Roles | Competed in Olympic Games |
---|---|
Sex | Male |
Full name | Jesse Alfred•Wallingford |
Used name | Jesse•Wallingford |
Born | 25 January 1872 in Woolwich, England (GBR) |
Died | 6 June 1944 in Auckland, Auckland (NZL) |
Affiliations | Army School of Musketry, Hythe (GBR) |
NOC | ![]() |
Medals | OG |
Gold | 0 |
Silver | 0 |
Bronze | 1 |
Total | 1 |
Jesse Wallingford was taught to shoot by his father at the age of seven, and by the age of 13 had followed his father into the Army. He served with the Rifle Brigade, and then the Duke of Connaught’s Own Company, before becoming an instructor at the School of Musketry in 1894.
Wallingford regularly competed at the Bisley Meeting and represented the Army on 17 occasions. He won the Prince of Wales’ Prize after a seven-way shoot-off in 1898, a trophy he regained in 1910, two years after winning a team bronze medal at the London Olympics. Wallingford won the Army Rifle Championship six times (his father won it twice), and the Revolver Championship twice, and in 1899 he won the international prone shooting championship.
After completing his service in the British Army in 1911, Wallingford accepted a commission as chief instructor of musketry in New Zealand, and stayed with them until retiring in 1927 with the rank of major. During World War I, Wallingford served with the New Zealand Staff Corps and in 1915 was awarded the Military Cross for his exceptional actions during a battle on the Gallipoli Peninsula. He was regarded as one of the world’s leading marksmen and snipers, and earned the nicknames The Human Machine Gun and The Hero of Anzac, after almost single-handedly holding off a Turkish attack at Gallipoli.
Wallingford’s son Sidney was an air-commodore in the New Zealand Royal Air Force and, like his father, was also an excellent shot, and also competed at Bisley.
Games | Discipline (Sport) / Event | NOC / Team | Pos | Medal | As | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1908 Summer Olympics | Shooting | ![]() |
Jesse Wallingford | |||
Free Pistol, 50 yards, Men (Olympic) | 5 | |||||
Free Pistol, 50 yards, Team, Men (Olympic) | Great Britain | 3 | Bronze | |||
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Men (Olympic) | 10 | |||||
Free Rifle, Three Positions, 300 metres, Team, Men (Olympic) | Great Britain | 6 |