Prior to kick-off at the recent home game against West Brom, the names of the players (from both sides) who had lost their lives during both World Wars, were read out. And Trumpeter Sgt. Warren Ringham of the Royal Air Force Band played the ‘Last Post’.
The following servicemen had at some point in their careers played for Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club, and all tragically lost their lives serving their country:
Yorkshireman Albert Edward Bonass arrived at Loftus Road in 1939 from Chesterfield. He lost his life when his Stirling bomber crashed on 8thttthOctober 1945.
Albert ‘Ben’ Butler – He was the first professional footballer in the ranks of the 17th Middlesex to lose his life.
Frank Cannon – Frank made 29 appearances for the Rangers before moving on to West Ham. He was attached to the 11thth Essex Regt. He died from his wounds whilst on his way to the dressing station. He left a wife and two children.
Charlie Clarke – Charlie had made six league appearances for the R’s in the 1930’s before signing for Luton Town. He lost his life in 1943.
Joseph Dines won more than 30 amateur caps for England and he also played in all three matches for the Great Britain team in the 1912 Olympics which earned him a gold medal. He was killed on the Western Front in September 1918.
Albert Edwards – He made 17 1st team appearances for the Rangers in the 1900’s and lost his life in the Great War.
Alan Fowler guested a few times for the R’s during 1940/41 and also during the 1943/44 season. Sgt. Fowler was actually on Swindon Town’s books when he was killed during the D-Day landings.
Oscar Horace Stanley Linkson – He joined the 1st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and later went missing during the battle to take Guillemont Station. Oscar’s body was never found. His mother never accepted that her son was dead, choosing to believe that he had run away to escape what she believed to be an unhappy marriage.
Evelyn Henry Lintott was QPR’s first full England international. He was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Robert McLaren Law – His one QPR appearance was made in the final Southern League match of the 1910/11 season against Plymouth Argyle. Pte. Law served with the 4th Battalion Cameron Highlanders. He died from his wounds in 1915.
John H. Pennifer joined QPR in 1913 and after making three appearances, he enlisted the following year. John lost his life at the Battle of the Somme.
Albert Rogers joined the Rangers in 1907 and later played for Bristol Rovers. Albert was killed in action on 4th April 1918.
H.V. Thornton made his QPR debut in 1911. He was one of many players to join the Footballer’s Battalion (the 17th Middlesex Regiment). Harry lost his life in France.
John Tosswill made three appearances for the Rangers. He joined the Royal Engineers and became a dispatch rider. Corporal Tosswill passed away on the operating table in Eastbourne Military Hospital in 1915.
Also to be remembered are two R’s fans who sadly lost their lives during the conflict in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Tom Keogh came from the Hallfield Estate in Paddington and was just 24 when he died from a gunshot wound in Sangin, Helmand Province.
And acting Corporal David Barnsdale – 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). He was the same age as Tom when he lost his life clearing explosive devices. His parents laid a wreath on the centre-circle prior to the Burnley home game in 2010.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Steve Russell