Today, we are continuing our look into Olympians for whom we believe to have identified their date of death but, for whatever reason, we are unable to connect the information, such as obituary or public record, conclusively to the athlete. Unlike last time, where we looked into athletes over the age of 105, who were unlikely to be alive, today we are examining those who only turned 90 this year. As the latter is, as one might expect, a longer list than the former, we are going to be splitting our post across two days.

(Pictured on page 12 of the March 10, 1958 edition of The Ottawa Citizen)

Jacques Carbonneau– Member of Canada’s cross-country skiing delegation to the 1952 Oslo Olympics

Jacques Carbonneau, born May 11, 1928, represented Canada as one of the nation’s two cross-country skiers at the 1952 Oslo Olympics, where he finished 70^th in the 18 km event. He was a relatively prominent skier on the national scene in the 1950s, but, as cross-country skiing has been a less-followed sport in the country, he faded from attention after that. We did find an obituary in the March 15, 2007 edition of La Presse, stating that a Jacques Carbonneau, born in 1928, had died two days earlier, but the information provided in the article was not sufficient to positively identify the athlete.

(Image from the Alamy Stock Photo Library)

Peter Esiri – Member of Nigeria’s track and field athletics delegation to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

Peter Esiri, born September 11, 1928, won a silver medal in the triple jump at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, which earned him a spot on Nigeria’s ten-man delegation to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. There he reached the final, but was unable to record a valid attempt. Information on his later years is scant, but we did find a (now removed) personal page of photos that suggested that he died on October 3, 1998, but we were unable to confirm this information.

 

Mohammad Ja’far Kalani – Member of Iran’s shooting delegation to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

The sport shooting career of Mohammad Ja’far Kalani, born May 1, 1928, did not begin until he was in his 30s, but he nonetheless had a substantial international career that took him to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (where he was 64^th in the rifle, prone, 50 metres event) and the 1970 Asian Games. He also had an extensive career in sports administration. In 2008, a user created his Wikipedia article and included the information that he died in 1987 at the age of 59. We have been unable to verify this information, however, in any other sources.

 

We will (hopefully) be completing this list in the very near future, so we hope you will come back soon, as we continue looking into 1928’s mysteries. We also want to reiterate our thanks to Ralf Regnitter, who was able to confirm that two-time Olympic medalist Marianne Werner of Germany, born January 4, 1924, whom we profiled in an earlier blog entry, is still alive at the age of 94! We also want to thank the relative of Robert Christmas, born c. 1924, who confirmed that the obituary we located in Hamilton Spectator was indeed for the Olympian, and thus that he died in January 2000 at the age of 76, helping us solve another mystery.

There were Olympic Games scheduled for 1916, although they would never take place because of World War I.  The 1916 Olympic Games – the Games of the VIth Olympiad – were scheduled for Berlin, Germany.

Berlin had made a bid to host the 1908 Olympic Games but withdrew the bid at the 1904 IOC Session so that the vote for London could be unanimous.  It then moved forward its bid to the 1912 Olympics, and at the 1908 IOC Session in London the two candidate cities for 1912 were considered to be Berlin and Stockholm.  But at the 1909 IOC Session (in Berlin), Berlin announced that it could not host the 1912 Olympic Games and they were awarded to Stockholm.  The 1916 host city was discussed at the 1911 IOC Session but the decision was made at the 1912 Session in Stockholm.  Official bids had been returned from Berlin, Alexandria (EGY), and Budapest (HUN), but Alexandria and Budapest withdrew during the Session and Berlin was elected unanimously as the host city for the Games of the VIth Olympiad.

Germany had long since formed a National Olympic Committee, termed the Deutschen Reichsausschuß für Olympische Spiele (DRAfOS) (Germany Imperial Committee for the Olympic Games).  When the 1916 Olympic Games were awarded to Berlin, it began to develop an Organizing Committee as well.  The final form of the Executive Board of DRAfOS in 1913 was as follows:

[table]

Position,Holder

Patron:,Crownprince Wilhelm von Preußen

President:,General Victor von Podbielski

Vice-President:,Ulrich von Örtzen

Treasurer:,Baron Julius von Hünefeld

1st Secretary:,Dr. Paul Martin

2nd Secretary:,P. Johannes Müller

Sec-Gen. for the Olympic Games:,Kurt Roesler

Sec-Gen. for the 1916 Olympics:,Dr. Carl Diem

IOC Members to Germany:,Count Adalbert von Francken-Sierstorpff

,Baron Karl von Venningen-Ullner von Diepburg

[/table]

Germany also proceeded with the building of a great stadium to host the Olympic Games.  The design and construction had actually begun in 1911, prior to the bid for the 1916 Olympics being awarded to Berlin.  The stadium contained a 400-metre running track, surrounded by a 600-metre cycle track, with a 100-metre swimming pool at the north end of the stadium.  The stadium seated around 30,000 spectators.  Kaiser Wilhelm II dedicated the stadium on 8 June 1913, in celebration of his 25th anniversary as head of the German Reich.  A number of IOC Members were present at the dedication.  After various demonstrations and exhibitions of athletic events, General von Podbielski gave the closing speech, and urged the 3 million members of German athletic groups to put all their efforts into victory at the 1916 Olympics.

Plans proceded apace for the 1916 Olympic Games and a tentative program and schedule of events was announced.  This is documented in the only modern book fully devoted to the 1916 Olympic Games, Die VI. Olympischen Spiele Berlin 1916, by Prof. Dr. Karl Lennartz of the Carl-Diem-Institute in Köln, Germany.  The tentatively scheduled sports were as follows, and it is notable that the Germans planned to conduct both Summer and Winter Sports:

Summer Sports

Athletics (Track & Field), Cycling, Diving, Fencing, Football (Soccer), Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey (Field), Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Water Polo, Weightlifting, and Wrestling – Greco-Roman

Winter Sports

Figure Skating, Ice Hockey, Nordic Skiing, and Speed Skating

It is also possible that the Germans tried to organize a cricket tournament, although it did not make it to the final schedule.  In A History of Australian Cricket it was noted, “Another matter which occupied the minds of the delegates was an invitation from the German authorities to send a cricket team to compete in the 1916 Olympic Games which were scheduled to be held in Berlin.”

But the 1916 Olympic Games never came to pass, for fairly obvious reasons.  On 28 June 1914, in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  The incident precipitated the war, and in July 1914, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia.  Germany soon joined with the Hapsburg Empire and declared war on Russia and France a few days later.  In August, Germany invaded Belgium and Great Britain then entered the war against Germany.

Incredibly, the Germans continued to make plans to host the 1916 Olympic Games, though they were met with opposition within the IOC as well.  British IOC Member Theodore Andrea Cook demanded the expulsion of the German members from the IOC.  When this was refused, Cook resigned from the IOC in protest.

Coubertin discussed these entreaties in Memoires Olympiques, “… barely two weeks had passed since the invasion of Belgium when I received proposals for ‘transferring’ the Games – at first somewhat vague plans but soon made more precise by a favourable move on the part of [James Edward] Sullivan, who had been one of the pillars of the recent Congress and whose loyalty now proved unshakeable.  He asked for instructions.  We could not hesitate.  An Olympiad may fail to be celebrated; its number remains.  This is the ancient tradition.  The Germans, who at that time believed in a rapid war and a sure victory, did not ask to be relieved of the Olympic mandate.  To make a move in favour of the United States or Scandinavia would have been to take a step whose outcome would have been difficult to foresee and to risk subsequent cracks in Olympic unity, without any advantage for anyone.  I therefore rejected any kind of action of this sort.”

The exact date when it was decided not to hold the 1916 Olympic Games has not been published in any available source.  But as late as mid-1915 the Germans were still making plans for the Olympics.  In March 1915, the DRAfOS reported to the IOC on its preparations, noting that “only nations allied with Germany and neutral countries would be invited.”

