Category Archives: Services

Rugby, Resistance and the RAF

Posted on August 19, 2019 by

After more than four years of Nazi occupation Paris was finally liberated on the 25th August 1944. Central to the French struggle had been their underground resistance movement and the air campaign of the Royal Air Force. In the aftermath representatives of both met at Parc du Princes for a unique game of rugby.
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After the War: The Victory Internationals, 1945-46

Posted on June 10, 2019 by

With the onset of the Second World War, official international rugby was put on hiatus in 1939. After the war ended in 1945, there was one season before fixtures officially resumed and it was in this period that the Victory Internationals were played to fill the void… Continue reading →

Posted in International Players, Lest We Forget, Services | 1 Comment

Remembering Bob Weighill

Posted on June 6, 2019 by

Remembering Bob Weighill, the England captain who helped pave the way for the Normandy landings… Continue reading →

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The 1919 Rugby World Cup Final…

Posted on April 16, 2019 by

A century ago, in this deciding clash for George V’s King’s Cup, could the Mother Country reverse their earlier defeat by New Zealand, or would the men from 12,000 miles away maintain their edge and build on the winning reputation they and their countrymen had built over the previous fifteen years? Continue reading →

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Play-offs loom in the 1919 King’s Cup…

Posted on April 9, 2019 by

The Services teams from Down Under finally clashed at Bradford after a snow-postponement, and the against-the-odds Aussie win helped the Mother Country in their hopes of forcing a play-off for the 1919 Kings Cup… Continue reading →

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1919 King’s Cup tournament draws towards its climax…

Posted on April 5, 2019 by

As the King’s Cup tournament of 1919 drew towards its climax, the Mother Country and New Zealand travelled north of the border to Edinburgh’s Inverleith, for what turned out to be a terrific foretaste of the eventual final and produced the ‘Storey’ of the day… Continue reading →

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The RAF – and “Taffy” – shot down on St David’s Day…

Posted on March 1, 2019 by

In the ‘King’s Cup’ opening encounter the fledgling Royal Air Force outfit, with the last- minute addition of an amazing Air Force character, met a strong New Zealand Services XV at a windblown Swansea on St David’s Day 1919… Continue reading →

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