William Henry James Comte (10 March 1909 – 30 May 1945) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL), and Sandringham in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA) during the 1930s. He fought in World War II with the 2/24th Battalion, Second A.I.F., and died of wounds sustained in action during the 1945 Battle of Tarakan.

Family

The second son of William Thomas Comte (1881–????), and Matilda Comte (1884–1943), née Flowers, William Henry James Comte was born at Moama, in New South Wales on 10 March 1909. He married Ruby Irene "Connie" Curtis (later, Mrs Jack Shearer) on 31 May 1941. They had one son: John Henry Comte (1942–2018).

Football

Echuca (BFL)

Recruited from the Moama Junior Football Club, he played for the ''Echuca Football Club'' (coached by ex-Fitzroy footballer Steve Donnellan) in the Bendigo Football League for three seasons (1927–1929). He was the club's best and fairest in his first year at the club, and played a number of games over those three seasons for combined Bendigo League teams.

St Kilda (VFL)

Comte usually played as a rover or in defence. He won St Kilda's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

in 1933.

Sandringham (VFA)

Cleared from St Kilda to Sandringham on 13 April 1938, he was only able to play 17 matches over the two years he was with Sandringham (1938–1939), due to the knee injuries that had ended his career at St Kilda.