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| Date of birth | 4 May 1887 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Limerick, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 25 September 1915 (aged 28) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Neuve Chapelle, France | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Corrig School, Kingstown, County Dublin | ||||||||||||||||
| University | Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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| ---- | |||||||||||||||||
| Military career | |||||||||||||||||
| Buried | Rue-du-Bacquerot No 1 Military Cemetery, Laventie (II.D.14) 50°36′16″N 2°46′06″E / 50.60436°N 2.76823°E | ||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  British Empire | ||||||||||||||||
| Service |  British Indian Army | ||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1911–15 | ||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Captain (Medical Officer) | ||||||||||||||||
| Unit | 2 Royal Leicestershire Regiment | ||||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars | First World War | ||||||||||||||||
| Awards | |||||||||||||||||
Ernest Cotton Deane MC (4 May 1887 – 25 September 1915) was a medical officer of the British Indian Army and an Irish international rugby player. Born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, he went to school in Kingstown (present day Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin and then studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), graduating in 1909. He was selected to play rugby for Ireland in one match, against England in February 1909. His rugby career was cut short when he broke his leg in a match against Oxford University.
Deane was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1911, after a period as house surgeon at the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin. In 1913, he was posted to India and served in Burma. He was stationed in Meerut at the start of the First World War. From there, he travelled to France with the Garhwal Brigade of the Indian Expeditionary Force, landing in Marseille in September 1914. He was deployed immediately to the Western Front, where he served first with the 20th Field Ambulance and then as medical officer of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Leicestershire Regiment. His unit saw much active service. On 22 August 1915, he was awarded the Military Cross after running out under machine gun fire to rescue four men who had been wounded by artillery fire. A month later, his regiment participated in the Battle of Loos, and was almost entirely obliterated. He was shot dead after going to help some injured soldiers: his action earned him a mention in despatches. Deane was one of 60 RCSI doctors to receive the Military Cross in the First World War, and one of 17 to be killed in action.