Len Thomas (20 July 1908 – 17 August 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played 187 games with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL), before finishing his career as captain-coach at both

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

. He was the son of South Melbourne player William Thomas.

Football career

Thomas made his debut for South Melbourne in 1927 and went on to become one of their better players during the 1930s. He won the club's Best and Fairest award in 1931 and 1938. A premiership player in 1933, he played through the centre in their Grand Final victory over Richmond. In 1939 he moved to Hawthorn where he had accepted the role of captain-coach and the club finished tenth. The following season he crossed to North Melbourne with the same leadership role. Seven games into the 1940 season Thomas decided to enlist in order to take up military service. That left Jim Adamson to take charge for the rest of the season.

Military career

Although Thomas had attained the rank of Corporal, upon his evacuation from the Middle East in September 1941 he requested that he be allowed to revert to the rank of Private, so that he could serve as a commando. His request was granted. He served with the 2/3rd Independent (Commando) Company, Second A.I.F. He became the most experienced VFL footballer to be killed in war when he lost his life fighting the Japanese in New Guinea in 1943. He was wounded in the leg during fighting and spent time in hospital, only to be killed when the Japanese pushed the town of

Salamaua Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The c ...

Notes

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

’s "Hooky" Doig, a member of that famous football family, played 225 games for Old Easts – sixteen more than Thomas – between 1899 and 1912 before being killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

at the age of forty.

Footnotes

References

* Main, J. & Allen, D., "Thomas, Len", pp. 338–341 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen — The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.
Footballer Killed in Action, ''The Argus'', (Thursday, 2 September 1943), p.9.

External links