VFL/AFL players who died in active service

Since the inception of the Victorian Football League in 1897, many of its players have served in the armed services, including the The Anglo-Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War (in which Melbourne's Geoff Collins served as a fighter pilot), and the Vietnam War (in which Geelong's Wayne Closter served).

According to Main & Allen (2002, p.x), "no VFL footballer was killed in any wars other than the Anglo-Boer War and the two World Wars".

A number of the VFL players who served also lost their lives in active service. They were either killed in action, or died as a consequence of the wounds, injuries, and/or illnesses they had suffered in their active service. [In all that follows, in the event of any conflict in the information provided by different sources, unless there is some specific reason to do otherwise, the work of Main & Allen (2002) is taken as the authority because it is the most reliable, the most recent, and the most thoroughly researched.]

=The Anglo-Boer War=

Charlie Moore and Stan Reid, the only two VFL players to be killed in the Anglo-Boer War, had played against each other in the 1898 VFL Grand Final.

Reid had played in the back-pocket for Fitzroy and was one of Fitzroy's best players, whilst Moore had played at full-forward for Essendon. Fitzroy won the match 5.8 (38) to 3.5 (23), with Moore kicking one of Essendon's three goals. [ Main & Allen (2002), p.3; Mapleston, (1996), p.54.]

Moore had already played a number of senior games for Albert Park Football Club (and, possibly, also for the South Melbourne Football Club) in the VFA before moving to play for Essendon in the VFL's inaugural year of 1897, [Main & Allen (2002), p.3.] whilst Stan Reid had played quite a number of senior games for the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFA prior to 1897. [ Main & Allen, (2002), p.7.]

Footnotes

See also

* The VFL during the World Wars

References

* Batchelder, A., "Melbourne Cricket Club Roll of Honour (1914-1918)", Melbourne Cricket Club, 1998. [http://www.mcc.org.au/content/document/00000136-src.pdf]
* Hogan P: "The Tigers Of Old", Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
* Main, J. & Allen, D., "Fallen — The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War", Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. ISBN 1-740-95010-0
* Maplestone, M., "Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872-1996", Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-959-17402-8
* Ross, J. (ed), "100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported", Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

External links

* [http://www.awm.gov.au/ The official Australian War Memorial Web site]
* [http://stats.rleague.com/afl/afl_index.html AFL Player Statistics]
* [http://stats.afl.com.au/public/statistics/player_roundbyround.shtml AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round)]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/sportsf/stories/s535558.htm Mick O'Regan, "Lest We Forget - Sport and War", ABC Radio, 19 April 2002. (transcript)]
* [http://www.australianrules.com.au/2004stories/top10anzac.html Paul Daffey, "The 10 best Anzac club links", "The Sunday Age", 25 April 2004]
* [http://www.afl.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/7415/Default.aspx?newsId=2454 Chronology: A year by year summary of our history (Melbourne Football Club)]
* [http://www.afl.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/5315/Default.aspx?newsId=41534 Alan Grant, "Lest We Forget - Part 1" (St Kilda Football Club Official Website, 19 April 2007)]
* [http://saints.com.au/Season2008/News/NewsArticle/tabid/5315/Default.aspx?newsId=41541 Alan Grant, "Lest We Forget - Part 2" (St Kilda Football Club Official Website, 19 April 2007)]