Peter Smith receives his cap from GB Hockey President Sheila Morrow.

On 10 March, Great Britain Hockey President Sheila Morrow travelled to Somerset to present Peter Smith with his honours cap. Peter is nowadays confined to bed but remains mentally very active. Sheila spent an enjoyable few hours reminiscing with him about his England and GB career as Peter shared his memories and memorabilia.

Peter’s cap award was only made possible through THM’s efforts to research definitive GB records and correct long-standing omissions. This work determined that Peter should be awarded caps for matches that were previously considered unofficial by the national governing body – there are rigorous criteria that a match must meet to become official which were agreed in partnership with GB Hockey during the course of the research project.

Peter earned his 5 GB caps during a Great Britain & Ireland tour to South Africa and Kenya in 1951. He is now officially recognised as a full GB international. His GB appearances were:

1. vs South Africa in Cape Town – 18 August 1951
2. vs South Africa in Port Elizabeth – 25 August 1951
3. vs South Africa in Durban – 8 September 1951
4. vs South Africa in Johannesburg – 16 September 1951
5. vs Kenya & East Africa in Nairobi – 20 September 1951