Brunswick Sons of Soldiers B Cricket Team. Season 1937-38

 

This photograph of the Brunswick Sons of Soldiers B Cricket Team. Season 1937-38 is part of the rich Moreland City Libraries images collection and is available online through their Local History Catalogue.

The people in the photo have been identified as follows:

Standing: R. Liddle (Comm.), J. Dawson (Comm.), K. Hughes, M. Weston, G. Naylor, E. Binder, R. McCormack (Comm.), A. Horsburgh (Comm.). Seated: W. Barden (Coach), A. Lawson, D. Barden, A. Hughes (Capt.), B. Bridges (V. Capt.), A. Keyte, A. V. Stevenson (Sec.). In Front: D. Slater, J. Barden (Mascot), M. Akam. 

The photo was taken nearly two years before the start of World War Two, so the players are sons of World War One soldiers. It's likely, though, that at least some of them were old enough to served in WW2.

Sons of sailors and soldiers teams were first established at the end of 1931, although the Victorian Branch began in August 1935. There were also football teams. Both Coburg and Brunswick were part of the Essendon District and Essendon also had a team, of course.

These are just a few of the stories behind the names.

M. (Max) Akam (front row, far right)

His father was Alfred (Alf) Westhorpe Akam who was a Lancefield butcher when he enlisted in November 1916. He served with the 10th Reinforcements, 4 Machine Gun Company and left on board the Ballarat on 19 February 1917. His war began early - the Ballarat was torpedoed on Anzac Day 1917. Alf was wounded in March 1918 - shell concussion and machine gun wound to arm and chest. This led to his early repatriation in May 1918. 

On his return, the Lancefield Mercury (12 July 1918) reported that 'he informs us that he did not bring any souvenirs home with him, but he expects to have one shortly, when a bullet “made in Germany” is extracted from his side.’ By October 1918 he was Treasurer of the newly established Dandenong sub-branch of the RSSILA (an earlier name for the RSL)

By 1935 the Akams were living in Brunswick and Alf was a member of the Brunswick branch of the RSSILA as well as serving on the state committee. The family lived at 3 Davies Street, Brunswick and the children attended Moreland Central School.

On 31 March 1943, 19 year old Alfred Maxwell (Max) Akam of the Brunswick Cricket Club, enlisted in the 2nd AIF. He served in New Guinea and was at HQ Australian Area Command, Madang when he was discharged in October 1945.

Max returned to Brunswick and continued to play cricket for Brunswick. He married Gwendoline Atkinson of East Brunswick at St Augustine's, Moreland in early 1950. 

Donald and James Barden (Donald is seated, 3rd from left. Team mascot James is in the middle of the front row.) Coach William Barden (seated on left)

Coach William Barden was the father of Donald and James. He had enlisted in the 1st AIF in December 1915 when he was a month shy of 22.  He was a bootmaker and had been apprenticed to Whybro in Collingwood. He married Jane Shedden in 1921 and by 1925 they were living at 46 Rose Street, Brunswick West, their family home for a number of years.  William died at Parkville in 1964 aged 69.

Donald Barden, who was 15 or 16 in this photo, enlisted in the 2/6th Australian Commando Squadron during World War 2. At the end of the war, he returned to the family home, now at 8 Murdoch Street, Brunswick West.. When he died in 1985 aged 62 Donald was living at Rosebud. 

There are many more stories to follow, stories that take us into the years of the 2nd World War and beyond. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who can bring more of the names in this photo to life.