Between the Olympics and Paralympics, there's no better time to remember the strong connection between the Olympics and the Armed Forces. We would like to share stories of Olympic gold medalists who also served in the British Armed Forces.
Here are just a few of our brave veteran gold medalists and their fascinating stories:
Henry Maitland Macintosh, a gifted runner, won a gold medal at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. When First World War began, he was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. In the summer of 1918, during the Second Battle of the Somme, Captain Macintosh was killed in action at the age of 26. He was buried in Senlis French National Cemetery.
Robert Coleman was a sailor and a crew member of the British boat Ancora, which won the gold medal at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. However, his military career began before his Olympic fame. He served in France as a second lieutenant starting in November 1915, was promoted to lieutenant on August 19, 1917, and was awarded the Military Cross on April 2, 1919.
Geoffrey Bruce and George Finch were awarded gold medals at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics for an achievement that took place two years earlier: on May 27, 1922, they set a world record in mountaineering, reaching a height of 23,300 ft (7,100 m), just 1,731 ft (527 m) below the summit of Mount Everest. Both used supplemental oxygen, and it was Geoffrey Bruce's first mountain climb. During the First World War, Bruce served as a second lieutenant in the Glamorgan Yeomanry in Egypt and Palestine. Later, as an officer in the British Indian Army, he fought in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 and was awarded the Military Cross in 1921. He participated in North-West Frontier operations from 1920-23 and became the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles in 1937. He also had a distinguished career during the Second World War. George Finch served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the First World War and was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his services in France, Egypt, and Salonika. In World War II, he focused on fire defence while also enjoying an academic career in the interim.
Lewis Clive won a gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and immediately after the Games, in August 1932, he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards. He later volunteered to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, rising to the rank of company commander in the British Battalion of the International Brigades. During the Battle of the Ebro, Clive led his soldiers in an assault on Hill 481, where he was killed by a shot to the head.
Rowland David George won a gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Later, during the Second World War, George served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve's Equipment Branch and played a key role in Operation Torch in Algeria. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1943. As an acting wing commander, he planned the Allied invasion of Sicily and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the US Legion of Merit in 1944.
Gordon Dailley was born in Canada but moved to England in 1933, where he quickly rose through the ranks of ice hockey players, eventually winning a team gold medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He became the captain of the British national team in 1937 and joined the Canadian Army in 1938. Dailley served in England throughout the Second World War and retired from the military in 1964.
Alfred Thomson — yes, the war painter Alfred Reginald Thomson — also has an Olympic gold medal. During the Second World War, Thomson completed several commissions for the War Artists' Advisory Committee and, in September 1942, became a full-time salaried artist attached to the Air Ministry. He painted numerous portraits of RAF aircrews, as well as medical and civil defence subjects. At the 1948 Olympic Games in London, he was awarded a gold medal for painting—becoming the last person to do so, as medals for art were discontinued in subsequent years.
Harry Llewellyn secured Great Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Although he began his equestrian career before the Second World War, he joined the Army in 1939 and served with distinction during the war, acting as a liaison officer to Field Marshal Montgomery in Italy and Normandy. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Arthur Laurence Rook, also an equestrian, was awarded a team gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Before that success, he initially served with the Maritime Artillery, providing gunners for merchant ships. When the regiment was disbanded in 1942, he joined the Royal Horse Guards and served in Egypt and Italy, earning a Military Cross in 1944.
Michael Alexander won a silver medal as part of the fencing team at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, before advancing to a successful diplomatic career. He was eventually appointed as ambassador to NATO and served as Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies.
Reuben "Ben" Jones was a British equestrian who won a gold medal in the team event and was the first non-commissioned officer to represent Great Britain in Olympic equestrian events. An accomplished horseman, he joined the army in his youth to work with horses, and later and oversaw equitation as a sergeant in the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. In 1968, he was posted to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and, after receiving his commission, was transferred to the General Service Corps at Melton Mowbray, where he managed training at the RAVC remount depot.
Jim Fox, one of the most influential figures in British sport, joined the Army at the age of 15 and developed an interest in modern pentathlon. By 1972, he had risen to the rank of sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In the 1972 Munich Games, he achieved the best individual placing by a British pentathlete up to that point, finishing fourth, and went on to win team gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics alongside teammates Danny Nightingale and Adrian Parker. Jim Fox retired from the Army in 1983 as a captain.
As you can see, there are no Paralympians on this list — only because the Paralympic Games were first held in 1988. The absence of female athletes in history is also noticeable, and we intend to explore that demographic in future articles.
There are, of course, hundreds of athletes whose sporting dreams were shattered by the World Wars, when the Olympic Games were cancelled in 1916, 1940, and 1944 — or by illness, like Eileen Robertson's (read her biography here).
We at Memorial Wall are eager to hear their stories. You can add a tribute to Memorial Wall or send it to memorialwall@veteransfoundation.org.uk.
And please, don’t forget to light a Remembrance candle in memory of our brave veterans: each candle and donation helps veterans in need combat homelessness, PTSD, and physical injury.
Meanwhile, we are eager to listen!
