Ben Brocklehurst

Benjamin Gilbert Brocklehurst (18 February 1922 – 17 June 2007) was an English cricketer and publisher.

Brocklehurst was born at Knapton Hall, in Knapton, Norfolk. His father was a Canadian rancher. He was educated at Bradfield College, where he played football, tennis, squash and athletics for the school, and was captain of cricket. He was Victor Ludorum at the public school sports event held at White City in 1938, winning the discus and the high jump. During the Second World War, he served initially in the 10th (Home Defence) Battalion of The Devonshire Regiment, spending time on coastal defences in East Anglia. He was wounded by shrapnel during the Bristol Blitz, and was commissioned as an officer in The Royal Berkshire Regiment before transferring to the Indian Army. He joined the Frontier Force Rifles, posted to Wana on the North West Frontier. He was attacked by a bear in Kashmir, and then volunteered for service in Burma, where he commanded a Pashtun company in the 4th Battalion of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 17th Division, a reconnaissance unit. He was mentioned in dispatches and promoted to acting lieutenant colonel, taking charge of thousands of Japanese prisoners.