Gerry Chalk

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English cricketer (1910–1943)

title: "Gerry Chalk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1910-births", "1943-deaths", "english-cricketers", "people-educated-at-uppingham-school", "free-foresters-cricketers", "oxford-university-cricketers", "kent-cricketers", "kent-cricket-captains", "marylebone-cricket-club-cricketers", "royal-air-force-personnel-killed-in-world-war-ii", "recipients-of-the-distinguished-flying-cross-(united-kingdom)", "gentlemen-cricketers", "gentlemen-of-england-cricketers", "alumni-of-brasenose-college,-oxford", "missing-in-action-of-world-war-ii", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "honourable-artillery-company-soldiers", "royal-air-force-officers", "aviators-killed-in-aviation-accidents-or-incidents-in-france", "victims-of-aviation-accidents-or-incidents-in-1943", "aviators-killed-by-being-shot-down", "royal-air-force-pilots-of-world-war-ii", "british-world-war-ii-fighter-pilots", "people-from-sydenham,-london", "cricketers-from-the-london-borough-of-lewisham", "military-personnel-from-the-london-borough-of-lewisham", "20th-century-english-sportsmen"] description: "English cricketer (1910–1943)" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Chalk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English cricketer (1910–1943) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox cricketer"]

Field	Value
name	Gerry Chalk
fullname	Frederick Gerald Hudson Chalk
birth_date
birth_place	Sydenham, London
death_date
death_place	Louches, Pas-de-Calais, France
batting	Right-handed
club1	Oxford University
year1	1931–1934
club2	Kent
year2	1933–1939
columns	1
column1	First-class
matches1	156
runs1	6,732
bat avg1	28.16
100s/50s1	11/31
top score1	198
deliveries1	605
wickets1	7
bowl avg1	58.42
fivefor1	0
tenfor1	0
best bowling1	2/22
catches/stumpings1	62/–
date	22 March
year	2009
source	http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/11073.html CricInfo
::

Early life

Chalk was born in Sydenham in Kent in 1910. He was the son of Arthur and Edith Chalk of Cooden Beach in Sussex. He was coached at Uppingham by Punter Humphreys who had been a professional in the Kent teams which won four County Championship titles in the years before World War I. He attended Uppingham School where he played cricket, leading the school in batting average in 1928. He went up to Brasenose College, Oxford in 1930.

Cricket career

Chalk won his cricket Blue in 1931 as a freshman at Oxford, making his first-class cricket debut for the university against Kent in May. He played in 46 first-class matches for the university, captaining the team in 1934. He scored a century in the 1934 University Match, an innings which Wisden described as "brilliant", and made six centuries for the university team.

Having first played for Kent's Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship in 1928, Chalk made his first-class debut of the county in July 1933 against Middlesex at the Bat and Ball Ground in Gravesend. he played for the county on a fairly regular basis during the summer holidays each season until 1938 when he was appointed captain of the team. He played throughout the next two seasons, making a total of 101 appearances for the county.

Chalk made 1,000 runs both seasons he was captain of Kent and was described as "skilful" in defence, with the ability to score effectively and field well. He scored a century in the penultimate match of Kent's 1939 season in August against Yorkshire at Dover, carrying his bat through Kent's first innings against Hedley Verity's bowling, and played his final first-class match against Lancashire later the same month.

As well as playing for Oxford and Kent, Chalk played in two Gentlemen v Players matches and played four times for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He appeared for an England XI against the touring Indians in 1936 and for the Gentlemen of England in against Don Bradman's Australian team in 1938. His brother-in-law Peter Foster played under Chalk's captaincy at Kent in 1939.

As well as playing cricket, Chalk was a hockey player. He played for Oxford University and the Surrey county team, winning a hockey Blue.

Military service and death

At the outbreak of World War II, Chalk joined the Honourable Artillery Company as a gunner before transferring to the RAF. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1941 serving as a rear gunner in 218 Squadron during a bombing raid on Hannover. The citation for the award described his "cool and accurate fire" which " undoubtedly saved his aircraft and probably destroyed the attacker".

He took a pilot's course and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in 1942, commanding a flight of Spitfire fighters in 124 Squadron. He was officially listed as Missing in Action and his obituary appeared in Wisden in 1945, having been listed as presumed dead in January 1944. His body was identified in the 1980s and his remains transferred to the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Wimille in 1989, having originally been listed on the Runnymede Memorial.

References

[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2280868/CHALK,%20FREDERICK%20GERALD%20HUDSON Chalk, Frederick Gerald Hudson], [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
[http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/228421.html Humphreys, Edward], Obituaries in 1949, ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'', 1950. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
[http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/155695.html Frederick Chalk], Obituary, ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'', 1945. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28482/28482.html Gerry Chalk], CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
[http://www.cricketintheparks.org.uk/oucc-captains OUCC captains] {{Webarchive. link. (16 April 2017 , University Cricket at Oxford. Retrieved 2017-04-16.)
Working as a teacher at [[Malvern College]] from 1934 to 1938,[http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/11139.php G/C Charles Appleton CBE DSO DFC], RAF Commands Archive. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
He scored five centuries for Kent, with his highest score of 198 being made at [[Angel Ground. Tonbridge]] against [[Sussex County Cricket Club
[http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/236517.html Foster, Peter Geoffrey], Obituaries in 1994, ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'', 1995. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
His aircraft was shot down over [[Louches]] in northern France, probably by a [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190|Fw 190]] of [[JG 26]], on 17 February 1943. He was one of 4 British pilots shot down that day, with 2 dying, one being fatally wounded, and another evading capture.[http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/10835.php 81389 F/L Frederick Chalk DFC], RAF Commands Archive. Retrieved 2017-04-16.

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