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Ronald James Barassi (24 October 1913 – 31 July 1941) was an Australian rules footballer who played with 
Like many other footballers from the Melbourne Football Club, he joined the Taylor, Percy, "Melbourne are Proud of their Great War Record", ''The Australasian'', (Saturday, 24 June 1944), p.23.
/ref> Serving as part of Australia's campaign in
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: Ronald James Barassi (VX45220)
DemonWiki profile
Team photograph Castlemaine v. Maryborough 1932. Barassi second from right, front row
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barassi Sr, Ron 1913 births 1941 deaths People from Castlemaine, Victoria Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Melbourne Football Club players Castlemaine Football Club players Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian military personnel killed in World War II Melbourne Football Club Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Military personnel from Victoria (Australia)
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
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). I ...
(VFL). His grandfather came from Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and Ron was the father of Hall of Famer Ron Barassi Jr., who was signed to Melbourne under the father–son rule
The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League.
The rul ...
.
Originally from Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean:
* Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia
** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club
** Castlemaine railway station
* Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland
* Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...
, Barassi was a rover and made his debut for Melbourne in 1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
. His final league match was Melbourne's victorious 1940 Grand Final, which he started as the 19th man.
Like many other footballers from the Melbourne Football Club, he joined the army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
soon after./ref> Serving as part of Australia's campaign in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
, he was killed in action at Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near t ...
in 1941, the first VFL footballer to lose his life in the conflict.
See also
*List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service
Since the inception of the Victorian Football League in 1897, many of its players have served in the armed services, including the Anglo–Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War (in which Melbourne's Geoff Collins served as a f ...
* The Rats of Tobruk
The Rats of Tobruk were soldiers of the Australian-led Allied garrison that held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 11 April 1941 and was relieved on 10 December. ...
Footnotes
References
Main, J. & Allen, D., "Barassi (snr), Ron", pp. 214–220 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen — The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.External links
*Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: Ronald James Barassi (VX45220)
DemonWiki profile
Team photograph Castlemaine v. Maryborough 1932. Barassi second from right, front row
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barassi Sr, Ron 1913 births 1941 deaths People from Castlemaine, Victoria Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Melbourne Football Club players Castlemaine Football Club players Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian military personnel killed in World War II Melbourne Football Club Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Military personnel from Victoria (Australia)