12 August 2008
At the reception following the recent Rugby Regional Competition, the veteran sports broadcaster/ commentator Keith Quinn presented to the Army a scrapbook that had been given to him by another very well known rugby commentator, Winston McCarthy, immortalised by the phase, ‘it’s a goal’. This scrapbook was a collection of rugby memorabilia collected by Winston McCarthy and included a considerable amount of cuttings from the famous 1946 Kiwi rugby tour of the UK and Europe. During his presentation Keith provided some very interesting stories about his early interest in commentating sports events and the influence that Winston McCarthy had on his subsequent long career in sports broadcasting. This included many rugby tours, nine Commonwealth Games and this year his attendance at his eighth Olympic Games in Beijing.
Keith talked about how Winston McCarthy was employed to provide commentaries of the Kiwi Army tour back to New Zealand in 1946. It came about by the desire to have a commentator who would be able to bring the rugby game alive to New Zealanders at a period where New Zealanders were needing something to take there minds away from thinking about the war and its aftermath. Winston did just that and there are various rugby programmes in the scrapbook where he has made notes alongside players that allowed him to identify them easily, for example, the colour of socks worn in one game where players wore the socks of their home clubs.
As most would know, especially rugby players, many of the players in the Kiwi Army team subsequently became All Blacks. One was an All Black before the war, Charlie Saxon, the Captain of the team, but others such as Fred Allan and Bob Scott became very well known All Blacks, with Fred Allan also being a highly successful All Black coach. I had the great privilege of meeting both Fred Allan and Bob Scott at Menin Gate in the town of Ypres, Belgium, last October, during the commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the battle at Passchendaele. In total, eleven All Blacks lost their lives during those battles on the Western Front.
Another member of that famous Kiwi team was Stan Young, who has been for many years a member of the Trentham Camp Officers Mess and is a regular attendee at happy hours and functions. Stan, after serving as a soldier in the Second World War, had a very distinguished career in traffic policing retiring as a Superintendent – Brigadier equivalent.
Keith’s kind donation and reminiscences of the past especially around Winston McCarthy and the famous Kiwi Army Rugby team served to remind the current Army rugby players of our legacy and rich heritage. Of courageous and committed past soldier-rugby players who willingly served their country on battlefields afar during the last century, knowing they were putting themselves in harms way, and as a result sacrificing a potentially very rewarding involvement in Rugby. They lived the values that we espouse today and those who played the day of Keith’s presentation were once again reminded of the legacy and heritage that we all must live up to as we progress through our Army careers.
More on the historic scrapbook
A scrapbook put together following the New Zealand Army rugby tour of Europe more than 60 years ago has been given to the Army by broadcaster and rugby commentator Keith Quinn.
The book was compiled by veteran broadcaster, the late Winston McCarthy following the highly successful tour of the United Kingdom and France after WW II.
Mr McCarthy, already well established as a sports broadcaster, was serving in the Army and was chosen to accompany the tour in order to provide radio commentary back to New Zealand. Along the way he collected programmes, news clippings, photographs, broadcast notes and autographs relating to the 33 matches played, and put them together in the scrapbook.
On his death in 1984, Mr McCarthy’s family presented the scrapbook to Mr Quinn.
“It had been in my possession since then,” said Mr Quinn. “I always treasured it and regarded it as priceless, but I think it really belongs to the Army, and that’s why I have handed it over to the Army on behalf of the McCarthy family.”
The presentation was made after the North versus South game in Linton on July 8, with Mr Quinn handing the scrapbook over to Chief of Army and keen rugby enthusiast and former player, MAJGEN Lou Gardiner. The book will be held in the Waiouru Army Museum.
The 2nd NZEF team, called “The Kiwis” came together after the men had fought in the battle fields of North Africa and Europe. The idea for the team came from General Sir Bernard Freyberg, who, as early as 1940, had instructed his staff that at the end of hostilities a rugby tour by an Army team would take place. The aim was to play and promote a game they all loved, and to help raise the morale of others who had been through extreme hardship. It also provided a welcome distraction for the many soldiers waiting to return home to New Zealand following the cessation of hostilities.
The Kiwis were said to have perpetuated the notions of excellence, mateship and teamwork in the style and manner in which they played. Not long off the battlefield, and before they had a chance to return to New Zealand and their loved ones, they produced an impressive record, showing commitment and passion for rugby, and excellent teamwork.
According to Khaki All Blacks, by Mike Whatman, the team of soldiers was largely inexperienced in the playing of top rugby. They embarked on an extensive tour of the UK, Ireland, France and Germany immediately after the finish of WW II. They played 33 matches, losing only two, and scoring more than 600 points.
The “Kiwis” are credited with having re-established rugby in Britain, with their brand of rugby described as being “bright, open football requiring speed and movement and brilliant passing involving all 15 players on the field.” Teamwork at its best.
Their victories were stunning; the previous All Blacks tour to the UK had been in 1935-36. The All Black team had been defeated by Wales and demoralised by England, which made the Kiwis’ success all the more worthy of celebrations both on tour and back home.
Their extensive programme began with three matches against the strongest clubs in Wales. The first was on October 27 1945, and the tour ended with a match in France on March 31, 1946.The first games for the largely untried team were against very powerful Welsh teams, but this unusual decision was well thought out. The team management felt it was better to put the team against strong opposition early so its strengths and weaknesses could soon be assessed. The team won all three matches, and quickly established what was to become a formidable reputation.
While the idea for the team came from General Sir Bernard Freyberg, the man who made the tour happen, and happen so successfully, was a young officer, Allan Andrews. A Captain when Freyburg first mooted the idea, Andrews rose to the rank of Brigadier, but was always affectionately known as “The Colonel”.
A sportsman of some renown himself, his war began when he was sent from New Zealand to Egypt to join the advance party to set up facilities for the 2 NZEF base camp. Throughout the war he dodged death several times – once when the slit trench he had minutes earlier vacated was bombed, and again when the ship he was to have been a passenger on was torpedoed, killing all on board. He was mentioned in dispatches four times.
It was Winston McCarthy who brought the tour alive for those New Zealanders glued to their radios at home in the early hours of the morning. He broadcast their important matches on shortwave radio, describing the play in detail as well as the atmosphere. He went on to broadcast several All Blacks tours, and covered the Empire Games, and the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. His final broadcast was in 1959.
For Keith Quinn, the scrapbook was especially valuable given the close relationship he developed with Winston McCarthy over the years. Before handing over the scrapbook to CA, Mr Keith gave a short presentation covering the Kiwi’s post-war tour and how the scrapbook came to be. A gold-mine of all things rugby, Mr Quinn also displayed rare photographs date as far back as 1919, including one of the King George Cup being presented to the NZ Team in 1919 by the King. As Mr Quinn pointed out, the fact this same Cup was still in the possession of the Army and was present on that evening proved to be a powerful illustration of the military and sporting legacy that has been handed down to personnel in the Army today.