutor at Tonbridge School and all six of the couple's sons attended the school, Lawrence between 1892 and 1896. He played cricket in the school team in his final year at school, scoring over 400 runs and leading the team batting averages, winning an award as a result. He left school from the Army Class at Christmas 1896. His wife died after a sudden illness in July 1917 leaving two infant daughters.

First-class cricketer

Le Fleming was a right-handed middle-order batsman who played in a total of 13 first-class cricket matches. He played in eight matches for the county the following year and three in 1899, making a total of 12 appearances for the county First XI. Despite their careers overlapping, the brothers never played in the same Kent team.

Le Fleming played club cricket regularly for teams such as Bluebottles, based at Tunbridge Wells, Band of Brothers, a team closely associated with the Kent county club, and Free Foresters as well as playing regularly when posted in India, but did not appear again in county cricket.

South Africa, 1899–1902 On the outbreak of the Second Boer War he transferred to the regular army on 18 October 1899, joining 2 Battalion East Surrey Regiment as a Second Lieutenant. Ladysmith was relieved in late February 1900, after which he was briefly hospitalized before returning to duty in April 1900.

After a period of illness between July 1900 and March 1901, he was on active service in South Africa for the remainder of the war, serving mainly in the Transvaal Republic although he also spent some time in Cape Colony and Orange River Colony. Whilst in South Africa, he was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 January 1901 and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with five clasps and the King's South Africa Medal with two clasps as a result of his war service. He fought at the Battle of La Bassée and was wounded in the face at Richebourg-l'Avoué near Bethune towards the end of October. Going ahead of his men to reconnoitre the ground, Le Fleming was shot through the head and died, one of 309 men from the East Surreys killed in action on 21 March 1918.

Although his body was recovered by a volunteer the following day, in the chaos caused by the German offensive it was lost and Le Fleming's burial was never recorded. He is recorded on the Pozières Memorial as well as on the Blythe Memorial at the St Lawrence Ground at Canterbury which records each of Kent's cricketers who died on active service during the First or Second World Wars. A lectern is dedicated to his memory in St Saviour's Church, Tonbridge.