The son of an officer in the Royal Navy, Michael John Campbell-Lamerton was born in Valetta, Malta, on 1st August 1933. His father was killed in action in 1943 and he was educated at Ottershaw School before being called up for National Service. Commissioned into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment on 4th October 1952, he immediately deployed to Korea. At the Battle of The Hook in May 1953 Campbell-Lamerton and another Platoon Commander, future Scottish rugby international David Gilbert-Smith, led a charge against Chinese forces which recaptured a vital piece of ground. Both were recommended for the Military Cross but the quota system meant that only Gilbert-Smith received the award. Later in the campaign, Campbell-Lamerton stood on a mine but froze when he heard the click of the mechanism. One of his Corporals had served in bomb disposal during the Second World War and was able to defuse the device.

Selected to convert to a regular commission, he served during the EOKA campaign in Cyprus once falling 60 feet from a helicopter in full kit resulting in severe injuries and a lengthy stay at the recovery centre at Headley Court. 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighing 17 stone, Campbell-Lamerton was a rugby player whose enthusiasm and fearlessness outweighed any lack of skill. While stationed in Gibraltar, he was injured in a Regimental match and, after a call over the tannoy for a volunteer to take him to hospital, he eventually married the female good Samaritan.

Campbell-Lamerton’s made a spectacular and hitherto unexpected break into international rugby when playing for combined services against Scotland at Murryfield in December 1960. Played in thick mist one commentator wrote: “almost the only impression spectators retained of it was of this man-mountain surging out of the mist like a mastodon from a primeval swamp.” Such was his impact on the game that the authorities, seizing on the obvious ancestry of part of his name recruited him into the Scottish squad where he remained a fixture for the next five years. Allam Massie described him thus: “The sight of Captain M J Campbell-Lamerton surging round the tail of a line-out like an enraged hippopotamus was one of the most stirring spectacles in Scottish rugby.” For the most part a genial, ‘gentle giant’ he once, however, laid out a French player who had unwisely grabbed a sensitive part of his anatomy. After this, the Gallic press referred to him as ‘l’Abominable’.

Campbell-Lamerton played 23 times for Scotland including two tests as captain. He also toured South Africa with the British Lions in 1962 playing all four tests. In 1966 he was the surprising selection as Captain for the Lions tour. The campaign started well with two wins over Australia but the New Zealand stage was marred by ill feeling. After one match, fellow Scot Jim Telfer remarked; “I wouldn’t describe today’s game as dirty, because all our games in New Zealand have been dirty.” The Lions lost all four tests. Campbell-Lamerton was injured for the second and sensationally dropped himself for the fourth. Another player, Brian Price, said; “We respected him because he was so hard-working – we stuck together.” Indeed, in a reflection of how haphazard rugby administration could be in the amateur era, Campbell-Lamerton was, at one stage, acting as both tour manager and coach as well as giving a remarkable 257 speeches and interviews during the tour.

Campbell-Lamerton retired from international rugby after the tour to concentrate on his Army career. Promoted Major in 1967 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1977 he commanded his Battalion in Northern Ireland for which he was awarded an OBE. Promoted Colonel on 30 June 1982 he left the Army three years later to become the bursar of Balliol College, Oxford. One of his sons played five times for Scotland and another followed him into the Dukes.

Colonel Mike Campbell-Lamerton OBE died on 17th March 2005.

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