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{{Short description|British Army officer}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Hugh Oldman
| image = File:Colonel Hugh Oldman.jpg
| caption = Colonel Hugh Oldman in 1970
| country =
| fullname = Hugh Richard Deare Oldman
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|6|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Belgaum]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|11|26|1914|6|24|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Saluda, Virginia|Saluda]], [[Middlesex County, Virginia]], USA
| nickname =
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling =
| role = Wicket-keeper
| club1 = [[Baluchistan cricket team|Baluchistan]]
| year1 = 1954-55
| clubnumber1 =
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 1
| runs1 = 23
| bat avg1 = 11.50
| 100s/50s1 = 0/0
| top score1 = 16
| deliveries1 = 0
| wickets1 = –
| bowl avg1 = –
| fivefor1 = –
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = 2/0
| type1 =
| debutdate1 =
| debutyear1 =
| debutfor1 =
| debutagainst1 =
| lastdate1 =
| lastyear1 =
| lastfor1 =
| lastagainst1 =
| date = 24 March 2019
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/43888.html Cricinfo
}}
Colonel Sir '''Hugh Richard Deare Oldman''' [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]], [[Military Cross|MC]] (24 June 1914 – 26 November 1988) was a [[British Army]] officer who later served as Secretary for Defence of the [[Sultanate of Oman]]. He was one of the major participants in the ''[[1970 Omani coup d'état|coup d'état]]'' in July 1970 that brought [[Qaboos bin Said al Said|Sultan Qaboos]] to the throne of Oman. He also played [[first-class cricket]] in [[Pakistan]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Belgaum]] in India in 1914,<ref name=CA>{{cite web | url = http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43090/43090.html| title = Hugh Oldman| publisher = CricketArchive| accessdate =24 March 2019}}</ref> the eldest son of Major General [[Richard Oldman]], Hugh Oldman was educated at [[Wellington College, Berkshire]], and the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]]. He served as a police constable with the London [[Metropolitan Police]] from August 1936 to June 1937.<ref>{{cite web |title=Register of leavers from the Metropolitan Police |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13366068 |website=National Archives |accessdate=24 March 2019}}</ref>

==British military career==
Oldman joined the [[East Yorkshire Regiment]] and, as a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]], won the [[Military Cross]] in [[North African Campaign|North Africa]] in 1942. He assumed command of his battalion in June 1944 and, in August, of the 8th Battalion [[Durham Light Infantry]], following the death of its commanding officer in action. He commanded the 8th Battalion during the advance through Northern France and Belgium, including the fierce fighting at [[Battle of Geel|Gheel]]. He was awarded the [[Croix de Guerre|Croix de Guerre (Palme)]] in 1944.<ref name=TT>"Col. Sir Hugh Oldman: Military service to the Sultan of Oman", ''[[The Times]]'', 1 December 1988, p. 16.</ref>

He was seconded to the [[Sudan Defence Force]] from 1947 to 1951, and held a staff appointment in Pakistan from 1953 to 1956.<ref name=TT/> He was awarded the Pakistan Republic Medal in 1956.<ref name=CA/> While serving in [[Baluchistan]] he played a match of [[first-class cricket]] in [[Quetta]] for [[Baluchistan cricket team|Baluchistan]] in the [[Quaid-e-Azam Trophy]] in 1954.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21345.html| title = Baluchistan v Sind 1954-55| publisher = CricketArchive| accessdate =24 March 2019}}</ref>

Oldman was deputy commander of the [[Aden Protectorate Levies]] in 1959 and 1960, and deputy commander of the armed forces of [[Oman]] from 1961 to 1964. He was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] in 1961.<ref name=CA/> After a period in the headquarters of [[Allied Forces Southern Europe]], he retired from the army in 1967.<ref name=TT/>

==Career in Oman==
Oldman returned to Oman after retiring from the army and was appointed Oman's military secretary in February 1970.<ref>Abdel Razzaq Takriti, ''Monsoon Revolution: Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman 1965–1976'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013, p. 157.</ref> Substantial numbers of Oman's armed forces were Baluchi mercenaries.<ref>Takriti, p. 136–37.</ref> Oldman successfully urged Sultan [[Said bin Taimur]] to expand the armed services, with assistance from the United Kingdom, in response to insurgent activities.<ref>Takriti, p. 164.</ref>

Notwithstanding these improvements, by the middle of 1970 the British [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] was convinced that Oman could only be stabilised and modernised under the Sultan's son, [[Qaboos bin Said al Said|Sultan Qaboos]]. After initial reluctance Oldman concurred, and helped to organise the [[1970 Omani coup d'état|bloodless coup]] that overthrew Sultan Said bin Taimur and installed Sultan Qaboos on the throne.<ref>Takriti, pp. 160–93.</ref> In the weeks immediately after the coup, Oldman headed the Advisory Council that oversaw government functions.<ref>Takriti, p. 210.</ref> He was awarded the [[Order of Oman]], Special Class, in 1971,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/morton-and-eden-ltd/catalogue-id-srmort10001/lot-f89b0cd5-4084-4105-85d8-a3f8014563b1| title = Oman, Order of Oman, Special Class set of insignia | publisher = The Saleroom| accessdate =24 March 2019}}</ref> and was knighted ([[Order of the British Empire|KBE]]) in 1974.<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/46162/supplement/18/data.pdf 1 January 1974, p. 18], ''[[London Gazette]]''</ref>

==Personal life==
Oldman's first wife, Agnes (nee Bayles), died in 1979;<ref>{{cite web |title=Jersey wills index - B |url=https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Jersey_wills_index_-_B |website=theislandwiki |accessdate=24 March 2019}}</ref> his second wife was Susan Vance (1931–1990). He died on 26 November 1988.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105669078#view-photo=75643636| title = COL Hugh Richard Deare Oldman | publisher = Findagrave.com| accessdate =24 March 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldman, Hugh}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Belgaum]]
[[Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]]
[[Category:Sudan Defence Force officers]]
[[Category:Baluchistan cricketers]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]

Hugh Oldman - Revision history

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