Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War ‘Third Battle of the Scarpe’ M.C. group of four awarded to Major A. W. Lavarack, Royal Fusiliers, who was decorated in 1917 for his part in the capture of Oppy, near Arras, commended by the C.O. of the 17th Royal Fusiliers for his ‘suggestions’ and ‘coolness’ during the Battle of Cambrai, and wounded in action during the German Spring Offensive

Subsequently appointed Secretary and later President of the English Golf Union, Lavarack selected and accompanied two gifted amateur golfers to Baden Baden Golf Club in Germany in the aftermath of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, successfully masterminding a last-minute victory in the Golfpreis der Nationen Trophy, more commonly known as the ‘Hitler Trophy’ over the much-fancied young German pairing

Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse privately engraved ‘Oppy Village. Major A. Whitley Lavarack. 17th. R.F. June. 1917.’; 1914-15 Star (2. Lieut. A. W. Lavarack. R. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (Major A. W. Lavarack.) nearly extremely fine (4) £1,400-£1,800

M.C. London Gazette 4 June 1917.

Arthur Whitley Lavarack was born at Willesden, Middlesex, on 25 December 1883. Given the nickname ‘Tiny’ on account of his 5 foot 2 inch stature, Laverack spent his childhood and teenage years in Hendon and Austria, devoting his time to engineering and invention. Granted a patent in America for a ‘recreative switchback apparatus’ bearing a heavy resemblance to a Cornish wheelhouse of the 1800s, his creativity was only stifled by the outbreak of the Great War. Appointed Second Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers on 4 November 1915, he is recorded by author Edward Wyrall as one of the original contingent of the 17th (Service) Battalion.

Sent to France on 16 November 1915, Lavarack joined 30 officers and 994 other ranks in the Annezin, and later Cuinchy, sectors. According to Wyrall, life at Cuinchy was pretty miserable: ‘In the front line, water and mud - anything from waist to knee deep - produced a condition almost indescribable. The hours men spent crouching against the walls of the trenches (for to show one’s head meant almost certain death from a sniper’s bullet) were passed in dull agony... shell holes and mine craters frequently overlapped one another, mostly full of stinking water, foul from decaying bodies which still lay beneath the turgid surface.’

Engaged at Guillemont and the Battle of the Somme, it was said that a subaltern’s life in the Royal Fusiliers at this time was worth only about a week’s purchase, so dreadful were the casualties among the officers. At the Battle of the Scarpe on 3-4 May 1917, two ‘fresh’ companies of the 17th Royal Fusiliers moved forward to assist the Canadians, one to Arleux Loop and the other to the old British line west of the loop. Noted as present by Wyrall, Lavarack was awarded the Military Cross. Oppy proved a turning point for the Battalion, for as Wyrall noted: ‘The old Battalion which had landed in France in 1915 was becoming extinct’. The surviving officers were now in command of inexperienced men, with strong leadership being ever more vital. On 30 November 1917, the Germans launched a savage rain of shellfire onto the Bapaume-Cambrai Road. Keen to retake the salient held by the Royal Fusiliers near Vendhuille, prodigious numbers of infantry left their trenches at 9 a.m. and began to swarm around British front line units. Holding back the surging masses of grey-clad figures, Captain W. N. Stone and Lieutenant S. Benzecry were both recommended for the V.C., the former being posthumously awarded the decoration in the London Gazette of 13 February 1918. Wyrall notes that the Commanding Officer of the 17th Battalion was keen to praise others:
‘...to Captain and Adjutant A. W. Lavarack, for the suggestions that he made and the coolness which he maintained which were of invaluable assistance to me, especially as both my signalling and intelligence officers were wounded earlier in the fighting.’

The early days of the Spring Offensive brought further challenges for Lavarack and his comrades. Facing a ‘grey avalanche’ at Miraumont, Courcelette, Le Sars and Loupart Wood, Wyrall notes an onslaught no less in magnitude than that faced by Stone and Benzecry in the Rat’s Tail a few months previously. Wounded in action, Lavarack was fortunate to reach the sanctuary of a casualty clearing station. Returned home at the cessation of hostilities, he then determined to spend the next 40 years enjoying the manicured fairways of the best golf courses up and down the breadth of the British Isles - in somewhat marked contrast to the Western Front.