It was fortunate, given that ultimatum, that the Olympic Movement would wait until 1920 and Antwerp.

——————-

The above was modified from Appendix 4 from my book on the 1920 Olympic Games (with Tony Bijkerk) – The 1920 Olympic Games:  Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2001.

The following was Appendix 2 from my book on the 1920 Olympics (Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press, 1999). Seems very appropriate to reprint here on this weekend.

Slightly more than 6,000 athletes competed in the Olympic Games from 1896 to 1912.  They represented the “Youth of the World,” our best and brightest, most of them in the primes of their lives.  But when war broke out in 1914, the Olympians often represented those best able to serve their nations as soldiers.  Many of them did fight in World War I, but not all of them returned.  On the morning of the Opening Ceremony, 14 August 1920, Cardinal Mercier, gave a Te Deum mass in honor of the Olympian War dead.  Following are some of those poignant tales.

Canadian physician, soldier, and poet John McCrae published this famous poem in 1915 about the Allied dead buried in Belgium.

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

******************

In 1904, Arthur Wear played tennis at the St. Louis Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the men’s doubles.

In the September 2000 issue of the Journal of Olympic History, June Wuest Becht wrote the following letter to the editor:

When I was growing up in St. Louis, my Father took me to Jefferson Memorial once a year to see the names of his fallen friends from WWI chiseled on the wall.  The Memorial was built with money left after St. Louis’ World’s Fair and Games of the Third Olympiad expenses were paid.

Listed with the dead for the 89th Division, 356th Infantry, is the name “Arthur Wear.”

My father had been a sergeant in the 89th Division, 354th Infantry and knew Captain Wear, an Olympian, who won a bronze medal in the tennis doubles competition with Clarence Gamble here in 1904.

Before my Father’s death in 1980, he gave me his history of the 89th Division, 1917, 1918, and 1919 (a part of the AEF and Army of Occupation).  He was with the Division for the entire time it was on duty on the USA, France, Belgium and Germany.

There I discovered an account of Captain Wear’s death which has never been published (p. 205).

“Trying to cross the Meuse near Pouilly on November 5, 1918.  The crossing could not be made at that time.

“Captain Wear had recently been discharged from the hospital and was weak and nervous.  His command had been through severe fighting and had had an exhausting march beginning in the early morning.  Evidently his mind gave way under the strain of the events and of his depleted physical condition.  He ordered his battalion to withdraw from its position along the railroad tracks and bank of the canal to a position in the woods above the town; he sent word to “Take command of the battalion” then going a little aside from his headquarters in the dismal woods, at about 3 o’clock in the morning (November 6) he ended his life by shooting himself in the head.  This was one of those tragedies of the war indicative of the frightful strain of the times.  Captain Wear’s abilities and courage had been tested in previous fighting and had given promise of a glorious career as a soldier.  As a result of his over-zeal in coming back to hard field service before he was physically fit, the Division lost one of its promising officers.”

The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, just days after Captain Wear’s death.

His name appears in memory as a soldier not far from the tennis venue where he competed in the Olympic Games of 1904.

******************

In 1908, Wyndham Halswelle won the 400 metre race in one of the most controversial finishes in Olympic history.  In the original race, he was obstructed by John Carpenter of the United States and the race was ordered re-run, with Carpenter disqualified.  But the American team protested and did not feel Carpenter was at fault.  In protest, the other two finalists, both Americans, refused to run in the re-start and Halswelle walked over to win the gold medal.  Ian Buchanan wrote of him in British Olympians, “Wyndham Halswelle was a career Army officer, who tragically died from a sniper’s bullet in France while fighting World War I.”

******************

Octave Lapize competed in the 1908 Olympic Games as a cyclist, and won a bronze medal in the 100 kilometre track race.  He likely then became the greatest professional cyclist among former Olympians in the pre-War years.  Lapize won the Tour de France in 1910, Paris-Brussels 1911-1913, and Paris-Tours 1911, and is still the only person to have won Paris-Roubaix in three consecutive years – 1909-11.  A pilot in the French military, he was killed in a dogfight during World War I.

******************

Though Percival Molson failed to place in the 1904 400 metres, he would achieve his fame later, but it would cost him his life.  Molson, the great-grandson of John Molson, founder of Molson Breweries of Canada, attended McGill, from which he graduated in 1900, after serving as president of his senior class and gaining every athletic honor the university could offer.  When World War I broke out, he joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and fought for them at the Battle of Mount Sorrel in 1916.  He was wounded during the battle and returned home, receiving the Military Cross for his efforts.  He insisted he be allowed to rejoin the company and on 5 July 1917, while fighting on the outskirts of Avion, France, he was hit by mortar fire while attempting to rescue a fallen friend.  Both were killed.  In his honor, the main athletic stadium at McGill University is known as the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

******************

With Rue My Heart is Laden

from A Shropshire Lad

A[lfred] E[dward] Housman (1859-1936)

 

With rue my heart is laden

For golden friends I had,

For many a rose-lipt maiden

And many a lightfoot lad.

 

By brooks too broad for leaping

The lightfoot boys are laid;

The rose-lipt girls are sleeping

In fields where roses fade.

******************

In 1912, the New Zealander, Tony Wilding, won a bronze medal in the men’s covered courts tennis singles.  It was a minor highlight of the career of the man who may still be considered New Zealand’s greatest ever tennis player.  Anthony Wilding attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and based himself in England.  He was Australian champion in 1907, Victorian champion in 1908-09, and won the singles at Wimbledon for four straight years, 1910-13.  He fought for the English during World War I and was killed by shellfire on the Western Front while serving as a captain in the Royal Marines.

******************

At the 1912 Olympic Games, athletics fans thrilled to the feats of Hannes Kolehmainen, who won the 5,000 metres, the 10,000 metres, and the cross-country.  But Kolehmainen’s greatest race was the 5,000 metres, where Frenchman Jean Bouin pushed him to his limit, with both breaking the world record, Kolehmainen finishing inches ahead of Boyin.  Jean Bouin became a foot soldier during World War I.  On 29 September 1914, Bouin was killed by an artillery shell that hit him squarely in the chest.  It was felt to be friendly fire.

******************

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Pete Seeger (1919- 2014)

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?

Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?

Where have all the flowers gone?

Gone to young girls, every one!

When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

 

Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?

Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?

Where have all the young girls gone?

Gone to young men, every one!

When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

 

Where have all the young men gone, long time passing?

Where have all the young men gone, long time ago?

Where have all the young men gone?

Gone to soldiers, every one!

When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

 

And where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?

Where have all the soldiers gone, a long time ago?

Where have all the soldiers gone?

Gone to graveyards, every one!

When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?

 

And where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?

Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?

Where have all the graveyards gone?

Gone to flowers, every one!

When will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?

******************

In his book Who’s Who of UK & GB International Athletes 1896-1939, British Olympic historian Ian Buchanan noted the following British track & field Olympians who made the final sacrifice during World War I.

Anderson, Gerard           (ATH-1912) (*15 Mar 1889 – †09 Nov 1914)  Killed in action 9 Nov 1914 while serving with the Cheshire Regiment.

Anderson, William (ATH-1906)  (†4.1915)  Killed in action April 1915 while serving as a private with the Canadian contingent.

Ashington, Henry           (ATH-1912) (*25 Sep 1891 – †31 Jan 1917)  Killed in action  while serving with the East Yorkshire Regiment.

Astley, Arthur  (ATH-1908)  (†1916)   Killed in action.

Butterfield, George  (ATH-1908)  (*1882 – †17 Oct 1917)  Killed in action while serving as a gunner with the Royal Field Artillery.

Chavasse, Noël  (ATH-1908)  (*9 Nov 1884 – †04 Aug 1917)  one of only three men to have been awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross.  Served as a captain in the RAMC he was first awarded the VC in 1916 and awarded the bar, posthumously, in 1917.  Killed in action Brandhoek, Ypres, France.

