Godfrey Goldin

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Godfrey Goldin
Personal information
Full name Godfrey Robert Goldin
Date of birth (1919-06-10)10 June 1919
Place of birth Abbotsford, Victoria
Date of death 7 February 1943(1943-02-07) (aged 23)
Place of death Territory of New Guinea
Original team(s) Coburg Amateurs
Position(s) Rover
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1939 Essendon 8 (6)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1939.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Godfrey Robert Goldin (10 June 1919 – 7 February 1943) was a champion schoolboy Australian rules footballer who also played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]

He died of wounds sustained in action while serving with the Second AIF in New Guinea during World War II.

Family[edit]

The son of Robert Vane Goldin (1886-1969),[2][3] and Ellen Christina Goldin (1890-1973), née Graham, Godfrey Robert Goldin was born on 10 June 1919.

He was engaged to Grace Lillian Osborne in September 1942.[4] They never married.[5]

His younger brother, Allan "Dick" Goldin, played 104 games in six seasons (1947 to 1952) for the Preston Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).[6][7] He later coached Preston Seconds.[8]

Football[edit]

East Coburg State School[edit]

He was a champion schoolboy footballer, he played for the East Coburg State School team (coached by Jack Baggott,[9] and represented Victoria in the 1933 Inter-State Schoolboys' Australian Rules Carnival in Brisbane.[10]

Coburg Amateurs Football Club (VAFA)[edit]

He played for the Coburg Amateurs team that won the D Grade premiership in 1936.

Essendon (VFL)[edit]

Recruited by Essendon in 1937, he played a season with Essendon's Second XVIII before making his debut against North Melbourne on 27 May 1939.[11]

With his early preseason training restricted by illness and injury,[12] Goldin played several games with the Second XVIII in 1940.

Cricket[edit]

He played for Preston Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.[13]

Military service[edit]

He enlisted in the Second AIF on 11 March 1941.

Death[edit]

Having served in the North Africa, he died in New Guinea on 7 February 1943 of wounds he had sustained fighting against the Japanese in the Battle of Wau.[14][15]

He was buried at the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

  • Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
  • Main, J. & Allen, D., "Goldin, Godfrey", pp.254-257 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. ISBN 1-74095-010-0
  • Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
  • World War Two Nominal Roll: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038), Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  • Roll of Honour: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038), Australian War Memorial.
  • Roll of Honour Circular: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • Victorians in Casualty List: Australia and The Islands: Wounded in Action and Placed on the Dangerously Ill List, The Argus, (Friday, 19 February 1943), p.4.
  • Victorians in Army Casualty List: Australia and The Islands: Previously Reported Wounded in Action, Now Reported Died of Wounds, The Argus, (Thursday, 4 March 1943), p.5.

External links[edit]