Anzac Day is a day that honours those who have served, and continue to serve, our country. It allows us to pause and reflect on those who served their country and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
The AFL has a long and storied history over the Anzac Day weekend with the fixtures played over this period acting as a vehicle to truly appreciate and remember those who put themselves in harm's way for the good of their country and for those who paid the ultimate price.
Over the years 230 North players represented our country in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War or completed National Service. Seven of those died on active service in WW2.
The below list features players who have represented North Melbourne since Round 1, 1925.
We will remember them. Lest we forget
*We are seeking information about WW2 veteran Albert Joseph Williams. Williams was an Army Private, No. VX87070 who served from 1942. He played three games for the Kangaroos in 1943 after his discharge. He was born on August 3, 1916.
If you have any information about 'Alby' Williams, please contact bccullen@tpg.com.au
Died on active service (all WW2)
Lance Corporal Halcombe Brock
(3/4/1919 - 2/8/1941)
Lance Corporal Halcombe Brock served as a Leading Aircraftman in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1941.
While enlisted, Brock was granted permission to play for North Melbourne while on leave and played four games for the club, kicking three goals.
He was a passenger of one of two single-engine training planes that collided in mid-air close to the You Yangs, a mountain range south-west of Melbourne.
While his three comrades parachuted to safety with only minor injuries, Brock perished at just 22 years of age.
Private Alfred Goonan
(3/4/1904 - 22/1/1942)
Private Alfred Goonan served as part of the 2/29th Infantry Battalion in the Australian Army between 1940 and 1942.
Goonan played seven games for North Melbourne over the 1925 and 1926 seasons and is believed to have kicked the club's first ever score at league level - a behind.
He was reported as missing in January of 1942 after fierce fighting at Parit Sulong. It wasn't until January 1946 he was declared 'presumed dead' as part of the Parit Sulong massacre.
Private Leslie 'Len' Johnson
(6/7/1908 - 24/1/1942)
Private Leslie Johnson was a member of the 4 Reserve Motor Transport Company of the Australian Army.
Something of a footballing journeyman, Johnson joined North Melbourne after a successful stint at Essendon. He played five games for the club before transferring to clubs in the Wimmera, New South Wales and Tasmania.
He took a leading part in Army sport in Malaya and served as captain of his unit's football, cricket and athletic teams.
Johnson died while on active service at the age of 33.
Flying Officer Albert Peters
(8/8/1908 - 13/6/1944)
A school teacher by trade, Flying Officer Albert Peters was a member of No.53 Squadron in the RAF.
He was the 110th player to appear for North Melbourne and played 17 games for the club over the 1930 and 1931 seasons.
Enlisting at the age of 31, he was killed in action while undertaking an anti-submarine patrol on the Liberator BZ810 aircraft.
After reporting a submarine sighting his aircraft was shot down over the English Channel. No trace of the wreckage or any of the crew members has ever been found.
Pilot Officer Beresford Reilly
(17/9/1914 - 23/7/1943)
Pilor Officer Beresford Reilly, a butcher by trade, spent time at Melbourne, North Melbourne and St Kilda as a winger or rover between 1935 and 1938.
A wireless air gunner utilised as part of low-level bombing attacks on German military establishments as part of Operation Thesis, Reilly's aircraft was shot down over Crete.
An SOS message was received at 8:50am on July 23, 1943, but nothing was heard from or seen of his aircraft again.
Amongst the personal effects returned to his widow was a football jumper.
Flight Sergeant Morris 'Mo' Shapir
(9/9/1917 - 15/8/1942)
Flight Sergeant Morris 'Mo' Shapir was a talented athlete who appeared for North Melbourne at the age of just 17 while still enrolled at Melbourne High.
In October 1941 he suffered a broken leg after bailing out from his aircraft over England but recovered and was posted to the Middle East.
While operating over Tobruk, Libya, an engine of his aircraft cut out. After undertaking an emergency landing he was pinned under the wreckage and died on August 15, 1942.
Corporal Leonard Thomas
(20/7/1908 - 17/8/1943)
A member of the 2/3 Independent Company of the Australian Army, Corporal Leonard Thomas was the most experienced VFL player to be killed in war.
Thomas played over 200 games of football with Port Melbourne (187), North Melbourne (16) and Melbourne (6) and kicked 78 goals in his playing career.
He operated as a commando and became trapped behind enemy lines at Salamaua, New Guinea where he was killed by the Japanese.
It's believed he was the first VFL captain to enlist.
