Lieutenant John Arthur BOARD
4th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Date of birth: 3rd August 1895
Date of death: 24th June 1965

Survived aged 69
Unknown
John Arthur Board was born at Castle House, Hampton-on-Thames in Middlesex on the 3rd of August 1895 the son of John William Board, a gentleman, and Ethel Emily (nee Webster) Board of “Farley”, High Street, Westerham in Kent.

He was educated at Hazelwood School until December 1908 where he was a member of the Choir and won the Fencing Prize in 1906. He was a member of the Cricket XI in 1907 and 1908 and of the Football XI in 1907 and 1908. The school magazine wrote the following on his 1907 cricket season: - "The most improved bat in the XI, with some beautiful strokes to the off; brilliant in the field, but wild and erratic with the ball."

They wrote of his 1908 cricket season: - "A very fine bat, though still weak on the leg side; is a splendid fieldsman in almost any position, and his trundling is quite likely to upset the most reliable of batsmen, but he can scarcely be said to have remedied his inaccuracy of pitch."

They wrote the following of his 1907 football season: - "(Half) - With a little more knowledge of the game should develop into a fine player; a sturdy tackler, but uncertain kick."

Of his 1908 football season they wrote: - "(Centre half) - Gets through and enormous amount of work both in attack and defence; has been the mainstay of the team, using both head and feet to great advantage."

On leaving the school the magazine wrote the following of him: - "...goes to Wellington. One of the straightest and most stout hearted little sportsmen. Already a fine bat and magnificent field (a shocking bowler!) he also displays much promise at football. A great help in the choir and upon every and all occasions. The "Moke" will be hard to replace. We expect to hear of him with the pencil."

He went on to Wellington College where he was in Mr. Bevir’s House from January 1909 to 1912 and was a member of the Cricket XI in 1911. From 1913 to 1915 he was engaged in tea and rubber planting in Ceylon before returning home to join the army at the outbreak of war.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the 12th of July 1915 and, from August 1916, he spent the war serving in Salonika, being invalided home in 1919. While in Salonika he enjoyed wildfowl shooting and ran a pack of foxhounds during intervals in the fighting.

In 1925 he joined the staff of the Times Newspaper as a journalist and sub-editor in the sporting department and lived at the time at 7, River Bank, East Molesey in Surrey. He was with the Times until 1940 and wrote extensively on polo, horse shows, real tennis and golf. He was a talented artist and illustrated his own books.

He was a co-founder member in 1924 and was the first Hon. Secretary of the Old Wellingtonian Golf Society, winning their first meeting that year and reaching the last eight in the Amateur Championship of 1925. In 1926 he was selected to represent England against Scotland at Muirfield East Lothian which took place on the 22nd of May where he reached the fifth round. Later that year he led Old Wellingtonians to victory in the Public Schools Scratch Foursomes.

He was married in 1931 to Evelyn Enid (nee Dealy); they had a son, John, born in 1933 and lived at 39 Brae Court, Kingston Hill in Surrey.

On the outbreak of the Second World War he was called up from the reserve and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps on the 6th of February 1940. He was promoted to temporary Captain on the 6th of April 1942 and served as a Deputy Assistant Director of Supplies and Transport for Southern Command from the 21st of September 1942. He was promoted to Captain on the 1st of April 1944 and to temporary Major on the same date. He later served with the Horse Transport Section until 1946 when he retired.

He wrote the books "The Right Way to Become a Golfer", published by A.G. Eliot in 1948,” Horse and Pencil”, published by C. Johnson in 1950, ” Polo” published by Faber & Faber in 1951, "The Right Way to Become a Cricketer" published by Right Way Books in 1950 and contributed a volume on polo for the Faber Sporting Handbooks series in 1956. He was also a contributor to both "Country Life” and "The Field" magazines.
Went on to Wellington College

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