NSW athletics remembers the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific Day

13 August 2020

NSW athletics remembers the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific Day

This Saturday (15 August) is the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific Day. While victory in Europe was declared in May 1945, fighting in the Pacific region continued until August 1945.

Nearly one million Australians served in the armed forces during World War II. Some 40,000 Australians didn't return home from the war, over 17,000 lost their lives while fighting in the war against Japan, some 8000 of whom died in Japanese captivity. Australian's were involved in the war effort in the Pacific region, including in Singapore, Borneo, Malaya, Papua, New Guinea and New Britain.

After the outbreak of war in late August 1939, sport in Australia and NSW was largely on hold. Two Olympics (1940 & 1944) and two Commonwealth/Empire Games (1942 and 1946) were cancelled. The men’s national championships schedule for Perth in early 1940 were cancelled. Men’s track and field national titles resumed in 1947 and women’s in 1948, however the men’s national cross country championships had resumed in August 1946.

In NSW there were no state men’s track and field championships from 1941 to 1944, although the women did compete throughout this period. NSW winter events were also affected. From 1940 until 1943, they conducted non-championships short and long course cross country championships. No marathon championships were held in those years, however the Novice Championships did proceed. Junior and school championships continued, reflecting the large numbers of senior men who served in the war.

The Athletics NSW 1940/41 annual report, at the start of the war listed over 200 members who had enlisted in the war. There were many stories of heroic members. Asics Wests Patron Dr F.A. Maguire attained the rank of Major-General in command of all Australian Army Medical Services, while Captain T.H. Winchester had been made an Officer of the Military Division (OBE) for his distinguished service in the New Guinea campaigns.

Four other outstanding members were:

BASIL DICKINSON

For dual Empire Games medallist, Basil Dickinson (St George), World War II ended his sporting career. Born on the day the ANZACS landed in Gallipoli, he competed in the triple jump at the 1936 Olympic Games, before winning bronze medals in the long and triple jumps at the Sydney Empire Games in 1938.

During his four and a half years in WWII, he was a fitness instructor in the Australian Army reaching the rank of Lieutenant, serving throughout Australia and New Guinea. After the war he worked in insurance and was a jumps judge at the 1956 Olympic Games. When he passed away, aged 97 years in 2013, he was the oldest living Australian Olympian.

RICHARD HONNER

A four-time Australian champion, Richard Honner (Sydney Uni) was selected for the 1924 Olympics in five events, jumps, hurdles and sprints. His best event was undoubtedly the long jump with a PB of 7.45m in 1926. He became a leading surgeon and aged 41 he enlisted in the Australian Army in WWII reaching the rank of major. He served in military hospitals in Goulburn, and Alice Springs. After the war, he built up one of the largest obstetric practices in Sydney.

ALBERT AND LOUIS MCLEOD

The Asics Wests hurdling brothers Albert and Louis McLeod lost their lives in WWII. Albert, a Pilot Officer was initially reported missing. 20 years after the war the wreckage of his Kittyhawk fighter plane of No. 76 Squadron was found in New Guinea. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His brother Squadron Leader Louis, and his entire Lancaster bomber crew were lost after a dam-busting mission over Germany.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Images: Basil Dickinson in his Army uniform, at the 1936 Olympics and in his 1936 uniform.