Toast ANZAC Day 2018

[George]

Will anyone be attending the dawn service this morning?

Club has posted some really nice pieces on it's website to commemorate the day. Thought I'd share them with you all.
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From Saint to Soldier

In a tiny village north of Paris, an imposing white stone tower stands out in stark contrast to the rolling green hills that surround it.

Located on top of what was known on the Western Front as “Hill 104”, the Villers-Brettonneux Military Cemetery today contains the names of over 10,000 Australians who died defending France during the First World War.

One of these names is Sergeant John (Jack) P. Walker.

Jack was born on 16 May 1892 in Moorabbin.

He attended Melbourne Grammar, where he honed his sporting prowess, representing the school in both cricket and football.

Walker was an adept cricketer and captained the Melbourne Grammar First XI in 1908, before going on to win the 1912-1913 batting average whilst representing the East Melbourne Cricket Club.

The keen cricketer also showed ability with the oval ball, and in 1910 made his VFL debut for St Kilda in the Saints’ Round 18 win over Carlton at the Junction Oval.

Walker played a total of four games for the red, white and black in 1910-1911, before leaving football to study law and eventually becoming a law clerk in the city.

He continued his work in the city and lived in Moorabbin until enlisting as a Private with the 8th Battalion on 5 January 1915 at the age of just 22.

Walker was deployed in May 1915 and over the subsequent 14 months his service took him to Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, Marseille and the Somme.

Throughout the course of the war, the ex-St Kilda man rose to the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the 1914/1915 British Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

When the 8th Battalion was called up to join the fighting at Pozières in the infamous 1916 Battle of the Somme, it heralded the start of one of the deadliest single conflicts for Australian soldiers to date.

The Battle of Pozières took place at the small French village of the same name and the surrounding ridge, a place which has been described by renowned Australian historian Charles Bean as “more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth”.

The resulting British victory over the German Empire was incredibly costly, with the Allies’ unrelenting assault leading to the deaths of over 23,000 Anzac soldiers.

On just the fifth day of fighting, Walker was killed whilst following ill-planned British orders. The Australians were called upon to press the German lines back in torrid conditions, and the ensuing bombardment of German shellfire took Walker’s life. He was just 23.

Like many of his fellow Anzacs who died alongside him that night, Walker’s final resting place is not known. He is commemorated at Villers-Brettonneux, the Australian War Memorial and RSEA Park in Moorabbin.

John P. Walker was a boy from Moorabbin. He was a footballer, a cricketer and a law clerk.

He found himself in a war he had no say in, taking orders from a country he’d never seen and ultimately sacrificing his life for the country he called home.

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The first ANZAC Day Match

The first time club historian Russel Holmesby saw a St Kilda game was in 1960. As a six-year-old, he didn't realise what a historic game it would go on to be.

Anzac Day football has become synonymous with the Essendon and Collingwood Football Clubs, but St Kilda figures in a key part of the day’s football history.

In 1960, the Saints took part in one of the two matches played on Anzac Day for the first time.

Prior to 1960, competitive football matches of any level of football were not permitted on Australia’s most solemn day, but following a vote taken among RSL members, the restriction was eased and the law modified to permit games to be played after 1pm.

The decision was made on the eve of the 1960 season and it was confirmed that two league matches – St Kilda versus Melbourne and Fitzroy versus Carlton – would go ahead on Monday April 25. Part of the gate money would be given to the RSL and used for the care of aged ex-soldiers in war veteran homes. The exact proportion of gate receipts was not disclosed.

The RSL lauded the decision and emphasised that it enabled the community to commemorate Anzac Day in the morning and enjoy entertainment in the afternoon, as no football was to be played before 1pm.

All seemed set for a good compromise until freakish weather conditions plunged the issue into controversy. On the Saturday before Anzac Day, the four games scheduled for the first part of the round had to be called off due to a record April rainfall. Non-stop rain over three days saw 152 millimetres fall up to midnight on Friday.

The VFL said that the four matches would be played the following Saturday despite calls for the matches to be added to the Monday Anzac Day. Newspapers accused the VFL of being greedy because they didn’t want to pay extra revenue to the RSL on all six games rather than two.

Lou Richards wrote: “Isn’t it time League football caught the Anzac spirit?”

