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Arnold Reading

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Arnold Hughes Eagleton Reading
Born 3 April 1896
Died 4 January 1975(1975-01-04) (aged 78)
Place of birth Heilbron, Orange Free State,
South Africa
Place of death Sellicks Green, Somerset,
England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Marines
Years of service 1914–1946
Rank Major-general
Commands held 5th RM Battalion (1940–1942)
102nd RM Battalion (1942–1943)
RM Training Group Devon (1944–1945)
Plymouth Division RM (1945–1946)
Battles/wars First World War
Second World War
Awards Order of the British Empire

Major-General Arnold Hughes Eagleton Reading CBE DL (3 April 1896 – 4 January 1975) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Marines officer. He served in the Royal Marines from 1914–1946, rising to the rank of major-general, in addition to playing first-class cricket for the Royal Navy.

Life and military career[]

The son of the Reverend Mark Alfred Reading, he was born in South Africa in April 1896 at Helibron, Orange Free State.[1] He was educated in England at Cranleigh School,[2] before joining the Royal Marines at the start of the First World War as a probationary second lieutenant.[3] During the war he was promoted twice, first to lieutenant in March 1915,[4] while in May 1918 he was promoted to captain.[5] Reading later made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Royal Navy against the British Army cricket team at Lord's in 1929.[6] Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed in the Royal Navy first-innings for 12 runs by Frederick Arnold, while in their second-innings he was dismissed for 7 runs by Edward Armitage.[7] He was promoted to major in June 1932,[8] before being promoted to lieutenant colonel.[9] At the start of the Second World War he was posted to HMS St. Angelo in Malta.[1] In November 1939, he was made a temporary colonel,[10] which he relinquished in January 1940.[11] He was the commanding officer of 5th RM Battalion between March 1940 and February 1942,[1] taking part in the operations in Dakar between August and October 1940. He was made an acting colonel commandant in February 1942,[12] while in October 1943 he was made a colonel 2nd commandant.[13] He was appointed as the Royal Marines aide-de-camp to George VI in October 1945, replacing Arthur Reginald Chater in the role.[14] After the conclusion of the war, Reading held the rank of temporary brigadier and was promoted to major-general in January 1946.[15] He was made a CBE in the 1946 Birthday Honours.[16] He was placed on the retired list in November of the same year, having ended his career as the commander of the RM Plymouth Division.[1][17] Following his retirement, Reading settled at Buckland St Mary, Somerset. He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant for Somerset in June 1955.[18] He later moved to Sellicks Green, where he died in January 1975. He was survived by his wife, Phoebe, whom he had married in 1933.[1]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Royal Marine (RM) Officers 1939-1945". www.unithistories.com. https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RM_officersR.html. Retrieved 2019-12-25. 
  2. ↑ (in en) Who's Who. A. & C. Black. 1968. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mK4KawdOUDMC. 
  3. ↑ "No. 28879". 25 August 1914. p. 6685. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28879/page/6685 
  4. ↑ "No. 30248". 24 August 1917. p. 8703. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30248/page/8703 
  5. ↑ "No. 30741". 11 June 1918. p. 6933. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30741/page/6933 
  6. ↑ "First-Class Matches played by Arnold Reading". CricketArchive. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/32/32285/First-Class_Matches.html. Retrieved 2019-12-25. 
  7. ↑ "Army v Royal Navy, 1929". CricketArchive. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/13/13192.html. Retrieved 2019-12-25. 
  8. ↑ "No. 33836". 17 June 1932. p. 3953. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33836/supplement/3953 
  9. ↑ "No. 34614". 7 April 1939. p. 2344. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34614/supplement/2344 
  10. ↑ "No. 34724". 3 November 1939. p. 7409. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34724/page/7409 
  11. ↑ "No. 34782". 30 January 1940. p. 607. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34782/page/607 
  12. ↑ "No. 35463". 20 February 1942. p. 843. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35463/page/843 
  13. ↑ "No. 36212". 15 October 1943. p. 4575. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36212/page/4575 
  14. ↑ "No. 37339". 6 November 1945. p. 5405. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37339/page/5405 
  15. ↑ "No. 37441". 22 January 1946. p. 587. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37441/page/587 
  16. ↑ "No. 37598". 4 June 1946. p. 2764. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37598/supplement/2764 
  17. ↑ "No. 37813". 10 December 1946. p. 6027. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37813/page/6027 
  18. ↑ "No. 40496". 3 June 1955. p. 3214. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40496/page/3214 

External links[]

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