Flaxman, Alfred  (ATH-1908)  (*1 Oct 1879 – †01 Jul 1916)  Killed in action in an attack on the enemy positions at Gommercourt, France.

Hawkins, George  (ATH-1908)  (*13 Oct 1883 – †22 Sep 1917)  Served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery.  Killed in action when a shell exploded in the doorway of a dugout while he was on outpost duty.

Hutson, George  (ATH-1912)  (*22 Dec 1889 – †14 Sep 1914)  Killed in action as a regular soldier with the Royal Sussex Regiment.

Kitching, Frederick  (ATH-1908)  (*7 Jul 1886 – †1914)  Killed in action in Dunkirk, France.

Leeke, Henry     GBR ATH-1908 15 Nov 1879 29 May 1915)  Killed in action in France on the eve of his battalion’s departure for Gallipoli.  Served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

Macintosh, Henry  (ATH-1912)  (*10 Jun 1892 – †26 Jul 1918)  Commissioned into the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and was killed in action on the Somme.

Patterson, Alan  (ATH-1908/12)  (*12 Mar 1886 – †4 Mar 1916)  Killed in action in France.

Roche, James  (ATH-1908)  (*1886 – †07 Jun 1917)  Served as a lieutenant with the Royal Engineers and won an MC in WWI, before being killed in action in France.

Wilson, Harold  (ATH-1908)  (*22 Jan 1885 – †1916)  Killed in action in France.

Yorke, Richard  (ATH-1908/12)  (*28 Jul 1885 – †22 Dec 1914)  Killed in action in France while serving as a sergeant in the London Scottish.

Buchanan also sent a clipping concerning Charles Rought  (GBR; ROW-1912) who died on 31 January 1918.  It noted, “The unluckiest of all, however, was probably Charles Rought.  A prisoner of war almost from the beginning, he died after eating a bad oyster while waiting to be demobilized after his release, and so technically his death occurred while on active service.  Requiescant in Pace.”

******************

There were certainly many others, but many of their stories have never been told.  In his excellent series of books entitled Olympische Sommerspiele, Volker Kluge lists the Olympic athletes who died in World War I.  In addition to Kluge’s lists, Ian Buchanan has done research on the British athletes who died in World War I.  The following list combines the research of these two prominent Olympic historians.  Listed after the name are the nation, the Olympic sport and year of competing in the Olympics, followed by the dates of birth and death.

Alexander, Gordon  (GBR; FEN-1912)  (*1888 – †24 Apr 1917)

Aho, Paavo  (FIN; ATH-1912)  (*21 Dec 1891 – †04 Mar 1918)

Alibert, Gaston  (FRA; FEN-1908)  (*1883 – †26 Dec 1917)

Almqvist, Anders  (SWE; ROW-1912)  (*1885 – †30 Nov 1915)

Bartholomae, Fritz  (GER; ROW-1912)  (*29 Oct 1886 – †1915)

Békessy, Béla  (HUN; FEN-1912)  (*16 Nov 1875 – †06 Jul 1916)

Bellin du Coteau, Marc  (FRA; ATH-1906)  (*1883 – †1915)

Bentham, Isaac  (GBR; WAP-1912)  (*27 Oct 1886 – †ca1914-18)

Bieberstein, Arno  (GER; SWI-1908)  (*17 Oct 1886 – †04 Oct 1918)

Bouin, Jean (FRA; ATH-1912)  (*21 Dec 1888 – †29 Sep 1914)

Braathe, Julius  (NOR; SHO-1906/12)  (*4 May 1876 – †08 Jul 1914)

Braun, Hanns  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*26 Oct 1886 – †09 Oct 1918)

Brebner, Ronald  (GBR; FTB-1912)  (*23 Sep 1882 – †11 Nov 1914)

Bretting, Kurt  (GER; SWI-1912)  (*8 Jun 1892 – †30 May 1918)

Burkowitz, Hermann  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*31 Jan 1892 – †11.1914)

Burn, Thomas  (GBR; FTB-1912)  (*1888 – †1916)

Bury, Edmund  (GBR; RAQ-1908)  (*4 Nov 1884 – †04 Dec 1915)

Carver, Oswald  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*2 Feb 1887 – †07 Jun 1915)

Caulle, Joseph  (FRA; ATH-1912)  (*3 May 1885 – †ca1914-18)

Chaffe, Walter  (GBR; TOW-1912)  (*2 Apr 1870 – †22 Apr 1918)

Chalmers, Ralph  (GBR; FEN-1908)  (*13 Jan 1891 – †10 May 1915)

Coles, Geoffrey  (GBR; SHO-1908)  (*13 Mar 1871 – †27 Jan 1916)

Cooper, Robert  (GBR; GYM-1906)  (†Mar 1918)

Crank, Harry  (GBR; DIV-1908)  (*1885 – †23 Oct 1917)

Crowther, Herbert  (GBR; CYC-1906/08)  (*1882 – †1916)

Cumming, Arthur  (GBR; FSK-1908)  (*8 May 1889 – †08 May 1914)

Davies, Robert  (GBR; SHO-1912)  (*10 Dec 1876 – †09 Sep 1916)

Dines, Joseph  (GBR; FTB-1912)  (*12 Apr 1886 – †27 Sep 1918)

Donners, Herman  (BEL; WAP-1908/12)  (*5 Aug 1888 – †1915)

Drescher, Ludwig  (DEN; FTB-1908)  (*21 Jul 1881 – †14 Jul 1917)

Duffy, Edward  (RSA; ATH-1908)  (*6 Jun 1883 – †19 Oct 1918)

Duffy, James  (CAM; ATH-1912)  (*1 May 1890 – †23 Apr 1915)

Erickson, Charles  (USA; WRE-1904)  (*1875 – †23 Feb 1916)

Escombe, Lionel  (GBR; TEN-1908)  (*1875 – †15 Oct 1914)

Fairbairn, George  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*18 Aug 1888 – †20 Jun 1915)

Flameng, Leon  (FRA; CYC-1896)  (*1877 – †1917)

Fogelmark, Ragnar  (SWE; WRE-1912)  (*15 Mar 1888 – †20 Sep 1914)

Fóti, Samu  (HUN; ATH-1912)  (*6 Nov 1884 – †17 Jun 1916)

Gillespie, Thomas  (GBR; ROW-1912)  (*14 Dec 1892 – †18 Oct 1914)

Goldsmith, Henry  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*22 Jul 1885 – †09 May 1915)

Gönczy, Lajos  (HUN; ATH-1900)  (*24 Feb 1881 – †1914)

Goßler, Carl  (GER; ROW-1900)  (*17 Apr 1885 – †09 Sep 1914)

Grantz, Gunnar  (NOR; ROW-1912)  (*27 Jan 1885 – †1916)

Haagensen, Karl Johan  (NOR; GYM-1906)  (*26 Mar 1871 – †25 Aug 1918)

Halme, Juho  (FIN; ATH-1908/12)  (*24 May 1888 – †01 Feb 1918)

Healy, Cecil  (AUS; SWI-1912)  (*28 Nov 1881 – †29 Aug 1918)

Herrmann, Max  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*17 Mar 1885 – †29 Jan 1915)

Hestdahl, Mikael  (NOR; WRE-1912)  (*13 Nov 1890 – †11 Nov 1918)

Hoben, John  (USA; ROW-1904)  (*1884 – †06 Jul 1915)

Irgens, Emil  (NOR; ROW-1908)  (*2 Aug 1883 – †13 Jul 1918)

January, John  (USA; FTB-1904)  (*6 Mar 1882 – †01 Dec 1917)

Jesinghaus, Walter  (GER; GYM-1912)  (*10 Oct 1887 – †1918)

Johnstone, Albert  (RSA; SHO-1912)  (*7 Sep 1878 – †23 Jul 1918)