The State government said it was willing to consider a proposal by the VFL, but the league wouldn’t budge.

And so, Victoria’s first taste of Anzac Day League football got underway at the Junction Oval and Fitzroy.

Melbourne won a hard struggle against St Kilda in which its individual strength was crucial. Allan Rowarth, Ron Barassi and Clyde Laidlaw rammed home scoring opportunities whenever possible, whereas St Kilda’s kicking for goal was haphazard. The Saints should have had the game sewn up by three quarter-time if not for terrible kicking.

In the second half, St Kilda scored 1.11 including nine successive behinds during the third term.

Beaten in the ruck and in the air, Melbourne was lucky to be so close, and one of the main reasons was that Bob Johnson was pressured all day by St Kilda’s John McMillan.

Melbourne eventually ran out winners by 24 points, 10.12 (72) to 5.18 (48).

BEST:
ST KILDA: Bill Stephenson, Verdun Howell, Bud Annand, Jim O’Brien, Alan Morrow, John Delanty.
MELBOURNE: Geoff Tunbridge, John Beckwith, George Milner, John Lord, Ron Barassi, Clyde Laidlaw.

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This Anzac Day, we remember Jack and the other 24 Saints who gave up their lives so that we may continue to live ours freely, and we pay our respects to the 286 ex-St Kilda footballers who served in the two world wars.

St Kilda Football Club Honour Roll

Paul Bell (d. Balikpapan, 1945)
Arthur Caldwell (d. Malta, 1918)
Harry Comte (d. Tarakan Island, 1945)
Claude Crowl (d. Gallipoli, 1914)
Adam de Ross (d. France, 1917)
Bill Downie (d. Japan, 1943)
Jim Farnan (d. Pozières, 1916)
Bob Flegg (d. Feuersbrunn, 1944)
Horace Griffin (d. France, 1916)
Lou Holmes (d. Gallipoli, 1915)
Bill Hudson (d. New Guinea, 1945)
Stuart King (d. Coral Sea, 1943)
Otto Lowenstern (d. France, 1917)
Bill Madden (d. Bullecourt, 1917)
Paddy McGuinness (d. Le Treport, 1918)
Wallace Mills (d. Babinda, 1943)
Hector Mitchell (d. Singapore, 1917)
Bert O’Connell (d. Broodseinde Ridge, 1917)
Harold Parker (d. Lille, 1917)
Hugh Plowman (d. Fleurbaix, 1917)
Beres Reilly (d. Crete, 1943)
Albert Roberts (d. New Guinea, 1942)
Ralph Robertson (d. Aboukir, 1917)
John T. Shelton (d. Tobruk, 1941)
John P. Walker (d. Pozières, 1916)​

 

[VDS66]

57 years later and we still can't kick straight!

 

[Saint Watto]

57 years later and we still can't kick straight!

It's a copy/paste job with that article.

 

[STK2020]

 

[Sab22]

Lest We Forget

 

[Saint Watto]

Club has posted some really nice pieces on it's website to commemorate the day. Thought I'd share them with you all.

Thanks for posting George.......it's very sobering.

 

[sunny3193]

Will anyone be attending the dawn service this morning?

Club has posted some really nice pieces on it's website to commemorate the day. Thought I'd share them with

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Was there this morning George, with my bro in law from NZ.
Very crowded, reportedly 35k.
Actually, we were a bit disappointed having been to the equivalent ceremony in Wellington in 2015.
The Master of Ceremonies, Peter Meehan, spoiled the event for me with his faux emotional catching in his voice.
That was unnecessary and disingenuous.

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

Anyone know the crowd number at the mcg today?

 

[paddygunner]

Anyone know the crowd number at the mcg today?

91k,I had a chance to have a quick chat with GIll. He’s certainly passionate about the saints! Sound bloke.

 

[George]

Anyone know the crowd number at the mcg today?

91,440

 

[Saint Watto]

91,440

Imagine what the gate receipts were.........we can only dream.

 

[Saint Watto]

He’s certainly passionate about the saints! Sound bloke.

Great to hear that.

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

91,440

I picked 91500 in a pick the crowd comp and i still came 3rd. FML

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

I picked 91500 in a pick the crowd comp and i still came 3rd. FML

I was about 3 off last year with the tweet the crowd in a game last year. Still lost to someone else!