August 2024 will mark the 80th anniversary of the sad death of a long-forgotten Welsh sportsman, the unique Maurice Turnbull, who was killed in action in France at the climax of World War 2.

Why unique?

Maurice has the distinction of having been a ‘quadruple international’ gaining honours for England at test cricket and for Wales at rugby union, squash and hockey. Maurice played in three hockey internationals in 1929, whilst studying at Trinity College Cambridge.

He scored the winning goal on his Wales debut in the 1-0 victory over Scotland, following in the footsteps of his father Philip Bernard Turnbull who, alongside his goalkeeper brother Bertrand (Maurice’s uncle), had represented Wales at hockey at the 1908 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal.

1908 would be the one and only time that the home nations competed as separate nations at an Olympic Games. England won the hockey gold medal and Ireland the silver medal. The bronze medal was shared by Wales and Scotland – there was no third-place playoff match. The other competing nations were France and Germany, who lost to England and Scotland respectively in the hockey tournament’s first round.

The Welsh Hockey Association Selection Book , from The Hockey Museum’s collection. The book, open to reveal the minutes of the Selection Committee meeting of 1929, records M Turnbull against the position of inside right. Interestingly, he is also recorded as first reserve for the position of centre forward. If the centre forward were to get injured then presumably the first reserve inside right, J G Bunell, would be called up with Turnbull switching to centre forward.

Andrew Hignell in his excellent biography, Turnbull: A Welsh Sporting Hero (first published in 2001) believes that “His hockey was doomed to disappointment as he was competing for selection against players focusing solely on hockey!” Who knows how many hockey matches Maurice may have played in if he had not pursued his other sporting passions to elite level?

So, it begs the question as we approach the 80th anniversary of Maurice’s death: was he Britain’s most complete all-round sportsman?

Is there anyone out there who can rival Maurice Turnbull’s incredible achievements on the international sporting stage?

The photograph below is of Maurice at Downside School in Somerset in 1922. Maurice is sitting second from the left with his cousin Lou to his right; this appears to be the ‘only’ photo of him as a hockey player, despite his achievements!

Downside School hockey team, Somerset, 1922.

Maurice Turnbull’s death

From the epilogue of Turnbull: A Welsh Sporting Hero by Andrew Hignell.

“Major Turnbull was one of over a hundred casualties sustained by the Welsh Guards as they fought in and around the village of Montchamp [in Normandy, north-western France]. Many of the fatalities were in the Panzer [tank]-led counterattack on the evening of 5 August 1944.

“His commanding officer John Vigar said of Maurice, ‘We have lost a very great friend and a true leader of men right to the very end’.

“News of his death filtered through to the crowd at Cardiff Arms Park and the crowd spontaneously rose and stood in a minute’s silence in tribute to a man whose life had been devoted to Welsh sport!”