Stan Bisset MC OAM (27 August 1912 – 5 October 2010) was an Australian national representative

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and military officer who saw active service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Bisset was born in

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, southeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. St Kilda recorded a ...

on 27 August 1912. He was a promising

Australian Rules 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 ...

football ruckman before being persuaded to play rugby.

Rugby union career

A second-rower, goal-kicker and captain, Bisset played with the Power House Rugby Club in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

.SMH obituary (ref rugby club)
/ref> During his tenure as first grade captain at Power House Bisset steered the side to their first Premiership in 1938, earning Victorian selection along with 6 other Power House players. Bisset played in the last Victorian XV to beat the Warratahs in a fixture at Manly Oval in 1937, and represented Victoria against the Springboks the same year. He was one of four Victorians who were selected for the ill-fated 1939

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

tour of Great Britain that was captained by

Vay Wilson Vayro William Wilson, Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom), DSC (18 January 1912 – 1962) was an Australian naval officer and a state and Australia national rugby union team, national representative rugby union player who captained the ...

. The team docked at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on the day when England declared war and after a couple of weeks spent filling sandbags to start the war effort, the squad set sail for Australia having not played a game. Of the unlucky tourists, only

Bill McLean William Malcolm McLean (28 February 1918 – 9 December 1996) was an Australian soldier and a state and Australia national rugby union team, national representative rugby union player who captained the Australia national rugby union team, Wa ...

, Keith Windon and Len Smith would return to footballing success after the war.

Second World War

Stan and the team returned home where he joined the 2/14th Battalion joining his older brother Hal, known as Butch. Stan was a lieutenant in charge of an intelligence section while Butch was a platoon commander. Both men saw service in the

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before Australian forces returned to the

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in 1942 to defend Australia against the Japanese push through

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

on the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japane ...

. After arriving in Papua New Guinea, Stan and Butch were sent up the

to relieve the 39th Battalion who were holding out the Japanese at Isurava. During the battle Stan was wounded by a bullet which grazed an eyebrow, and Butch was wounded in action on the Kokoda Track and died in Stan's arms in 1942. Butch was buried on the Track. Stan was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for actions during the attack on Palliers Hill in the Markham and Ramu valleys in September 1943.

Honours

On 12 June 2000 Stan was granted a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for service to veterans particularly those of the 2/14th Battalion, 7th Division.

Later life

Stan died on 5 October 2010 at a nursing home in

Coolum, Queensland Coolum Beach is a beachside town and coastal suburb in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Coolum Beach had a population of 9,152 people. Geography Coolum Beach has the following mountains (from north to s ...

. He is survived by his wife Gloria, and his children, Sally, James, Holly, Tom and Ros.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, Stan 1912 births 2010 deaths Australian rugby union players Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Military Cross Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Rugby union players from Melbourne People from St Kilda, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Australia international rugby union players 20th-century Australian sportsmen