Ronald Simson
Ronald Francis Simson (6 September 1880 – 14 September 1914) was a Scottish rugby union player for Scotland.[1] Simson was the first Scottish rugby international to die in the First World War.[2]
| Birth name | Ronald Francis Simson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 6 September 1890 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 14 September 1914 (aged 24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Aisne, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Ronald Simson was born in Edinburgh on 6 September 1880.[3]
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
He attended Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he represented the Woolwich XV in a 49–9 victory over Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[3] He also played for London Scottish, a team especially hard hit because many of them joined the London Scottish regiment.[2]
Provincial career
He played for the Blues Trial side against the Whites Trial side on 21 January 1911, while still with London Scottish. He scored a try in the match but the Blues lost 19–26 to the Whites.[4]
Military service
Simson joined the Royal Field Artillery in July 1911.[6] Having played for the Army & Navy team, he was selected to represent Scotland against England in 1911.[1] He was promoted in July 1914 to Lieutenant in the 116th Battery, 26th Brigade.[3] Simson was killed in the First Battle of the Aisne,[2] which was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) & Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914. A shell exploded below the horse he was riding; both he and the horse were killed.[3] He is buried at Moulins New Communal Cemetery in Aisne France.
References
- Bath, p. 109
- "An entire team wiped out by the Great War". The Scotsman. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- Clutterbuck, L. A. (2002). The Bond of Sacrifice: A Biographical Record of all British Officers who fell in the Great War. Vol. 1. Navy and Military Press. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-1843422259.
- "Register". Retrieved 30 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "England v Scotland".
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: SIMSON, RF. Retrieved 8 December 2009
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)