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{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Ernest Bradfield
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|birth_name= Ernest William Charles Bradfield
|birth_date= {{birth date|1880|5|28|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Birmingham]], [[Warwickshire]], England
|death_date= {{death date and age|1963|10|28|1880|5|28|df=yes}}
|death_place= [[Putney]], [[London]], England
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|spouse = Margaret Bradfield (m. 1923)
|branch= [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears= 1902–1939
|rank= [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-general]]
|unit=
|commands=
|battles= {{Tree list}}
*[[First World War]]
**[[Mesopotamian campaign]]
*[[Mohmand and Bajaur operations of 1933|Upper Mohmand Campaign]]
*[[Second World War]]
|awards=
|relations=
|laterwork=
| module =
{{Infobox cricketer |child=yes
|embed=yes
| batting = Unknown
| bowling =
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = {{nowrap|1906/07–1922/23}}
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1= 4
| runs1 = 49
| bat avg1= 8.16
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 35
| hidedeliveries = true
| catches/stumpings1 = 1/–
| source = {{Cricinfo |id=27603 |name=Ernest Bradfield}} }}
}}

[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-general]] '''Sir Ernest William Charles Bradfield''' {{postnominal|KCIE|OStJ|OBE|FRCS}} (28 May 1880 — 28 October 1963) was an [[English people|English]] first-class cricketer and [[British Army]] officer. Graduating from [[St Mary's Hospital Medical School]], he joined the [[Indian Medical Service]] in 1903 and would serve in campaigns in the [[North-West Frontier Province]] of [[British India]] and in the [[Mesopotamian campaign]] of the [[First World War]]. He would go onto hold a number of senior appointments within the Indian Medical Service, rising to the rank of lieutenant-general. Bradfield was noted as being infleuential in the establishment of the [[Army Medical Corps (India)|Indian Army Medical Corps]] during the [[Second World War]]. In addition to his lengthy and decorated military career, Bradfield also played [[first-class cricket]] on four occasions for the [[Europeans cricket team]] in India.

==Life and military career==
The son of W. G. Bradfield, he was born at [[Birmingham]] in May 1880.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1952-1964|first1=R. H. O. B.|last1=Robinson|first2=W. R.|last2=Le Fanu|year=1970|publisher=[[Churchill Livingstone|E & S Livingstone]]|location=London|page=1970|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Lives_of_the_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Colleg/byJrAAAAMAAJ|language=en}}</ref> He was educated at [[King Edward's School, Birmingham]], before matriculating to the [[St Mary's Hospital Medical School]], where he obtained an open scholarship in science. He was a keen sportsman during his studies, representing St Mary's at both cricket and [[rugby union]].<ref name="BIO">{{cite web|url=https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/lives/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ASSET$002f0$002fSD_ASSET:377097/one?qu=%22rcs%3A+E004914%22&rt=false%7C%7C%7CIDENTIFIER%7C%7C%7CResource+Identifier|title=Bradfield, Sir Ernest William Charles (1880 - 1963)|publisher=www.livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk|accessdate=7 December 2022}}</ref> After graduating, he was commissioned into the [[Indian Medical Service]] as a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] in August 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27642|date=5 February 1904|page=786}}</ref> with promotion to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] following in July 1906.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27967|date=13 November 1906|page=7633}}</ref> Specialising in surgery,<ref name="GEN">{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War|first=Nicholas|last=Smart|year=2005|publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]]|location=Barnsley|page=69|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Biographical_Dictionary_of_British_Gener/ogTMDwAAQBAJ|language=en|isbn=9781783460366}}</ref> he first saw action in the [[North-West Frontier Province]] in 1908.<ref name="BIO"/> Bradfield made his debut in [[first-class cricket]] for the [[Europeans cricket team]] against the [[Parsis cricket team|Parsees]] at [[Deccan Gymkhana Ground|Poona]] in the [[Bombay Quadrangular|Bombay Presidency Match]] of September 1906.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13938/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Christopher Ling|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=7 December 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Bradfield served in the [[First World War]] in the [[Mesopotamian campaign]], during which he was [[mentioned in dispatches]].<ref name="GEN"/> He gained promotion during the war to [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] in February 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29186|date=8 June 1915|page=5526}}</ref> and was made an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] in the [[1918 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30730|date=4 June 1918|page=6716|supp=y}}</ref> He married Margaret Anne Olton in 1920, with the couple having two daughters.<ref name="BIO"/>

