George Demetrius Katinakis (25 July 1873 — 15 May 1943) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

George Katinakis
Personal information
Full name
George Demetrius Katinakis
Born(1873-07-25)25 July 1873
Bayswater, London, England
Died15 May 1943(1943-05-15) (aged 69)
Southwold, Suffolk, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingUnknown
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1904–1905Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 4
Runs scored 46
Batting average 9.20
100s/50s –/–
Top score 16*
Balls bowled 18
Wickets 0
Bowling average
5 wickets in innings
10 wickets in match
Best bowling
Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 December 2009

The son of Demetrius Katinakis, a broker hailing from Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, he was born at Bayswater in July 1873. Katinakis was commissioned into the British Army as a second lieutenant into the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (later the Green Howards) in June 1894,[1] with promotion to lieutenant in July 1895.[2] He resigned his commission in September 1897, and went to South Africa.[3] There he played minor cricket matches for Bulawayo and Rhodesia.[4] Whilst in South Africa, Katinakis was involved in an affair with Elizabeth Scott Brown, the wife of Pretoria-based Major Gerald Handcock;[5] he sought damages against Katinakis, with a court awarding him damages of £1,000.[6] He would marry Elizabeth in 1902. Katinakis had returned to England in 1900, aboard the SS Scot. Following his return to England, he played club cricket on the Isle of Wight.[7] Katinakis made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Kent at Tonbridge in the 1904 County Championship. He played first-class cricket infrequently for Hampshire, making two appearances in the 1905 County Championship and one in the 1906 County Championship.[8] In four first-class matches, he scored 46 runs with a highest score of 16 not out.[9]

Katinakis was later based in Folkestone, where in April 1913, he was charged with being drunk and disorderly and with breaking the glass windows of his cell.[10]

He returned to military service in the First World War, which began the following year, with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was appointed a temporary major in March 1916,[11] prior to resigning his commission on account of ill-health in March 1917, at which point he was granted the honorary rank of major.[12] He later relocated to Southwold in Suffolk, where he lived during the Second World War. On 15 May 1943, a Luftwaffe air raid on nearby Lowestoft commenced. The Luftwaffe pilots noticed barrage balloons over Southwold and turned south to bomb the town. During the bombing of Southwold, six civilians were killed, including Katinakis and his second wife, Eva, whom he had married following the death of his first wife in 1937.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "No. 26529". The London Gazette. 6 July 1894. p. 3875.
  2. ^ "No. 26649". The London Gazette. 2 August 1895. p. 4364.
  3. ^ "Local commissions". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 15 September 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 13 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Teams George Katinakis played for". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Major's Wife". The Echo. London. 20 February 1902. p. 3. Retrieved 13 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Divorce and damages". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 21 February 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 13 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Cricket. Manchester Guardian. 19 August 1904. p. 3.
  8. ^ "First-Class Matches played by George Katinakis". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  9. ^ "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by George Katinakis". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Cell windows broken". Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald. Folkestone. 19 April 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 13 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "No. 29585". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 May 1916. p. 4951.
  12. ^ "No. 30002". The London Gazette. 27 March 1917. p. 3009.
  13. ^ Broom, John (3 June 2021). "Hampshire CCC during the Second World War". www.addisarmycricket.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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