Page 7 - Deal Round Up December 2020

Footballers Played In Exhibition Matches To Support The War Effort
As a professional footballer during the 1930s, Ted
Drake played football for Southampton and Arsenal.
In September 1944, he was part of an FA Services
XI which visited Paris, where they defeated a French
team 5-0 and then travelled to Brussels where they
beat a Belgian team 3-0. The latter match took place
very soon after the liberation and the terraces had
to be cleared of mines before spectators could be
admitted.
Other Sports During The Second World War
In 1945 George Orwell wrote that serious sport was
‘war minus the shooting’. He argued that sport was
not a means of promoting peace between nations but was more likely to cause tensions than
solve them.
Three years after Orwell’s article was published, Britain hosted the Olympic Games in London.
The 1948 ‘Austerity Olympics’ took place in a world still recovering from the Second World War.
Neither Germany nor Japan was invited to participate. The Soviet Union was invited but chose
not to send competitors. Despite these problems, the Games were a huge success and free
from controversy or ill-feeling among the competing nations.
Other Olympic Games have not been so peaceful. In 1936 Germany’s Nazi government used
the Berlin Olympics to promote their regime. During the 1972 Munich Olympics, 11 Israeli
athletes and coaches were killed by a Palestinian terrorist group. Past Games have also been
marred by boycotts.
The Royal Navy During The Second World War
Officers of HMS KENT (pictured below) enjoying a free for all game of deck hockey under
the shadow of the cruiser’s 8 inch guns. Whenever possible the game is played for exercise
each afternoon both at sea and in port. In 1999 the Olympic Truce Foundation was set up to
promote international peacemaking efforts, reviving a tradition from ancient Greece in which
wars were suspended during the Games.
In war-torn countries, sport can sometimes
bring people together and help build lasting
peace. In 2002 a football match held in
Afghanistan’s national stadium - used by the
Taliban regime for executions - was a positive
symbol of change.
During the two world wars, many great
athletes, sportsmen and women were killed or
injured, either through serving in the armed
forces or as civilian casualties. These conflicts
also caused serious disruption to professional
sporting organisations in Britain and throughout
the world. However, sport still remained a vital
form of recreation and entertainment for both
civilians and service personnel.

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