|
The son of
Benjamin and Blanche Freakes, Hubert Dainton Freakes was born in
Natal
,
South Africa
on February 2nd 1914. He attended
Maritzburg
College
where his sporting prowess was soon apparent to all as he captained both the
school rugby fifteen as well as its cricket eleven, also shining in athletics.
His academic achievements were not far behind as he matriculated from school in
1930, aged just sixteen and progressed to
Rhodes
University
in Grahamstown. His academic and sporting achievements continued as he
graduated with distinction from his MA course, also playing at provincial level
for
Eastern
Province
at both cricket and rugby. This included a match against the touring Australian
Wallaby side that visited
South Africa
in 1933.
Completing his
studies at University Freakes now travelled to
England
to take up a Rhodes scholarship at
Magdalen
College
,
Oxford
, in October 1936. Just six weeks after his arrival he was named in the varsity
side to take on
Cambridge
on December 8th at Twickenham. It was unusual for a player to break
into the varsity side so quickly, the club captain having little chance to
evaluate new players in the short period between the start of the academic year
and this annual fixture in December. Despite this Freakes, safe under the high
ball, cool under pressure and a strong kicker forced his way into the side at
his preferred position of fullback. The match itself was played with persistent
rain throughout.
Cambridge
were the better side during their six points to five victory, although they
spent most of the match in defense. During the game Freakes, known as
‘Trilby’ by his team mates, justified his rapid inclusion in the side. As
the Times put it “The outstanding
ability of HD Freakes kept on gaining or regaining ground” as
Oxford
battled to the last.
The following
year Freakes was again included in the varsity side gaining a second blue on
December 7th 1937. The first varsity of his reign, the new King
George VI was present at a misty Twickenham for the match. In a tactical move to
counter the attacking
Cambridge
back line Freakes moved to a new position on the pitch. The Times rugby
correspondent reported that “In the
capacity of a full back disguised as a centre; Freakes made his selection appear
a stroke of genius.” His marking and tackling allowed the
Oxford
side to overcome their fancied
Cambridge
opposition by seventeen points to four with a subtle blend of defense and
opportunism.
A few weeks later
Freakes again took the field for a new challenge, this time in the black and
white hoops of the Barbarians for their traditional match against
Leicester
on December 28th. The thirty four points to nil victory was to be
his only appearance for the club, who continued their tenet of putting as yet
uncapped players on show to a wider audience. After a brilliant start the
Barbarians settled down to sporadic attacks against the outclassed
Leicester
side who had fielded a strong pack and had the better of the play for much of
the second half.
Greater honors
were to follow as Freakes was selected for his debut cap for his now adoptive
England
against
Wales
two weeks later at
Cardiff
on January 15th 1938. This, the fiftieth meeting between the two
sides, was played in gale force winds and was to prove a baptism of fire. This
was not missed by the Times “Freakes in
his first international game as a full back was subjected to the fiercest of
tests.” Behind an underperforming pack the English backs did what they
could against a vibrant
Wales
, but could do little to prevent the fourteen points to eight defeat that they
faced. Despite the score line Freakes could take positives both from his
performance and the conversion that he kicked to put himself on the
international scoreboard.
This was the only
international that Freakes was to participate in that season, but he had plenty
of other opportunities to show his skills. Playing for Harlequins wherever
possible, he was also elected club captain at
Oxford
University
for the 1938/1939 season. Leading his favored team into the varsity match at
Twickenham on December 6th 1938 things did not go as expected, and as
noted by the Times rugby correspondent “As
the game went, Freakes may have regretted his decision to play at full back
rather than centre, where last year his tackling alone was decisive.”
During the match, where neither pack played well,
Cambridge
showed more imagination in attack, edging to an eight points to six victory.
Despite this loss
under his stewardship, which must have been a bitter personal disappointment,
Freakes was soon recalled to duty for
England
. Picked for the match against
Wales
at Twickenham on January 21st 1939 he played with his usual flair
against a valiant Welsh side. Again the Times rugby correspondent complemented
his performance. “HD Freakes at
full-back was a splendidly sound defender and ready enough to turn defence into
attack.” In a three points to nil victory that belied the intensity of the
game
England
edged ahead and then desperately held on to their slim lead to take the spoils.
Buoyed by this
performance Freakes was again named to play in
England
’s next match against
Ireland
on February 11th. Their fiftieth match at the by now well
established Twickenham ground England played as well as the Irish allowed them
to, which was not well enough as the Irish harried their way to a five points to
nil victory. The Irish fielded a better balanced team than their opponents,
whilst the English centers played poorly, lacking pace and soon losing their
confidence. Freakes, the last line of defense did what he could. As the Irish
kicked through Freakes “…. resisting
any such heresy as kicking dead preferred the risk of falling on the ball a few
yards from the goal line.” The Irish, swift in attack were soon on him and
scored the winning try.
This was to be
the last match in Freakes’ all too short international career as more serious
matters began to take over. Perhaps envisaging what was to come Freakes joined
the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve before the outbreak of war, being
commissioned as a Pilot Officer on July 18th 1939. Promoted to Flying
Officer on February 12th 1941 he was eventually attached to The Royal
Air Forces Ferry Command. Formed on July 20th 1941 this was a small,
but far from unimportant part of the Royal Air Forces’ role, delivering new
aircraft from the factory to their operational units. So far as Ferry Command
was concerned this meant from the factories in
Canada
and the
United States
to the air bases within
Britain
. Prior to the war the transatlantic crossing that this entailed had only been
attempted by about one hundred aircraft, with only half this number completing
their journey safely. This was to change significantly during the course of the
war as aircraft performance and reliability as well as skills such as navigation
improved. In total Ferry Command was to transport some nine thousand desperately
needed aircraft to their squadrons. Vital as it was the work inherently entailed
risk. On March 10th 1942 during a mission a Ferry Training Unit
Hudson bomber, number V8995, span into the ground at Honeybourne airfield in
Worcestershire. Its pilot Flying Officer Hubert Dainton Freakes and his crew
were killed in the impact.
Sources
"Harlequin
Story", HBT Wakelam, Phoenix House Ltd 1954
"The
Complete Who's Who of England Rugby Union Internationals", R Maule,
Breedon 1992
The
Times Online Digital Archive
The
London Gazette Online Archive
Wikepedia
|
The
Rugby History Society