Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Listening Post - first two decades due for release


In the spirit of the Olympics, we thought we would focus on one of our former members and Olympian, Mr John Winter.  John Winter served in the RAAF during WWII and was a member of Bridgetown, Harvey, and Como sub branches.

Athlete John Winter winning the high jump event at the London Olympic Games, August 1948.
In 1948, John represented Australia at the London Olympics in High Jump.  A graduate of Scotch College, John was not one of the favourites in the competition but managed to surprise his opponents eventually taking away the Gold.  In competition, John was recognised for his consistency, with his successful jumps being between 1.96m and 1.98m.
 
John Winter was the first West Australian to bring home a gold medal and went on to defend his title in the Auckland Empire Games in 1950.  John was inducted into the WA Hall of Champions in 1985 and passed away in 2007.

In the August 1926 edition of the Listening Post (due to be released online on Friday), there begins an interesting series of articles written by Captain C R Collins, supervisor of physical training for the Australian Military Forces.  Captain Collins explores the role of sport on the development of the Australian National character and goes on to provide a great level of detail on the history of the Olympic Games themselves from ancient Greece.
 
All issues of the Listening Post from the 1920s and 1930s will be available from Friday the 3rd of August at www.rslcentenary.org.au

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