Kenna, Paul  (GBR; EQU-1912)  (*16 Aug 1862 – †30 Aug 1915)

Kolehmainen, David “Tatu”  (FIN; WRE-1912)  (*10 Sep 1885 – †1918)

Laing, Ivan  (GBR; HOK-1908)  (*18 Aug 1885 – †30 Nov 1917)

Larsen, Edvard  (NOR; ATH-1908/12)  (*27 Oct 1881 – †11 Sep 1914)

Laws, Gilbert  (GBR; SAI-1908)  (*6 Jan 1870 – †03 Dec 1918)

Legat, Manlio  (ITA; ATH-1912)  (*30 Aug 1889 – †18 Sep 1915)

Lehmann, Erich  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*12 Sep 1890 – †ca1914-18)

Leiblee, Clark  (USA; ATH-1900)  (*2 Nov 1877 – †20 Aug 1917)

Lindh, Erik  (FIN; SAI-1912)  (*1 May 1865 – †01 Dec 1914)

Lönnberg, Ivan  (SWE; ATH-1912)  (*12 Nov 1891 – †26 Apr 1918)

Lützow, Wilhelm  (GER; SWI-1912)  (*19 May 1892 – †1917)

Mackinnon, Duncan  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*29 Sep 1887 – †09 Oct 1917)

Maclagan, Gilchrist  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*5 Oct 1879 – †25 Apr 1915)

Mannström, Bror  (SWE; MOP-1912)  (*26 Oct 1884 – †19 Jul 1916)

Martens, Hermann  (GER; CYC-1908)  (*16 Apr 1877 – †1916)

Mickler, Alfred Georg  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*7 Sep 1892 – †14 Jun 1915)

Molinié, Henri  (FRA; ATH-1906)  (*1874 – †1918)

Mudin, Imre  (HUN; ATH-1908/12)  (*8 Nov 1887 – †23 Oct 1918)

Mudin, István  (HUN; ATH-1906/08)  (*16 Oct 1881 – †22 Jul 1918)

Nejedlÿ, ArnoWt  (BOH; ATH-1906)  (*1883 – †1917)

Nerali¢, Milan  (AUT; FEN-1900)  (*26 Feb 1875 – †17 Feb 1918)

Nilsson, Calle  (SWE; ATH-1912)  (*18 May 1888 – †23 Jun 1915)

Odberg, Frank  (BEL; ROW-1900)  (†1917)

Ommundsen, Harcourt  (GBR; SHO-1908/12)  (*23 Nov 1878 – †1915)

Pedersen, Oluf  (DEN; GYM-1906/12)  (*14 Mar 1878 – †08 Mar 1917)

Pédery, Ärpád  (HUN; GYM-1912)  (*1 Feb 1891 – †21 Oct 1914)

Person, Julius  (GER; ATH-1912)  (*1 May 1889 – †ca1914-18)

Persson, Martin  (SWE; ATH-1912)  (*13 Oct 1886 – †13 Feb 1918)

Petersdorff, Herbert von  (GER; WAP-1900)  (*2 Jan 1882 – †1917)

Pohl-Polenskÿ, Bohuslav  (BOH; ATH-1906)  (*1881 – †1916)

Powell, Kenneth  (GBR; TEN-1912)  (*8 Apr 1885 – †18 Feb 1915)

Pridmore, Reginald  (GBR; HOK-1908)  (*29 Apr 1886 – †13 Mar 1918)

Robinson, John  (GBR; HOK-1908)  (*6 Aug 1885 – †23 Aug 1916)

Romano, Guido  (ITA; GYM-1908/12)  (*31 Jan 1887 – †18 Jun 1916)

Rowland, Arthur  (NZL; ATH-1908)  (*26 Oct 1885 – †23 Jul 1918)

Salmon, Gaston  (FRA; FEN-1912)  (*1878 – †1917)

Salomez, Maurice  (FRA; ATH-1900)  (†1916)

Sanderson, Ronald  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*11 Dec 1876 – †17 Apr 1918)

Schneidereit, Heinrich  (GER; WLT-1906)  (*23 Dec 1884 – †30 Sep 1915)

Soalhat, Michel  (FRA; ATH-1906)  (*1874 – †25 Sep 1915)

Somers-Smith, John  (GBR; ROW-1908)  (*15 Dec 1887 – †01 Jul 1916)

Spiedl, Zoltán  (HUN; ATH-1900)  (*17 Mar 1880 – †03 Jul 1917)

Spitzer, Roger  (USA; ATH-1908)  (*21 Sep 1885 – †20 Mar 1916)

Steuernagel, Curt  (GER; GYM-1908)  (*1886 – †30 Jul 1918)

Sztantics, György  (HUN; ATH-1906)  (*19 Aug 1878 – †09 Jul 1918)

Tietgens, Waldemar  (GER; ROW-1900)  (*26 Mar 1879 – †28 Jul 1917)

Tsiklitaras, Konstantin  (GRE; ATH-1912)  (*1888 – †1913)

Vigurs, Charles  (GBR; GYM-1908/12)  (*11 Jul 1888 – †22 Feb 1917)

Viljamaa, Kalle  (FIN; WRE-1912)  (*15 Feb 1885 – †28 Mar 1918)

von Blixen-Finecke, Hans Gustaf, Sr.  (SWE; EQU-1912)  (*25 Jul 1886 – †26 Sep 1917)

von Gaza, Bernhard  (GER; ROW-1908)  (*6 May 1881 – †25 Sep 1917)

von Las-Torres, Béla  (HUN; SWI-1908)  (*20 Apr 1890 – †13 Oct 1915)

von Lütcken, Eduard  (GER; EQU-1912)  (*26 Oct 1882 – †15 Sep 1914)

von Preußen, Friedrich Karl, Prince  (GER; EQU-1912)  (*6 Apr 1893 – †1917)

Vosbergen, Ary  (NED; ATH-1908)  (*10 Jun 1882 – †14 Nov 1918)

Watzl, Rudolf  (AUT; WRE-1906)  (*14 Apr 1882 – †15 Aug 1915)

Whittindale, Raymond  (GBR; RUG-1900)  (*1883 – †09 Apr 1915)

Wilde, Arthur  (GBR; SHO-1908)  (†1916)

Wilhelm, Richard  (GER; ATH-1908)  (*1888 – †1917)

Willems, Victor  (BEL; FEN-1912)  (*1877 – †1918)

Wilson, Arthur  (GBR; RUG-1908)  (*29 Dec 1886 – †01 Jul 1917)

Wilson, Herbert  (GBR; POL-1908)  (*14 Feb 1875 – †11 Apr 1917)

Zulavszky, Béla  (HUN; FEN-1908/12)  (*23 Oct 1869 – †24 Oct 1914)

*****************

To An Athlete Dying Young

A[lfred] E[dward] Housman (1859-1936)

from A Shropshire Lad

 

The time you won town your race,

We chaired your through the marketplace.

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder high.

 

Today the road all runners come,

Shoulder high we bring you home

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

 

Smart lad to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay.

For quickly though the laurel grows,

It withers quicker than a rose.

 

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut.

And silence sounds no worse than cheers,

After earth has stopped the ears.

 

Now you will not swell the rout,

Of lads who wore their honors out.

Runners whom renown outran,

And the name died before the man.

 

So set before the echoes fade,

That fleet foot on the sill of shade,

And hold to that low lintel up,

The still defended challenge cup.

 

And round that early laureled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,

And find untarnished the its curls,

A garland briefer than a girls.

In 1919, a prelude to the 1920 Olympic Games took place on the outskirts of Paris.  These were the 1919 Inter-Allied Games and they had their origins in 1910 in the Philippine Islands.  In that year, Elwood S. Brown was sent to the Philippines as the Physical Director of the American YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association).  His charge was to build up sporting activities among the American civilian population and eventually the Filipino natives.  Brown was successful and was also instrumental in helping convince the Filipinos to compete in the first Far Eastern Games in 1919.  Through Brown’s efforts, sports became much more popular in the Far East.

