Gordon Charles Hart (17 March 1919 – 16 April 2009) was an Australian

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

who won the 1941 premiership with

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

Military career

Born at

St Peters, New South Wales St Peters is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 7 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council, with a small section in the sout ...

in 1919, Hart enlisted in the Australian Army

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

in August 1941. He attained the rank of Captain of the 2/4th Commando Squadron and was mentioned in dispatches for 'conspicuous bravery' during fighting on the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

. He survived the war and was discharged in November 1945. St George DRLFC Premiers 1941

Rugby League career

Hart played for

for four seasons between 1938 and 1941 as a . Hart represented for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

for one match in 1940. After enlistment and before being posted for active service, he was given permission to leave camp to play in the 1941 Grand Final for

. He traveled 28 hours from his Army Camp in Victoria to arrive in Sydney at 10am on the morning of the match. He scored a try and Haddan writes that Hart was "the Dragons' best back". He returned to base on the 8pm train that night. Hart died on 16 April 2009, aged 90.Sydney Morning Herald, Death notice: 10/04/2009

Published sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals - 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane

References

New South Wales rugby league team players St. George Dragons players 1919 births 2009 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney City New South Wales rugby league team players Australian Army officers {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1910s-stub