Michael Ansell

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Colonel Sir
Mike Ansell
CBE, DSO
Personal information
Full name Michael Picton Ansell
Nationality British
Discipline Show jumping
Born (1905-03-26)26 March 1905
Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland
Died Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Brighton, England

Colonel Sir Michael Picton "Mike" Ansell CBE, DSO (26 March 1905 - 17 February 1994) was a soldier, show jumping rider, polo player, and horse show administrator.

Early life

Ansell was born on 26 March 1905 at the Curragh, County Kildare.[1] His father George Ansell died in the First World War, while serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army.[2] After attending St Michael's Westgate-in-Sea and Wellington he went to Royal Military College Sandhurst.

Army

In 1924 he was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards[1][2] and in the 1930s was a cavalry officer, show jumping rider,[1] and international polo player. He was a Commander by 1935.[2]

In France in March 1940, during World War II, he was given charge of the 1st Lothians and Border Horse, becoming the British Army's youngest commanding officer.[1] He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), but was shortly afterwards wounded in the hand and eyes by "friendly fire", blinding him permanently, and then became a prisoner of war.[1] All four fingers on his injured left hand were later amputated.[2] He was repatriated from a German POW camp in 1943.[1]

Showjumping

An invitation to take up the position of chairman of the British Showjumping Association[1] led to him being credited with revitalising the sport.[1] He restarted the Royal International Horse Show and initiated the Horse of the Year Show.[1] He was Chairman of the British Horse Society[3] and Chaired the British Showjumping Association from 1945 until 1964.[2] He also was the first president of the British Equestrian Federation.[3]

In 1967, when his address was given as "Pillhead House, Bideford", he was High Sheriff of Devon. He was President of St Dunstan's, a charity for blind servicemen, from 1977 to 1986.[1]

Picton was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951 and a Knight Bachelor (Kt) in 1968.[1] He appeared on the television programme This Is Your Life on 28 March 1960,[4] and as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 14 July 1973.[5] His autobiography, Soldier On,was published in 1973. It had a foreword by the Duke of Edinburgh.[6] His final book, Leopard: the story of my horse, featured a forward by Prince Charles.[7]

He died on 17 February 1994 in Brighton, England.[1]

Bibliography

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References

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External links

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