In April 1918, Elwood Brown requested war service and was shipped to France as one of the YMCA athletic directors.  As the war neared an end, Brown sought a way to bring the soldiers of the many nations “together in order that they might know each other face to face and thus lay the foundations for those enduring friendships which can come only from personal contact and which, in this case, were of such fundamental importance to the future welfare of the world.”

In October 1918, Elwood Brown sent a letter to Colonel Bruce Palmer, the First Section of the General Staff, G.H.Q., A.E.F., whose subject was “Proposed Athletic Program for Demobilization Period.”  Brown made four suggestions in his letter, as follows:

1. Great mass games and play for every possible man – “Athletics for everybody.”
2. Official A.E.F. championships in a wide variety of competitive sports including military events, beginning with elimination regimental contests, ranging upwards through the divisions, possibly the army corps, and culminating in great finals in Paris.
3. Physical pageants and demonstrations to be held in many centers demonstrating to our allied friends America’s best in sport, her great play spirit and incidentally her finest in physical manhood.
4. Interallied athletic contests – open only to soldiers of the Allied Armies – a great set of military Olympic Games.

And thus was born the Inter-Allied Games.  They were truly considered a military Olympic Games.  The only requirement for entry was that all competitors had to have been an officer or an enlisted man in one of the Allied military forces.  The entry asked, “Were you a soldier in the Great War?”  The eligibility rules noted that “Each nation participating may enter any officer, non-commissioned officer or private soldier, who has at any time between 4 August 1914 and 11 November 1918 been a member of the military forces of that nation.”

The invitation to nations was sent on 9 January 1919 by General John J. Pershing, the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).  The letter read as follows:

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

Office of the Commander In Chief

January 10, 1919

Sir:

The officers and men of the American Expeditionary Forces, being keenly appreciative of the splendid relations which exist among those who have borne arms in a great, common cause, and which, in the present instance, have so happily developed into such deep feelings of mutual respect and admiration, are most anxious to preserve and strengthen this relationship in every way possible.

Now that active military operations have ceased, they believe that nothing could be more conducive to this end than to gather in friendly competition on the field of sport, representatives of the Armies of each of the nations which have so long been associated together in the stern struggle for right.

Accordingly, they have decided to organize an Inter-Allied Athletic Meeting, to be held in the Colombes Stadium, Paris, during the month of May or June, 1919, in which the officers and men of all of these Armies shall be eligible to take part.

As Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, I have the honor, therefore, to invite, through you as their Commander-in-Chief, the officers and men of the armies of France to participate in these contests and to express the earnest hope that many of them may do so, so that the ties of the much cherished spirit of comradeship which have spring from the gallant joint effort of our forces on the battlefield may thus be even more closely cemented.

Respectfully,

JOHN J. PERSHING

Twenty-nine Allied nations were invited to compete in Paris.  The invited nations were:

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Siam, and South Africa.

Hedjaz was a Kingdom on the Arabian Peninsula that later became a part of Saudi Arabia.

Of these, eventually eighteen nations competed at the Inter-Allied Games.

Australia, Belgium, British Army of the Rhine, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hedjaz, Italy, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, and United States.

A Games Committee was formed, which consisted of five members:

Col. Wait S. Johnson, G.S., Lt. Col. D. M. Goodrich, G.S., Lt. Col. T. C. Lonergan, G.S., Mr. Elwood S. Brown, YMCA, Mr. W. A. Reynolds, YMCA

The Games Committee planned the following program:

Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Equestrian Competition, Fencing, Football (Association/Soccer), Football, Rugby, Football, American, Golf – individual and team, Rowing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field Athletics, Tug-of-War, Water Polo, Wrestling – Catch-as-Catch Can, and Wrestling – Greco-Roman,

Eventually, not all of the scheduled events were held.  Notably, there was no American football competition.  A few events were also added to the above program.

The Inter-Allied Games took place at the Pershing Stadium, which was situated near Paris.  It was on the eastern edge of the Bois de Vincennes on the ancient highway between Vincennes and Joinville-le-Pont.  Originally the Games were to have been held in the Colombes Stadium in Paris, where the 1924 Olympic Games would take place.  But the Colombes Stadium was felt to favor the American athletes unfairly and it was not used as the main venue.  Instead, it was decided to build a new stadium, which became the Pershing Stadium.  Incredibly the construction began only on 11 April 1919 and was completed within 60 days.  The stadium seated 25,000 spectators.

The Inter-Allied Games began on 22 June 1919, with an Opening Ceremony in the Stadium.  They were formally opened by Monsieur Leygues, the French Minister of the Navy.  The Games lasted for exactly two weeks, ending on 6 July 1919.  While most of the events took place in the Pershing Stadium, there were other venues used as well.

Swimming took place in the St. James Lake in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.  The equestrian competition was held at Chennevières.  The fencing was conducted at the École d’Éscrime in Joinville.  Rugby football took place at Colombes Field in Paris.  The golf matches were held on the La Boulie Course on the outskirts of Paris.  Tennis competition occurred at the Racing Club de Paris and Stade Français de Paris.  Shooting was conducted far removed from Paris, at the d’Auvours range near Le Mans.

The 1919 Inter-Allied Games ended on Sunday, 6 July.  Two events were held that day – a baseball game between the United States and Canada, and the light-heavyweight boxing final.  The baseball game was ended prematurely, with the United States leading 12-1.  Canada agreed to stop the game to allow the Closing Ceremony to take place in the Pershing Stadium.  General Pershing presided and received all the champions in the Tribune d’Honneur, awarding them their prizes.  The Ceremony ended with the formal lowering the flags of the Allied Nations.

The champions of the 1919 Inter-Allied Games were as follows:[table]

