Incredible Footage of Australian Soldiers Playing Aussie Rules in England in 1916

[domus]

Amazing. I wonder how many of them lost their lives before the war ended.

 

[jmac70]

Amazing. I wonder how many of them lost their lives before the war ended.

Sadly, probably most. I went to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra a few weeks ago. 100,000 Australians lost in the First World War. Mind boggling.

 

[JB1975]

Sadly, probably most. I went to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra a few weeks ago. 100,000 Australians lost in the First World War. Mind boggling.

I think it was around 60,000, just over 400,000 served. A lot of death, maimed men as well, that Western Front was especially savage.

Any indication of who the blokes are, or the teams? Might be more than a few VFL players in there.

 

[35Daicos]

This includes the full line-ups. There are quite a few VFL names among the players, along with some from the VFA, SANFL and WAFL: https://australianfootball.com/articles/view/The+A.I.F+match+in+London,+1916/1933

 

[35Daicos]

Amazing. I wonder how many of them lost their lives before the war ended.

October, 1916, London: Why soldiers played Australian footy in a time of crisis

New colourised footage sheds light on toughest exhibition game

www.afl.com.au

Bruce Sloss, who captained the winning team, was killed less than ten weeks later (4 January 1917).

 

[Saintly Viewed]

Amazing stuff.

Looking at those players, you know being on 104 years later not one person could still be alive.

Though quite a number would have perished in the World War.

other facts of interest, even then, accuracy for goal was found wanting.

loved the goal umpire waving the flag then going to his book to score.

amazing footage.

 

[35Daicos]

Amazing. I wonder how many of them lost their lives before the war ended.

Sadly, probably most. I went to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra a few weeks ago. 100,000 Australians lost in the First World War. Mind boggling.

Six of the players were killed the next year (1917) according to the AFL website article, but not sure about the rest of the war. The two Collingwood players involved, Harry Kerley and the great Dan Minogue, both survived, though Minogue headed to Richmond after the war in a very controversial move!

The remastered, colourised footage available here is quite stunning, even though it does come across as an ad for Samsung!

 

[JB1975]

The 3rd Division had just been formed, was in training at the time. Those blokes went on to see some nasty action in France under John Monash.

 

[domus]

This includes the full line-ups. There are quite a few VFL names among the players, along with some from the VFA, SANFL and WAFL: https://australianfootball.com/articles/view/The+A.I.F+match+in+London,+1916/1933

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Awesome! Thanks.

 

[Vicky Park]

Extraordinary.

 

[left at home]

I think it was around 60,000, just over 400,000 served. A lot of death, maimed men as well, that Western Front was especially savage.

Any indication of who the blokes are, or the teams? Might be more than a few VFL players in there.

Yep about 62k lost their lives at that terrible war, while 350k served out of a population of 4-5 million. All volunteers

 

[left at home]

Sadly, probably most. I went to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra a few weeks ago. 100,000 Australians lost in the First World War. Mind boggling.

All up there are 100k names there from all the wars Australian personal died in. 62k in ww1. Unfortunately most of us have people we know or a relation on that board.

 

[magpie_marty]

This is a great book.

The Changi Brownlow

Booktopia has The Changi Brownlow, An inspirational Story of the Aussie Spirit by Roland Perry. Buy a discounted Paperback of The Changi Brownlow online from Australia's leading online bookstore.

www.booktopia.com.au

 

[Capital Magpie]

Don't mean to trivialise it, but I was struck by how high the waist on their footy shorts were. They were all Harry Highpants!