Appointed Paid Secretary to the English Golfing Union in 1934, Lavarack soon found himself meeting the German Führer who was considering a ‘spin off’ spectacle after the Berlin Olympic Games:
‘A difficult interview with Hitler is one of the odder golfing memories of Major A. Whitley Lavarack, who succeeds Mr. Alan Sowden, of Ilkley, as president of the English Golf Union at the Union’s annual meeting in London today. Major Lavarack, who has been secretary of the Union since 1925, spent much of his early life in Austria.
When Hitler came to power, there was some talk that he would ban golf in Germany. Herr Heinkel (sic), the then president of the German Golf Union, asked Major Lavarack to use his influence to put over the golfers’ point of view. An interview was arranged. After Major Lavarack had explained the game and extolled its health-giving virtues, Hitler said impatiently: “If I allow my people to play golf it must be arranged that we win everything.” Major Lavarack said diffidently that this was not always possible. Hitler replied sharply: “If we do not win all the time I shall plough up the courses”.’ (Recollections of Major Lavarack, published in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, 10 March 1954).

It is difficult to understand why mid 1930s Germany held any interest in golf or golf tournaments at all, more so why the Führer would spend his own reichmarks on an amber-laden plate trophy. Germany had no golfing tradition, nor champions, and only around 50 courses. More pointedly, author Alan Fraser in his book The Hitler Trophy notes that ‘Hitler was to golf at that time what Tiger Woods is to painting today’. With time at a premium, the Head of the German Golf Union successfully sourced two talented amateur players, but was unable to convince the I.O.C. to admit golf into the programme for the 1936 Olympic Games. Instead, Karl Henkell arranged what he hoped would be a prestigious addendum, an international tournament that would be close enough in time, if not place, to be recognised as part of the Olympiad; christened Der Grosse Preis der Nationen, the tournament was designed to allow golf to wrap itself around the Olympic flag, offering further spectacle for the top German dignitaries.

Emboldened by the success of a pre-Olympic tour of America, Henkell sent invitations to 36 countries inviting them to compete at Baden Baden Golf Club; 28 immediately declined. With an increasing awareness of German clubs expelling Jewish players, Switzerland and Sweden soon followed. This left England under the stewardship of Lavarack as one of the remaining half-dozen to accept, alongside France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Netherlands. Accompanying Lavarack to Baden Baden were English golfers Tom Thirsk and Arnold Bentley. A seasoned pair, they faced 72 holes of strokeplay with the combined scores of both players determining the winner. From the calm surrounds of his Black Forest digs, Lavarack sent telegrams to his men: ‘Best of luck and a good day’s sport, Tiny.’

The first day’s play proved a joy for the German pairing of Beckerath and Hellmers, the leading scores at the halfway stage being 282 (Germany), 287 (England) and 292 (France). However, the second day witnessed Bentley posting a respectable 70 and Thirsk unleashing a remarkable 65. Haunted by a tough morning, Beckerath could only watch as the English repeated their good form with a 65 and 75 in the afternoon’s play to win the tournament. Germany came third. As the German pair began to fall apart in the final 9 holes, it fell to Henkell to halt a potential public relations disaster and prevent a jubilant Führer arriving at the club, only to discover that the German pair had failed in their task. Lavarack later regaled the respected sports correspondent Geoffrey Cousins with this tale: ‘Ribbentrop knew he had to take action. His driver was alerted, an official car readied and off Ribbentrop sped, as if in a car chase straight out of the film Von Ryan’s Express... Ribbentrop had to head Hitler off at the pass.’

Bentley and Thirsk were presented the trophy by Henkell and invited to Berchtesgaden for afternoon tea; they politely declined. Returned home to England with the trophy and a Black Forest fir sapling each, they later returned to relative obscurity, the story little known about until the sale of the trophy at auction in recent years. Appointed President of the English Golfing Union in 1954, Lavarack died at Claygate on 16 March 1962.

Sold with a copy of The Hitler Trophy, Golf and the Olympic Games, by Alan Fraser, and copied research.