Baseball,,USA

Basketball,,USA

Boxing

Bantamweight,Pvt. Albert Evans,AUS

Featherweight,Louis De Ponthieu,FRA

Lightweight,Bennie McNeil,USA

Welterweight,Sgt. Joe Attwood,CAN

Middleweight,Edward Eagan,USA

Light-Heavyweight,Sgt. Ermino Spalla,ITA

Heavyweight,Bob Martin,USA

Equestrian Events

Military Riding – Individual,Maj. Joseph De Soras,FRA

Military Riding – Team,France

Show Jumping – Individual,Maj. Ruggero Ubertalli,ITA

Show Jumping – Pairs,Maj. Giacomo Antonelli/Capt. Alessandro Alvisi,ITA

Fencing

Foil Individual,Lt. Nedo Nadi,ITA

Foil Team,,FRA

Épée Individual,Sgt. E. Henri Laurent,FRA

Épée Team,,FRA

Sabre Individual,NCO Vincent Gillens,BEL

Sabre Team,,ITA

Football/Soccer,,TCH

Football Rugby,,FRA

Golf Individual,Arnaud Massy,FRA

Golf Team,,FRA

Rowing

Single Sculls,Sgt. Clarence d’Arcy Hadfield,NZL

Coxed Fours,,FRA

Coxed Eight,,GBR

Shooting

Military Rifle Individual,1st Sgt. Stanley Smith,USA

Military Rifle Team,,USA

Pistol Shooting Individual,Master Sgt. Michael Kelley,USA

Pistol Shooting Team,,USA

Swimming

100 metre freestyle,2nd Lt. Norman Ross,USA

400 metre freestyle,2nd Lt. Norman Ross,USA

800 metre freestyle,2nd Lt. Norman Ross,USA

1500 metre freestyle,2nd Lt. Norman Ross,USA

100 metre backstroke,2nd Lt. Norman Ross,USA

200 metre breaststroke,H. Sommer,FRA

4 x 200 metre freestyle relay,,AUS

Tennis Singles,Lt. André Gobert,FRA

Tennis Doubles,Capt. Pat O’Hara-Wood/Bombdr. Randolph Lycett,AUS

Tennis Team,,AUS

Track & Field Athletics

100 metres,2nd Lt. Charles Paddock,USA

200 metres,2nd Lt. Charles Paddock,USA

400 metres,1st Lt. Earl Eby,USA

800 metres,Sgt. Daniel Mason,NZL

1500 metres,2nd Lt. Clyde Stout,USA

Modified Marathon,Pvt. Jean Vermeulen,FRA

110 metre hurdles,1st Lt. Robert Simpson,USA

200 metre hurdles,1st Lt. Robert Simpson,USA

4 x 200 metre relay,,USA

4 x 400 metre relay,,USA

Medley relay,,USA

High Jump,Lt. Clint Larson,USA

Pole Vault,2nd Lt. Florin Floyd,USA

Long Jump,Pvt. Sol Butler,USA

Standing Long Jump,2nd Lt. William Taylor,USA

Triple Jump,1st Lt. Herbert Prem,USA

Shot Put,2nd Lt. Edward Caughey,USA

Discus Throw,Sgt. Charles Higgins,USA

Javelin Throw,2nd Lt. George Bronder,USA

Pentathlon,Cpl. Robert LeGendre,USA

Cross-Country Individual,Pvt. Jean Vermeulen,FRA

Hand-Grenade Throwing,Chaplain Fred Thompson,USA

800 metre relay Armies of Occupation,,FRA

Long Jump Armies of Occupation,Capt. John Madden,USA

Tug-of-War,,USA

Water Polo,,BEL

Wrestling – Catch-as-Catch Can

Bantamweight,Frank Slinger,USA

Featherweight,Carl Lilejahault,USA

Lightweight,George Metropolis,USA

Welterweight,Cal Farley,USA

Middleweight,William Prehm,USA

Light-Heavyweight,Ralph Parcault,USA

Heavyweight,Chevalier ….. Salvator,FRA

Wrestling – Greco-Roman

Bantamweight,….. Wiseman,USA

Featherweight,Henri Diereckx,BEL

Lightweight,Cpl. Joseph Beranek,TCH

Welterweight,Pvt. Karel Halik,TCH

Middleweight,Pvt. Louis Van Antwerpen,BEL

Light-Heavyweight,Sgt. Maj. Frant Kopriva,SRB

Heavyweight,Mstr. Gunner François Bechard,FRA

[/table]

This post was modified from an Appendix to my book on the 1920 Olympic Games: The 1920 Olympic Games:  Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2001.

World War I ended at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, 100 years ago. On our website www.olympedia.org, we provide lists of all Olympians who died during wars. Sadly, there are over 625 Olympians on that list.

Many of the 1896-1912 Olympians fought in the “Great War.” We list here all those we know of who met their demise as the result of World War I. Requiescat in pace

Embed from Getty Images
Tony Wilding, killed at Aubers Ridge during the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle.

Embed from Getty Images

[table]

Athlete,Nation,Sport(s),Era,Notes

Andrey Akimov,RUS,FTB,1912,†1916. Killed during World War I.

Gordon Alexander,GBR,FEN,1912,†24 April 1917. Killed in action during World War I.

Laurie Anderson,GBR,ATH,1912,†9 November 1914. Killed in action while serving with the Cheshire Regiment.

William Anderson,GBR,ATH,1906,†April 1915. Killed in action France.

Henry Ashington,GBR,ATH,1912,†31 January 1917. Killed in action France.

Louis Bach,FRA,FTB,1900,†16 September 1914. Killed in action.

Fritz Bartholomae,GER,ROW,1912,†12 September 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Georg Baumann,RUS,WRE,1912,Missing-in-action during World War I but date and place not known.

Béla Békessy,HUN,FEN,1912,†6 July 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Isaac Bentham,GBR,SWI/WAP,1912,†15 May 1917. Killed in action during Battle of Arras.

Renon Boissière,FRA,ATH,1912,†25 September 1915. Killed in action in World War I.

Henri Bonnefoy,FRA,SHO,1908,†9 August 1914. Killed in action during World War II.

Hermann von Bönninghausen,GER,ATH,1908-12,†26 January 1919. Died from wounds from being shot in the face in World War I.

Hermann Bosch,GER,FTB,1912,†16 July 1916. Killed in action in World War I.

Jean Bouin,FRA,ATH,1908-12,†29 September 1914. Killed in action by friendly fire.

Hanns Braun,GER,ATH,1908-12,†9 October 1918. Died as a fighter pilot near Saint-Quentin Aisne France in World War I.

Karl Braunsteiner,AUT,FTB,1912,†19 April 1916. Died as a prisoner of war.

Kurt Bretting,GER,SWI,1912,†30 May 1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Wilhelm Brülle,GER,GYM,1912,†5 August 1917. Killed in action during World War I.

Heinrich Burkowitz,GER,ATH,1912,†November 1918. Missing in action in November 1918 somewhere in Belgium.

Edmond Bury,GBR,RAQ,1908,†5 December 1915. With the 11th Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps he was killed in action in France during World War I and is buried in Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery in Fleurbaix.

George Butterfield,GBR,ATH,1908,†24 September 1917. Killed in action France.

Giuseppe Caimi (DNS),ITA,FTB,1912,†14 December 1917. For his courage and boldness he received by Royal decree a posthumous gold medal for military valour.

Oswald Carver,GBR,ROW,1908,†7 June 1915. With the 1st/2nd East Lancashire Royal Engineers he was killed in action in Turkey in World War I and is buried in the Lancashire Landing Cemetery.

Joseph Caullé,FRA,ATH,1912,†1 October 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Ralph Chalmers,GBR,FEN,1908,†8 May 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Noel Chavasse,GBR,ATH,1908,†4 August 1917. He is one of only three men to have been awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross. Serving as a captain in the RAMC he was first awarded the VC in 1916 and a bar posthumously in 1917.

Geoffrey Coles,GBR,SHO,1908,†27 January 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

André Corvington,HAI,FEN,1900,†13 December 1918. Killed in action in World War I near Reims.

Percy Courtman,GBR,SWI,1908-12,†2 June 1917. Part of 6th Battalion Manchester Regiment he was killed in action in World War I. Buried at Neuville-Bourjonval British Cemetery.

Harry Crank,GBR,DIV,1908,†22 October 1917. Killed in action near Ypres Belgium.

Robert Davies,GBR,SHO,1912,†9 September 1916. A member of the 1st/9th Batallion London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) he was killed in action in the Somme in France in World War I.

Olivier Baron de Brandois,FRA,SAI,1900,†9 June 1916 Death of illnesses contracted whilst serving as a member of the French Army

Louis de Champsavin,FRA,EQU,1900,†20 December 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Félix Debax,FRA,FEN,1900,†25 August 1914. Killed in action in World War I.

Alex Decouteau,CAN,ATH,1912,†17 October 1917. Killed in action in the Battle of Passchendale.

Oszkár Demján,HUN,SWI,1912,†4 September 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Charles Devendeville,FRA,SWI/WAP,1900,†19 September 1914. Killed in action.

Karl Baron von Diepurg,GER,IOC,1909-14,†25 October 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Joe Dines,GBR,FTB,1912,†27 September 1918. He was killed in Pas de Calais as a second lieutenant on the Western front during World War I.

Herman Donners,BEL,WAP,1908-12,†14 May 1915. Killed in action World War I.

Jimmy Duffy,CAN,ATH,1912,†23 April 1915. In September 1913 he joined the Canadian Army and was assigned to the 91st Argyle Regiment. On April 23 1915 he was fatally wounded near Ypres Belgium.

Hugh Durant,GBR,MOP/SHO,1912,†20 January 1916. With the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the Vermelles British Cemetery.

