Australian rules football during the World Wars


was heavily affected by both World War I and World War II. Hundreds of leading players served their country abroad, and many lost their lives. On the home front, competitions like the Victorian Football League went ahead during these wars, but faced many restrictions.

World War I

In March 1915, the VFL voted on whether or not to suspend the 1915 season, but voted in favour of playing by 13 votes to four. The season began on 24 April, the day before Australian troops landed at Gallipoli. Attendances were poor throughout the year.
St Kilda changed their club colours because their traditional red, white and black colours were the same as the German Empire. Their new colours of black, red and yellow were chosen as support to Australia's ally Belgium, where a group of St Kilda players were serving.
The 1916 season was heavily affected by the war. Only four clubs, Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond, competed in the league. The other clubs withdrew from the competition, both out of Australian patriotism and as a result of player shortage. Despite finishing the home and away season in last place, Fitzroy won the Grand Final that year.
Both Geelong and South Melbourne returned to the league in 1917, while St Kilda and Essendon made their comeback in 1918. Melbourne spent the longest time out of the league, missing three seasons before rejoining the VFL in 1919.
The West Australian Football League continued to play throughout the war; however due to a lack of players and very poor on-field records North Fremantle and Midland Junction were forced to disband after the 1915 and 1917 seasons respectively. Neither was to return after the war, though attempts to revive Midland Junction were made in the 1920s.
The South Australian Football League suspended play in favour of a "patriotic competition" between 1916 and 1918.

"Pioneer Exhibition Game" in London (1916)

On Saturday 28 October 1916, the former Olympic champion swimmer and the later Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, organised an Australian Rules football match between two teams of Australian servicemen in aid of the British and French Red Cross.
The match was promoted as the "Pioneer Exhibition Game of Australian Football in London". It was held at Queen's Club, West Kensington before an estimated crowd of 3,000, which included the Prince of Wales, and King Manuel II of Portugal.
The members of the competing teams, Australian Training Units and The Third Australian Divisional Team, were all highly skilled footballers, the majority of whom had already played senior football in their respective states.
A news film was taken at the match.

"Pioneer Exhibition Game": Participants

In order to celebrate the match Beaurepaire commissioned a set of team photographs that were inserted into a mounting board decorated with a British Union Jack and an Australian Red Ensign, that had "Australian Football in London. Pioneer Exhibition Game. At Queen's Club, West Kensington. Saturday 28 Oct. 1916" at its head, and "Organizer of Match & Donor of Photos to Club Lieut. Frank Beaurepaire" at its foot.
The names that follow are taken from the names of the team members and officials that appear beneath each of the photographs on the mounted set; some of the names have been corrected from VFL records, A.I.F. records, Gerald Brosnan's lengthy article in the Melbourne Winner, etc.

Official Programme

The match's official original programme provided a list of "Names and Numbers of Players", 25 for the "3rd Australian Division", and 26 for the "Combined Training Groups", from whom the teams for the day would be selected.

The football

The football used in the match was clearly marked "The AIF Ball" on one side, and "Match II" on the other.
They were made especially for the match by Claude Cecil McMullen, who had been a leatherworker at Henry Fordham's football factory, in Sydney Road, Brunswick, prior to his enlistment in the First AIF.

Officials

The Field Umpires were Corporal Gray and George Barry, the Boundary Umpires were Sinton Hewitt, and E.J. Watts, and the Goal Umpires were Lieutenant A. Olsson and S.M. Keen.

Australian Training Units Team

The team played in a red guernsey with a large white kangaroo on its left breast, and in black shorts.
The team's captain was Charlie Perry.
The team members were: Jack Cooper , eighth man from left, top row; Percy Trotter, third from left in middle row; Clyde Donaldson, sixth man from left, top row; Harry Kerley ; John Hoskins ; Hugh Boyd, at the right of the five seated players in the middle row; Stan Martin, ninth man from left, top row; A.C. Cesari, player kneeling at far right; Ossy Armstrong ; J. Scullin ; E. Maxfield ; Thomas Paine ; George Bower, second man from left, top row; McDonald ; Alf Jackson ; and Alf Moore.

