Full name | Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly | ||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 25 November 1909 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 25 December 1943 | (aged 34)||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Concord West, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly (25 November 1909 — 25 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union international.
Born in Murwillumbah, Kelly was educated at Canterbury Boys' High School, where he learnt his rugby. [1]
Kelly, a back-row forward, debuted in Sydney first-grade rugby in 1931 with Northern Suburbs, but spent the majority of his career at Drummoyne. Between 1933 and 1939, Kelly was a regular New South Wales representative, with 28 appearances. He was capped seven times for the Wallabies from 1936 to 1938, debuting on a tour of New Zealand. [2]
Enlisting in 1940, Kelly served in World War II with an anti-tank regiment and attained the rank of sergeant. While trapped with his unit in fighting near Tobruk, he was struck by machine gun fire, which shattered most of his ribs. [3] He was held by Italian forces as a prisoner of war in Benghazi and was later moved to a Naples hospital. In July, 1943, Kelly was repatriated in a prisoner exchange and died five months later while undergoing an operation for his injuries in Sydney. [4] [5]
Full name | Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 25 November 1909 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 25 December 1943 | (aged 34)||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Concord West, NSW, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
|
Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly (25 November 1909 — 25 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union international.
Born in Murwillumbah, Kelly was educated at Canterbury Boys' High School, where he learnt his rugby. [1]
Kelly, a back-row forward, debuted in Sydney first-grade rugby in 1931 with Northern Suburbs, but spent the majority of his career at Drummoyne. Between 1933 and 1939, Kelly was a regular New South Wales representative, with 28 appearances. He was capped seven times for the Wallabies from 1936 to 1938, debuting on a tour of New Zealand. [2]
Enlisting in 1940, Kelly served in World War II with an anti-tank regiment and attained the rank of sergeant. While trapped with his unit in fighting near Tobruk, he was struck by machine gun fire, which shattered most of his ribs. [3] He was held by Italian forces as a prisoner of war in Benghazi and was later moved to a Naples hospital. In July, 1943, Kelly was repatriated in a prisoner exchange and died five months later while undergoing an operation for his injuries in Sydney. [4] [5]