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Fullname: Allan Lynch
Born: 6 March 1879
Died: 29 Nov 1955
Birthplace: Portobello, City of Edinburgh
Signed: 16 Dec 1897 (from Scottish Rifles)
Left: 25 Sep 1899
Position: Outside-left
Debut: Celtic 5-1 St Bernards, League, 18 Dec 1897
Internationals: none
Biog
Soldier Allan Lynch appeared as a trialist for Celtic in December 1897 on leave from the Scottish Rifles. He came having been a soldier from Maryhill Barracks, where he had been a footballer for the regiment sides.
An outside-left he made his debut in a 5-1 home league defeat of St Bernard’s on 18th December 1897. He was said to be ‘inadequate’ on his debut. In fairness, the match was shrouded in fog so dense that at times the crowd could barely see the pitch, and can be told from the scoreline, he wasn’t the only one to have likely underperformed.
Some records state that he only made one further appearance (a year and four days later) in the pouring rain for James “Cud” Fisher before a poor turn-out (attendance 800) in a 4-1 win over Dundee.
Other records from back then seem to record that he also played one Scottish Cup game v 6th GRV on 14 Jan 1899 the week after in an 8-1 win. Record keeping wasn’t as well maintained in those early days as against now, but the Glasgow Herald report does NOT record him as having played in this match.
It wasn’t to be for him at Celtic, and he later left to play for Clyde. Back also signed up with his regiment, he was to travel with his unit to serve in the damned South African War in September 1899. Before he left for South Africa, he served in a Scotland Army v England Army team match with Scotland winning 6-4.
He survived the war, and became a Prison Officer at Parkhurst Prison (Isle of Wight), and later moved to Portsmouth.
Despite being away from the front line in football, he very much appears to have kept up in football both during the war and in his later prison service too. He was player-trainer for the Prison Officer’s Club known as Rookwood who won the Island Junior Cup in 1921.
Apparently from one article referencing a meet up with former soldiers in 1940, he was very proud of his footballing career although the only medals he wanted to talk about were ones won when he played in South Africa.
He passed away in 1955.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1897-99 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Links
Articles
Portsmouth Evening News – Saturday 16 November 1935
Quote:
IMPERIAL SERVICE MEDAL
Ex-Parkhurst Prison Officer, Principal Officer Allan Lynch, who recently retired from the staff of Parkhurst Prison, Isle Wight, has been presented with the King’s Imperial Service Medal, which is awarded to only civil servants without blemish on his record. Ex-Principal Officer Lynch who now resides at 43, Myrtle Grove. Copnor, had long association with the Island, having been prominent footballer the Scottish Rifles’ team at Parkhurst Barracks as far back as 1896. The following year he played at inside left for Glasgow Celtic and later for Clyde before leaving for the South African War. Remaining in Africa he joined the Orange River Colony, Prison Department and in played for the Colony against Corinthians who were touring Africa. Coming home from South Africa owing to his wife’s ill-health he joined Glasgow Police for a time and joined the British Prison Service, which he continued to until December last when he retired on pension, after just on 40 years’ service the Government.
On this day in Scottish Military History – The Battle of Spion Kop
Source: http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_01_archive.html
The Battle of Spion Kop was fought between the British Army and the forces of the Orange Free State & South African Republic, as the British attempted to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith.
The Battle was incredibly brutal, but while at the time it was remembered and commemorated, the events of 24th January 1900 were soon overtaken by bloodier events just a little over fourteen years later, and nowadays it is largely forgotten. How many football fans know the real reason that a stand at Anfield is known as “The Kop”?
The Battle is a fascinating one, and there are many personalities who were involved- both Winston Churchill and Ghandi were present at the battle, but I feel the battle is extensively covered elsewhere (the wikipedia article is quite well researched and is a good starting point) so I don’t want to dwell too much on the events as they happened.
There were no doubt a large number of Scotsmen involved in the battle, particularly as part of the 2nd Battalion of the Scottish Rifles, who took an active part during the day.
One of the men of that battalion was a young man named Allan Lynch. He had joined the regiment five years previously, and he had received his baptism of fire at the Battle of Colenso shortly after arriving in South Africa in 1899.
I could go into more detail of Lynch’s life, but I will save that for another day.
Many years later, in the 1940s, Lynch wrote down the story of his time serving with the Scottish Rifles, from the date of his enlistment in 1895, right through his time in South Africa, and his time as a veteran who reinlisted and saw service in the Great War.
So, rather than go over the facts of the Battle of Spion Kop, I thought it would be better if Allan Lynch told you about the events as he saw them. I have editied this passage somewhat for reasons of space, but the words themselves are unchanged from what Lynch wrote.
His account begins at 2 o’clock on the 24th January:
When we got to the foot of Spion Kop we could see the fighting going on at the top. For about ten minutes we saw hand-to-hand fighting going on when the Boers tried to rush a British trench, and we could also see the bayonets flash in the sunlight.
