Russ Kelly
| Full name | Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 25 November 1909 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 25 December 1943 (aged 34) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Concord West, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly (25 November 1909 — 25 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union international.
Born in Murwillumbah, Kelly was educated at Canterbury Boys' High School, where he learnt his rugby.[1]
Kelly, a back-row forward, debuted in Sydney first-grade rugby in 1931 with Northern Suburbs, but spent the majority of his career at Drummoyne. Between 1933 and 1939, Kelly was a regular New South Wales representative, with 28 appearances. He was capped seven times for the Wallabies from 1936 to 1938, debuting on a tour of New Zealand.[2]
Enlisting in 1940, Kelly served in World War II with an anti-tank regiment and attained the rank of sergeant. While trapped with his unit in fighting near Tobruk, he was struck by machine gun fire, which shattered most of his ribs.[3] He was held by Italian forces as a prisoner of war in Benghazi and was later moved to a Naples hospital. In July, 1943, Kelly was repatriated in a prisoner exchange and died five months later while undergoing an operation for his injuries in Sydney.[4][5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "R. Kelly Dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 December 1943. p. 5 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly". classicwallabies.com.au.
- ^ "Footballers In The Wars". The Sun. 9 September 1943. p. 8 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Soldiers Back From Italian Camps". The Barrier Miner. 17 July 1943. p. 1 (Sports Edition) – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Passing Of Russ Kelly". The Daily Mirror. 27 December 1943. p. 9 (Last Race All Details 2). Retrieved 11 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
External links
[edit]- Russ Kelly at ESPNscrum
- 1909 births
- 1943 deaths
- Australian rugby union players
- Australia international rugby union players
- Rugby union players from New South Wales
- Rugby union number eights
- Rugby union flankers
- Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players
- Drummoyne RFC players
- People from the Northern Rivers
- People educated at Canterbury Boys' High School
- Australian Army personnel of World War II
- Australian military personnel killed in World War II
- Australian Army officers
- New South Wales rugby union team players