Harcourt OMMUNDSEN

The son of a Norwegian shipping agent and his Scottish wife, Ommundsen worked as a law clerk before joining the British Army. A winner of the King’s Prize at the Bisley in 1901, his father died two days after his triumph. Harcourt also won the silver medal in 1906, the bronze in 1912 and both silver and bronze in 1913. In addition he won the Grand Aggregate in 1900 and 1905 and was runner-up in 1911 and 1912. Ommundsen also won the Service Rile Championship on several occasions, the St. George’s Vase once and the Scottish Rifle Association’s magnificent 9-6 (2.90 m) tall Caledonian Shield in five consecutive years 1899-1903. Surprisingly, he never won the Scottish championship, although he tied with George Gray in 1911. Between 1901-14, Ommundsen won, at one time or another, every individual title on offer by the National Rifle Association, and represented Scotland and Great Britain many times. He was regarded at the time as one of the world’s best rifle marksmen who ever shot at Bisley.

In 1908 Ommundsen left his job as a law clerk and moved to London to join gunmakers D. Fraser & Co. where he became involved in the manufacture and sales of arms and ammunition . He was a member of the British team, exclusively comprising of soldiers, who were runners-up to the USA in the military rifle competition at the 1908 London Olympic Games. Retaining his place in the team for Stockholm, he earned another silver medal in the same event. A sergeant at the time of the London Games, he was a Lieutenant in the Honourable Artillery Company when he was killed at the Battle of Ieper in World War I when a shell landed at the entrance of his Company HQ. He had married just a few days before the outbreak of war

Ommundsen co-authored the book _Rifles and Ammunition: And Rifle Shooting_‎ which was considered a seminal book on marksmanship, and was published just a few weeks before his death. Somewhat of an inventor, his name appears on a number of patents including one for an “improved support for use whilst playing cards”.