Shortly after the war, he made a second appearance in first-class cricket for the Europeans against the [[Indians cricket team|Indians]] in the 1919–20 [[Madras Presidency Match]], with him making two further appearances against the Indians in the Madras Presidency Matches of 1922 and 1923.<ref name="FCM"/> In four first-class matches, he scored 49 runs at an [[batting average (cricket)|average]] of 8.16, with a highest score of 35.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13035/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Ernest Bradfield|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=7 December 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] in February 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32822|date=11 May 1923|page=3386}}</ref> In 1924, he was appointed Professor of Surgery at the [[Madras Medical College]] and was superintendent of the [[Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital|Government General Hospital]] in [[Chennai|Madras]], where he was credited with bringing it up to modern standards.<ref name="BIO"/><ref name="GEN"/> When the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) toured India in 1927, Bradfield stood as an [[umpire (cricket)|umpire]] in a first-class match between the MCC and [[Tamil Nadu cricket team|Madras]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13035/Umpire_in_First-Class_Matches.html|title=Ernest Bradfield as Umpire in First-Class Matches |publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=7 December 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the [[1928 Birthday Honours]], he was made a Companion to the [[Order of the Indian Empire]].<ref>{{London Gazette|city=Edinburgh|issue=14450|date=8 June 1928|page=658}}</ref> Bradfield was promoted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] in September 1932, antedated to September 1927,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33877|date=28 October 1932|page=6775}}</ref> and was appointed to the post of assistant director of medical services in India in the same month.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33884|date=18 November 1932|page=7344}}</ref> The following year, he was mentioned in dispatches once again during the [[Mohmand and Bajaur operations of 1933|Upper Mohmand Campaign]] of 1933.<ref name="GEN"/>

Bradfield was promoted to [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|major-general]] in August 1935,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34222|date=22 November 1935|page=7419}}</ref> and in the same year he was appointed honorary surgeon to [[George V]] in 1935.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34226|date=3 December 1935|page=7671}}</ref> He served his successors [[Edward VIII]] and [[George VI]].<ref name="BIO"/> He served as [[Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)|Surgeon-General]] for [[Mumbai|Bombay]] from 1935 to 1937, before serving as Medical Director of the Indian Medical Service from 1937 to 1939.<ref name="GEN"/> In the [[1938 New Year Honours]], he was appointed a Commander of the [[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|Order of Saint John]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34470|date=4 January 1938|page=29}}</ref> Bradfield argued on the importance of the setting up of medical schools and colleges by the Government of India in the ''Indian Medical Review'' of 1938.<ref>{{cite book|title=Medical Education in Western India|first=Sunil|last=Pandya|year=2018|publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]]|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|page=290|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Medical_Education_in_Western_India/H_N0DwAAQBAJ|language=en|isbn=9781527520271}}</ref> In 1938 and 1939, he was chairman of the [[Indian Red Cross Society]].<ref name="GEN"/> In India, he took up [[polo]] and had the rare distinction of a doctor playing polo for the [[13th_Lancers#31|13th Lancers]] while he was attached to them.<ref name="BIO"/> He retired from the Indian Medical Service in November 1939,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34771|date=12 January 1940|page=227}}</ref> returning to England, where he became president of the Medical Branch of the [[India Office]] and medical adviser to the [[Secretary of State for India]], [[Leo Amery]].<ref name="GEN"/>

Bradfield returned to India during the early stages of the [[Second World War]] as part of the [[Souttar Commission]] to investigate reports of a lack of medical officers for service in the British Indian Army, owing to the non-co-operation of the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref name="BIO"/> He was influential in the creation of the [[Army Medical Corps (India)|Indian Army Medical Corps]],<ref name="BIO"/> and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in the [[1941 New Year Honours]] for his services.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35029|date=31 December 1940|page=7|supp=y}}</ref> Bradfield was promoted to the local rank of [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] in October 1944,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36811|date=24 November 1944|page=5399}}</ref> later being granted the honorary rank in July 1946.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37781|date=5 November 1946|page=5469}}</ref> During the war, he served as the Indian Red Cross Commissioner for England from 1940 to 1946.<ref name="GEN"/> Bradfield was later elected a [[fellow]] of the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England|Royal College of Surgeons]] in 1962,<ref name="GEN"/> a year before his death at [[Putney Hospital]] in October 1963.<ref name="BIO"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=27063}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradfield, Ernest}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Mary's Hospital Medical School]]
[[Category:20th-century English medical doctors]]
[[Category:Indian Medical Service officers]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English cricket umpires]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons]]

Ernest Bradfield - Revision history

Bot at 15:39, 9 December 2022