Third Australian Divisional Team

The team played in a blue guernsey with a large white map of Australia on the centre of its front, and in white shorts.
The team's captain was Bruce Sloss, seated at left of the team's manager, Frank Beaurepaire, middle row.
The team members were: Jack Brake ; Dan Minogue , seated at right of Frank Beaurepaire, middle row; Carl Willis ; Leo Little ; Bill Sewart ; James Pugh ; H.M. Moyes ; Percy Jory ; Charlie Lilley ; Les Lee, fourth player from left, top row; Cyril Hoft, player at right of middle row with back row team mates' hands on his shoulders; Stan Martin ; Ned Alley ; Hugh James, fourth player from right, top row; Benjamin Mills ; Jim Foy ; and Billy Orchard, player at left, top row.

"Pioneer Exhibition Game": Result

Played in a very strong wind which favoured one end of the ground, the Third Australian Divisional Team beat the Australian Training Units Team 6.16 to 4.12 ; the progressive scores were:
Pick up games of Australian Rules football were popular amongst the Australian soldiers in World War 1. Private Victor Laidlaw describes one such match between his 2nd Field Ambulance and the Light Horse in Cairo in January 1915:
Lieutenant Lionel Short gave a vivid and amusing account of another game played on a field pockmarked by shells. The game he wrote, was:
Despite the difficulties of the game, Lieutenant Short ends with a poignant reminder of why these games were so important:
Two men wrote that they had organised soldiers from Port Melbourne to take on all challengers noting “We hope to gain for the Port Melbourne Railway Union Football Club a name as renowned in France as the name is in Melbourne junior football circles"

World War II

Domestic competitions

Disputes over whether football should be played in wartime came up again in World War II.
The VFL continued operation, but Geelong withdrew from the 1942 and 1943 VFL seasons when rail and road transport restrictions made it too difficult for supporters to attend games in Melbourne. Because the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Lake Oval were taken over by the United States Air Force as bases, Melbourne and South Melbourne had to play their home games elsewhere, whilst the Junction Oval for two seasons and the Western Oval for 1942 were also commandeered.
The VFL's Brownlow Medal for the "fairest and best" player was not awarded for four seasons - 1942 to 1945.
The Western Australian National Football League restricted the competition to players under the age of 18 in 1942, and under 19 in 1943 and 1944; and the eight South Australian National Football League clubs temporarily merged into four combined clubs for a reduced competition between 1942 and 1944.
In 1940, both the SANFL and the VFL staged the first Australian football Lightning Carnivals as fundraising events. The carnivals featured every team in the league in a one-day knockout tournament, featuring shortened games. Several more of these carnivals were held by major and minor leagues as wartime fundraisers.

Libya

Australian rules football also played a significant part in the Australian forces during the war, with the first Australian assault in Libya commencing with the signal of a football being kicked into no-man's land.

Prisoners of War

Australian rules football was also played by Prisoners of War throughout World War II, with competitions held in Singapore and Germany. The Changi Football League, played at Changi Prison was held in 1942/43 and contested by teams called "Melbourne", "Richmond", "Essendon" and "Carlton", while a League was also set up at Stalag 383, near Nuremberg, contested by the "Kangaroos", "Emus", Kookaburras" and Wallabies".
The Changi Football League, run by Brownlow Medalist Wilfred Smallhorn, awarded its only Changi Brownlow for Best and Fairest to Peter Chitty, a former St Kilda footballer.

VFL players who died in active service

Many VFL players served in the armed services, and a number lost their lives, including Ron Barassi Sr., Bruce Sloss and Len Thomas.

Commemorations

Since 1995 a match between Collingwood and Essendon has taken place on Anzac Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a tribute to those who died serving their country.
Other games, including the Len Hall Game hosted by Fremantle at Subiaco Oval, and games in Wellington, New Zealand have also been held to commemorate past and present members of the armed forces.
All games held on the weekend closest to ANZAC Day have a small memorial ceremony, and the Last Post, a minutes silence, and, then, The Rouse played before the game.

Footnotes