by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago
They may be far from home, but that didn't stop them. During the World Wars, it was not uncommon for Australian soldiers serving overseas, to have a football among their possessions. Wherever and whenever they could, a scratch match would be organized. In one Japanese POW camp, Aussie prisoners organized their own teams and played much to the bemusement of their captors.
To celebrate ANZAC Day in Iraq, one squad honored the tradition. Overwatch Battle Group (West)-4 Regimental, stationed in southern Iraq, staged their own game. Warrant Officer Brad Clarke, a keen Essendon fan, said Collingwood and Essendon generously donated playing guernseys for the soldiers' match. With no actual oval on which to play, a gravel area was smoothed over as best as possible, goalposts were made from PVC pipe and cushioned with plastic bubble wrap. Chalk marked out the goalsquares, center area and boundaries. While the footy aficionados played their game, patrol duty was relegated to the rugby buffs.
Several rules had to be implemented to prevent serious injury on the hard surface. According to Clarke, there were to be no shirtfronts (hard front-on body slams now outlawed by the AFL), no slinging tackles, and no heavy hits which might fell an opponent. Clarke said the players respected the rules but there were still a lot of bruised knees, scrapes and several dislocated fingers.
On the actual day, the squad attended a dawn commemoration service, then watched the AFL game via satellite. Unlike the MCG result, in the Iraq match it was "Essendon" 9.9 (63) defeating "Collingwood" 9.8 (62).
Source: Herald Sun & author notes
Article last changed on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 2:37 PM EDT