Eric Fairbairn,GBR,ROW,1908,†20 June 1915. Killed in action in the Somme in France during World War I.

René Fenouillière,FRA,FTB,1908,†4 November 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Léon Flameng,FRA,CYC,1896,†2 January 1917. Killed in action during World War I.

Alfred Flaxman,GBR,ATH,1908,†1 July 1916. Killed in an attack on the enemy positions at Gommecourt.

Mauricio Galvao,GER,HOK,1908,†6 March 1945. Killed in action in World War II. His grave is in the war cemetary in Zagreb Croatia.

Bert Gayler,GBR,CYC,1912,†23 June 1917. Killed by rifle fire during an ambush in a valley near Kotkai Bozi Khel.

Bernhard von Gaza,GER,ROW,1908,†25 September 1917. Killed in action during World War I in Belgium.

Thomas Gillespie,GBR,ROW,1912,†18 October 1914. A lieutenant with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in Le Touret Memorial.

Henry Goldsmith,GBR,ROW,1908,†9 May 1915. Killed in action at Fromelles.

Lajos Gönczy,HUN,ATH,1900-06,†4 December 1915. Killed in action in area of Galicia and Lodomeria.

Carl Heinrich Goßler,GER,ROW,1900,†9 September 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Ámon von Gregurich,HUN,FEN,1900,†28 June 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Jaroslav Hainz,BOH,TEN,1912,Died in Russia in World War I but further details not known.

Juho Halme,FIN,ATH,1908-12,†1 February 1918. Killed in action in Finnish Civil War.

Wyndham Halswelle,GBR,ATH,1906-08,†31 March 1915. Killed by a sniper’s bullet in France.

George Hawkins,GBR,ATH,1908,†22 September 1917. During World War I he served as a Gunner with the Royal Artillery and was killed in action when a shell exploded in the doorway of a dugout while he was on outpost duty.

Harold Hawkins,GBR,SHO,1908,†16 June 1917. Reported missing between Bullecourt and Croisilles. When last seen he was wounded lying in a very forward position which unfortunately had to be abandoned.

Cecil Healy,AUS,SWI,1906-12,†29 August 1918. Killed in action in World War I.

Max Herrmann,GER,ATH,1912,†29 January 1915. Killed in action in World War I.

George Hutson,GBR,ATH,1912,†14 September 1914. Killed in action only five weeks after the outbreak of World War I.

Albert Jenicot,FRA,FTB,1908,†22 February 1916. An under-lieutenant with the 165th Regiment D Infantry he was killed in action in World War I.

Walther Jesinghaus,GER,GYM,1912,†1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Ernest Keeley,RSA,SHO,1912,†23 July 1918. A 2nd lieutenant with the 4th Regiment South African Infantry Unit he was killed in action in World War I and is buried in the Ploegsteert Memorial.

Frederick Kelly,GBR,ROW,1908,†13 November 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Paul Kenna,GBR,EQU,1912,†30 August 1915. Killed in action at the Battle of Gallipoli.

Alister Kirby,GBR,ROW,1912,†29 March 1917. Served as a captain in the Rifle Brigade and died from illness in 1917.

Frederick Kitching,GBR,ATH,1908,†1914. Killed in action in World War I.

Dmitry Knyazhevich,RUS,FEN,1912,†1918 Killed during the Russian Revolution

Adolf Kofler,AUT,CYC,1912,†13 April 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Georg Krogmann,GER,FTB,1912,Krogmann was killed in action in 1915 in Poland during World War I.

Nikolay Kynin,RUS,FTB,1912,†1916. Killed during World War I.

Ivan Laing,GBR,HOK,1908,†30 November 1917. With the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards he was killed in action in France during World War I and is buried in Metz-en-Couture Communal Cemetery British Extension.

Octave Lapize,FRA,CYC,1908,†14 July 1917. Killed when his plane was shot down near Verdun.

Béla Las-Torres,HUN,SWI,1908-12,†13 October 1915. Killed in action in Italy during World War I.

Henry Leeke,GBR,ATH,1908,†29 May 1915. Killed in action on the eve of his battalion’s departure for Gallipoli.

Erich Lehmann,GER,ATH,1912,†9 July 1918. Listed as missing in action in World War I.

Feliks Leparsky,RUS,FEN,1912,†10 January 1917. Killed in action in World War I.

Bertrand Count de Lesseps,FRA,FEN,1908,†28 August 1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Ismaël de Lesseps,FRA,FEN,1908,†30 September 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Paul Lüders,GER,BPO,1908,†25 February 1916. Killed in action in World War I in Verdun.

Eduard von Lütcken,GER,EQU,1912,†15 September 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Georges Lutz,FRA,CYC,1908,†31 January 1915. Killed in action in World War I.

Willy Lützow,GER,SWI,1912,†1915. Killed in action during World War I.

William Lyshon,USA,WRE,1912,†13 October 1918. Killed in the final days of World War I.

Henry Macintosh,GBR,ATH,1912,†26 July 1918. Died from wounds sustained in the Second Battle of the Somme.

Duncan Mackinnon,GBR,ROW,1908,†9 October 1917. Killed in action at Ypres in the Battle of Passchendaele.

Gilchrist Maclagan,GBR,ROW,1908,†25 April 1915. Killed in action in Pilckem Ridge at the Second Battle of Ypres.

Jean de Mas Latrie,FRA,FEN/MOP,1908-12,†5 September 1914. Killed in action in World War I.

Leopold Mayer,AUT,SWI,1906,†21 September 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Alphonse Meignant,FRA,ROW,1912,†4 November 1914. Killed at First Battle of Ypres during World War 1.

Robert Merz,AUT,FTB,1912,†30 August 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Georg Mickler,GER,ATH,1912,†14 June 1915. Killed in action during World War I somewhere in Poland.

Felice Milano (DNS),ITA,FTB,1912,†11 November 1915. Killed at the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo during World War I.

Percy Molson,CAN,ATH,1904,†5 July 1917. Killed in action when hit by mortar fire while attempting to rescue a fallen friend on the outskirts of Avignon France.

Alfred Motté,FRA,ATH,1908-12,†31 October 1918. Killed in action in World War I.

István Mudin,HUN,ATH,1906-08,†22 July 1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Edward Nash,GBR,EQU,1912,†21 February 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Georges de la Nézière,FRA,ATH,1896,†9 October 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Grigory Nikitin,RUS,FTB,1912,†1917. Killed during World War I.

Charles Oldaker,GBR,GYM,1908,†26 September 1915 Killed in action during World War I.at the Battle of Loos.

Harcourt Ommundsen,GBR,SHO,1908-12,†19 September 1915. A Lieutenant in the Honourable Artillery Company when he was killed at the Battle of Ieper in World War I.

Alan Patterson,GBR,ATH,1908-12,†14 March 1916. Commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery he was killed in action only two days after his 30th birthday.

Árpád Pédery,HUN,GYM,1912,†21 October 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Jacques Person,GER,ATH,1912,†15 July 1915. From Alsace killed in action in Flanders as a member of the “7. Thüringische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 96”.

William Philo,GBR,BOX,1908,†7 July 1916. Killed in World War I during the battle of the Somme in France.

Hermann Plaskuda,GER,FEN,1912,†21 March 1918. Killed in action in World War I. His grave is in the war cemetary in St. Quentin France.

Léon Ponscarme,FRA,CYC,1900,†24 November 1916. Killed in action in World War I in Verdun.

Chris Porter (DNS),GBR,FTB,1908,†4 June 1915. Killed in action at Gallipoli serving with the Manchester Regiment.

Bobby Powell,CAN,TEN,1908,Lieutenant in the 48th Canadian Infantry Battalion during World War I. Killed in action while fighting in France. Date and place unknown.

Kenneth Powell,GBR,ATH/TEN,1908-12,†18 February 1915. Killed in action while serving as a private in the HAC.