Former North Melbourne players who served
WW1
Henry Clapson
Archibald Giles
Albert Linton Snr
William Russ
WW2
Alec Albiston
Ronald Allan
John Allister
Francis Anderson
Edward Atkinson
Tom Attenborough
Selwyn Baker
Raymond Bamford
Charles Bartling
Sydney Barker Jnr
John Bennett
Lawrence Blades
Campbell Bogie
James Bolwell
Edward Bourke
Gerald Britt
Irvine Bromley
Robert Brooker
Joseph Bruce
Mervyn Bulger
David Burke
Charles Cameron
William Campbell
Christopher Carroll
F.Wallace Carter
Dudley Cassidy
Keith Chamberlain
Henry Clapson
Milton Clark
Albert Clarke
Alexander Clarke
Paul Clarke
Raymond Clarke
Donald Condon
Francis Connellan
Jack Cordner
Donald Coulton
John Crane
Francis Crapper
Allan Crawford
Vincent Cross
Alfred Crump
Claude Curtin
Frederick Dean
Roy Deller
John Diprose
Cairo Dixon
John Donnellan
John Donovan
Robert Drummond
Arthur Duncan
William Dunn
Thomas Dunne
Graham Dunscombe
Phillip Dunstone
Leo Dwyer
Kevin Dynon
Edward Edwards
Maurice Edwards
Roy Eliason
Frederick Fairweather
Horace Farmer
Richard Flynn
Joseph Foden
Leslie Foote
Keith Forbes
Charles Gaudion
John Gaudion
William Gerrand
Donald Gibson
Patrick Gill
Harry Green
Bruce Gregory
John Gregory
Alfred Hacker
Eric Haggis
Archibald Hamilton
John Harrison
William Harvey
Francis Hasell
Kevin Hayes
Thomas Hayes
Charles Healy
Albert Hill
Vincent Hogan
Harold Hooke
Leonard Hooke
Clifford Hough
Ronald Howell
Kevin Hurley
Raymond Jackson
Neil Jeffrey
Douglas Johnson
Lloyd Johnson
Edgar Jones
Herbert Jones
William Jory
Daniel Kearney
George Kennedy
James Kennedy
John Kenny
James Kirby
Joseph Kirkley
Joseph Knott
John Lander
Thomas Leather
Duncan Lindsay
John Lynch
William Lynch
John Lyons
Roy Lyons
Allan Maas
Joseph Malone
Arnold Maltby
Arthur Mason
John Mathews
Robert Mathews
Richard May
William McCabe
Allan McCasker
Leonard McConnell
John McCorkell
Joseph McElholum
Robert McEwen
Michael McFarlane
Sydney McGain
Walter McGrath
Keith McKenzie
Ronald McLeod
William McMaster
Frank Melville
Keith Miller
Richard Molloy
Allan Montgomery
Ronald Moran
Edwin Morcom
Charles Morgan
Arthur Morley
George Morrissey
Norman Murray
Francis Neenan
David Nelson
John Norris
Richard O'Shea
Robert Oswald
Osborne Parks
James Patterson
John Patterson
Francis Pearce
Frank Penney
George Peters
Walter Perry
Charles Pierce
Hughes Price
Michael Pullen
Pearce Purcell
Royston Quinn
Stanley Radlof
James Reid
Harold Robb
Thomas Roulent
Claude Rowe
Reginald Ryan
Ormond Saunders
John Sexton
William Sharp
Roy Sitch
Alan Smith
Clive Smith
William Smith
Harold Somerville
Colin Spratling
Arthur Staveley
James Steigenberger
Thomas Stevens
Francis Stubbs
Norman Tomkinson
Edward Turner
Leo Tyrell
Clifford Tyson
Trevor Wallace
Donald Watson
William Welsh
Eric Whittam
Albert Williams
Harold Winberg
Edward Wintle
Herbert Wood
Raymond Wynd
Gordon Yea
VIETNAM
Graham Cornes
NATIONAL SERVICE
Stan Alves
Allen Aylett
Robert Burt
Barry Cheatley
Michael Delanty
Neil Doolan
John Dugdale
Gerald Eastmure
Garry English
Roy Files
Frank Galle
Michael Gaudion
Barry Harrison
Sam Kekovich
Albert Mantello
Len Marchesi
Roderick McKindlay
Richard Michalczyk
John O’Brien
Brian O'Halloran
John Perry
Michael Redenbach
Reginald Sanders
William Serong
Bradley Smith
Desmond Tobin
Brian Turner
Graham Walker
Colin Wiltshire