The enemy, seeing reinforcements coming, made a desperate attempt to get the hill before we could get there. In our excitement we shouted and cheered to the troops on top. Had the Boers recaptured this trench, it would have been almost impossible for the Scottish Rifles and the King’s Royal Rifles to fight their way on to the hill at this point.
The K.R.R.’s went up the face of the hill in extended order, and the Scottish Rifles up a trench on the hill in Indian file.
When we reached the top we got into line and extended to four paces between each man. The rifle fire, the shell and pom-pom fire were terrific, and men shouted as they were struck and fell, in many cases never to rise again. Major E. H. S. Twyford advanced us at the double for about two hundred yards and reached a small trench, where we crowded in to get cover.
The Major gave us a few seconds to regain our breath, and then he again shouted, “Advance, rush!”
We just cleared the trench in time, as a shell from the Boers landed in it and cut it up badly. We reached the firing- line and threw ourselves down behind some rocks and whatever cover we could find. The Major ordered us to fire half-company volleys at two hundred yards, where the Boers were entrenched, but it was hard to pick them out as they were so well hidden and had good cover, while we were very much exposed to their fire.
We were now lying amongst the killed and wounded – it was pitiful! Some of the poor fellows had been lying there since morning in the burning sun and they were craving for water, and we freely gave them all we had in our bottles. One poor fellow who belonged to the Middlesex Regiment was shot in the neck while lying down, and the bullet went right down through his body. I can see him now lying there, saying he would not last much longer as he felt he was dying. The poor fellow died before we left the hill. While we were firing half-company volleys, a shell struck a rock about six yards to my right and a man named Montgomery was cut to pieces. My own feelings at this time were that I should never come off that hill alive, as it seemed almost impossible to escape. We kept up firing until dark, when Major Twyford shouted to all the troops on the hill to fix bayonets, loud enough for the Boers to hear. No doubt this had some effect on the Boers, as they had learned to fight shy of steel. We had settled down to hold the hill all night when, to our surprise, an order was quietly passed along the firing line by man to man to prepare to retire. It was now pitch dark. The Boers were still firing occasional shots, and just as we were retiring a young man named Gavin Smith was shot in the back. He dropped down with a groan, and Sergeant McDonald (my section sergeant) stayed with him until he saw it was impossible to bring him off the hill then. It was afterwards ascertained…that he had died.
It was a perilous descent in the dark and we had to be very careful in some place, for, if we lost our foothold, there was every probability that we would be dashed to pieces two hundred feet below. I and three other men carried a wounded man of the Middlesex Regiment down the hill on a stretcher. When we got to the bottom we handed him over to the stretcher-bearers, who took him to the temporary hospital. It was after midnight of the 24th January when we finally reached the bottom of the hill. We collected together in companies as well as we could in the dark, when to our surprise the order was given to get re-supplied with ammunition and to retake the hill. This caused some very angry remarks from the men, myself included, as it seemed to us that some terrible mistake had been made in leaving the hill at all. This order was finally cancelled, and we returned across the River Tugela. We got as far as Spearman’s Farm and stopped there till daylight. The Major called the roll to see how many men were missing. We had four killed and three wounded, but the total casualties of the regiment for the afternoon’s fighting were just over 100 killed and wounded, including four officers killed and five wounded. The total casualties for the five days’ fighting around Spion Kop were just on 1,700 On 26th January, we buried Major S. P. Strong under a big tree. The whole battalion paraded, and it was a sad scene. Colonel Cook, who commanded the regiment, felt the loss of his second-in-command very keenly, and I noticed tears in his eyes; in fact, I felt like it myself as the burial service was being read by the chaplain.
Portsmouth Evening News – Thursday 03 April 1952.
IoW County Press – Saturday, December 3, 1955
FORMER ISLAND F00TBALLER MATH 0F MR. ALLAN I.YNCH, O P0RTSM0UTH
The death occurred at the Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, on Tuesday, at the age of 76, of Mr. Allan Lynch, of 43 Myrtle Grove, Copnor, Portsmouth, who will be remembered by older followers of the game as a fine player for the 2nd Battalion Scottish Rifles football team when they were stationed at Parkhurst in the late 80’s, later as a member of the Newport F.C team, and still later, while a Parkhurst Prison officer, as trainer of the Rookwood F.C. when they won the I.W. Junior Cup in 1921 and 1922. Between his army days and joining the prison Service, Lynch played at inside-left for the Scottish teams Glasgow Celtic and Clyde.
The Scottish Rifles team of which he was a member won the Island League championship and the Hampshire Junior Cup In the 1896-7 season, the first time the county junior trophy came to the Island. Mr. Lynch was a fine sportsman and an A usually good . officer in the prison service, in which he rose to the rank of principal, being for some years before his retirement in charge of the gate at Parkhurst Prison, where his commanding stature and presence were outstanding. He had continued to take a keen Interest in Island football since he removed from Forest Road, Newport, to Portsmouth, following the death of his wife, and at Portsmouth had taken an active part in the work of the British Legion.