Friedrich Karl Prince von Preußen,GER,EQU,1912,†6 April 1917. During a flight on 21 March 1917 he was forced to land with a bullet in his engine and a slight wound to his foot. He landed his Albatros aircraft in no-man’s land but while running towards his own lines he was severely wounded in the back by Australian troops. He was taken into Australian war captivity where he died from his injuries on 6 April 1917 at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.

Reggie Pridmore,GBR,HOK,1908,†13 March 1918. Served as a major in the Royal Horse & Field Artillery winning a Military Cross on the Somme before being killed in action in Italy.

John Prosser (DNS),GBR,FTB,1908,†27 May 1917. Killed in action on the Western Front during the Battle of Arras.

Joseph Racine,FRA,CYC,1912,†28 October 1914. With the 113th Regiment Infantry he was killed in action in World War I.

Thomas Raddall,GBR,SHO,1908,†9 August 1918. With the 8th Battalion Canadian Infantry Manitoba Regiment he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the Manitoba Cemetery in Caix.

Maurice Raoul-Duval,FRA,POL,1900,†5 May 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Gino Ravenna,ITA,GYM,1908,Killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp date unknown.

Josef Rieder,GER,CYC,1912,†13 July 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

John Robinson,GBR,HOK,1908,†23 August 1916. Commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment he was soon promoted to captain but died from injuries received in the Mesopotamian campaign.

Paddy Roche,GBR,ATH,1908,†7 June 1917. A lieutenant in the Royal Engineers he won an MC in World War I and was later killed in action.

Claude Ross,ANZ,ATH,1912,†19 August 1917. Killed in action in France.

Albert Rowland,ANZ,ATH,1908,†23 July 1918. Killed in action during the Second Battle of The Marne.

Marius Royet (DNS),FRA,FTB,1908,†1915. Killed during World War I.

Maurice Salomez,FRA,ATH,1900,†7 August 1916. Killed in action in World War I.

Ronald Sanderson,GBR,ROW,1908,†17 April 1918. Killed in action near Ypres.

Ludwig Sauerhöfer,GER,WRE,1912,Sauerhöfer was killed in action during World War I (1914-18)

Heinrich Schneidereit,GER,TOW/WLT,1906,†30 September 1915. Killed in action as an artillery officer in France during World War I.

André Six,FRA,SWI,1900,†1 April 1915. Killed in action.

Pierre Six,FRA,FTB,1908,†7 July 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Michel Soalhat,FRA,ATH,1906,†25 September 1915. Killed in action in World War I.

Robert Somers-Smith,GBR,ROW,1908,†1 July 1916. Killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Eberhard Sorge,GER,GYM,1912,†6 August 1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Alfred Staats,GER,GYM,1912,†22 October 1915. Killed in action during World War I.

Jenő Szántay,HUN,FEN,1908,†11 December 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

Géza Szegedy,HUN,ATH,1906,†1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Geoffrey Taylor,CAN,ROW,1908-12,†24 April 1915. Missing presumed killed during the Second Battle of Ypres.

Felix Tekusch (DNS),AUT,FTB,1912,†21 May 1916. Killed in action during World War I.

Otto Thiel,GER,FTB,1912,Died during World War I

Waldemar Tietgens,GER,ROW,1900,†28 July 1917. Killed in action during World War I.

Dragutin Tomašević,SRB,ATH,1912,†1915. Killed in action during World War I in Serbia

Kostas Tsiklitiras,GRE,ATH,1906-12,†10 February 1913. Volunteered to fight in the Balkan Wars and fought at the Battle of Bizani where he contracted meningitis and died at the age of 24.

Justin Vialaret,FRA,FTB,1908,†30 September 1916. Killed in action in World War I.

Charles Vigurs,GBR,GYM,1908-12,†22 February 1917. With the 11th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in Grenay.

Edmond Wallace,FRA,FEN,1900,†18 August 1915. Killed in action in World War I.

Rudolf Watzl,AUT,WRE,1906,†15 August 1915. Died from illness during World War I.

Arthur Wear,USA,TEN,1904,†6 November 1918. As a result of refusing to obtain proper treatment for a probable perforated duodenal ulcer he died still commanding his battalion during the Meuse-Argonne fighting.

Arthur Wilde,GBR,SHO,1908,†21 January 1916. With the 1st/6th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment he was killed in action in World War I and is buried in the Arras Memorial.

Tony Wilding,ANZ,TEN,1912,†9 May 1915. Joined the British army and was leading an armoured car unit when he was killed at Aubers Ridge during the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle.

Victor Willems,BEL,FEN,1908-12,†1918. Killed in action during World War I.

Edward Williams,GBR,ROW,1908,†12 August 1915. With the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the St. Venant Communal Cemetery.

Herbert Wilson,GBR,POL,1908,†11 April 1917. Was a captain with the Royal Horse Guards near Arras. Died in the preliminary skirmishes leading up to the Battle of Paschendaele in Ypres Belgium.

Richard Yorke,GBR,ATH,1908-12,†22 December 1914. Killed in action in World War I while serving as a sergeant in the London Scottish.

Heinrich Ziegler,GER,FEN,1912,Killed in action during World War I

Béla Zulawszky,HUN,FEN,1908-12,†24 October 1914. Killed in action during World War I.

[/table]

Today, we are continuing our look into Olympians for whom we believe to have identified their date of death but, for whatever reason, we are unable to connect the information, such as obituary or public record, conclusively to the athlete. In particular, we are going to examine three Olympians who would be over the age of 105, thus making it very unlikely that they would still be alive regardless of whether or not they are connected to these death records.

 

Nelson Ribeiro – Member of Brazil’s coxed fours rowing squad at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

A member of the famous Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Nelson Ribeiro, born January 14, 1910, was a member of the Brazilian coxed fours squad that was eliminated in the semi-finals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His son later became prominent in rowing administration (among other things) and his granddaughter competed in gymnastics at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, but information on the 1936 competitor is scarce, perhaps clouded by the results for his son. The only suggestion we have for his death came from an entry, now removed, at a genealogical website showing someone with his name having a year of death of 1973. We were unable, however, to find any additional confirmation.

 

Bill Guillver – Rhodesia’s sole sport shooter at the 1960 Rome Olympics

All we know about England-born sport shooter Bill Guillver, born December 28, 1912, is that he took part in the trap event, as a representative of Rhodesia, at the 1960 Rome Olympics and was eliminated in the qualifying round. An anonymous editor to Wikipedia changed his page to reflect that he died in 1998 in Mazowe, Zimbabwe, but, perhaps due to his common name, we have been unable to confirm this.

(Headstone picture from Find-a-Grave)

Rudolf Vilim – Member of Switzerland’s kayak doubles, 1000 meters duo at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

On the other hand, Switzerland’s Rudolf Vilim, born June 15, 1913, has a fairly uncommon name, yet we still know little about him. He did compete in the K-1 1000 at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he finished fifth in the event with his partner Werner Klingelfuss, but this is our only record of his international competition. Find-a-Grave lists a Rudolf Vilim, buried in Zurich, as having died in 1959, but the gravestone is missing the final digit of his birth year, thus leaving us unable to verify if this is the Olympian.

A busy week means a quick blog update on the weekend, but we hope to bring you even more mysteries next week, when we hope you will join us once again! We also want to send a special thank you to the contributor who pointed us to the obituary of Indian field hockey player Reginald Rodrigues in The Montreal Gazette, which confirms that he died August 15, 1995, at the age of 73. Those who are interested may view it here: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24999004/reginald_rodrigues_obituary/

Another sincere thanks goes to Tomas Magnusson, who provided us a link to a newsletter that confirms Swiss gymnast Robert Lucy’s date of death as December 23, 2009:

https://btvbern.ch/images/content/BTVinfo/BTVInfo_2010_01.pdf