Stock Photo - Libellous? - With a sporting battalion at the front: Highly imaginative drawings The over-enthusiasm of Harry Low's sporting battalion certainly raises a smile. There were many such battalions, including the 1st Football Battalion (aka 17/Middlesex) and the Sportsmen's Battalion (23/Royal Fusiliers), which included two England cricketers as well as the country's lightweight boxing champion. Despite the mocking tone of this cartoon, the British greatly admired sporting ability and substantial coverage was often given to the many talented sportsmen who lost their lives, such as Anthony Wilding, the New Zealand-born tennis champion who was killed by a shell explosion at Neuve Chapelle in May 1915.