Frank Bingham

Who was Frank Bingham?

Frank Miller Bingham was an English doctor, all round sportsman and army officer who was killed in the First World War. As a cricketer, he played for Derbyshire in 1896.

Bingham was born in Alfreton, Derbyshire, the son of Dr Joseph Bingham. He was educated at St Peter's School, York, and qualified as a doctor at St Thomas's Hospital.

Bingham made one first-class appearance for Derbyshire, against Marylebone Cricket Club during the 1896 season. He made seventeen runs, batting in the lower order. He also played rugby union for Blackheath F.C. and Middlesex. He was in practice at Alfreton for four years and then went to Lancaster.

Bingham was an enthusiastic Territorial Army officer. He was first commissioned as a medical officer with the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps on 24 March 1910, unusually he transferred to 5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment on 26 November 1910 as a line officer, and so in the First World War served as a combatant rather than as a military doctor. He was promoted captain in 1914 and commanded a company. He took part in the Second Battle of Ypres in May 1915 and was killed on a reconnaissance mission after stopping to dig a man out of a collapsed trench. He has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Menin Gate.