HONOURING OUR CASUALS HEROES
AS the nation falls silent at 11am this morning to mark Armistice Day, fans and staff of Corinthian-Casuals may well be casting their minds back to the sacrifices made by the club’s former players during World War I.
In a piece titled ‘Corinthians under Arms’, which appeared in this month’s club newsletter, vice-president David Harrison charts how 32 Corinthian players are believed to have died during the conflict, along with 72 members of their partnered club Casuals – a statistic which Harrison believes is likely to be higher than any other football club in the country.
In his article, Harrison details how 14 Corinthian players were on a steamship crossing the Atlantic for a tour of South America when war was declared in August 1914. Upon arriving in South America, four players immediately took the first boat home to join the war effort, while the remaining players had also arrived back in London by the end of the month to join the Army.
Shellfire
In a touching tribute to the players who lost their lives, Brazilian side Corinthians – as part of their historical link with the Bostik Premier club – displayed the names of the original 1914 touring party on their shirts during their exhibition match against the London club in 2015.
Harrison’s article also unearthed a number of touching and poignant stories from during the war.
For example, he details how Harold Bache, a prolific goal scorer who joined the Corinthians’ tours of USA and Canada and scored an outstanding 95 goals in 45 appearances for the club, ran through a volley of shellfire to come to the aid of fellow soldiers who had been wounded after a barn they were sheltering in was attacked. Despite surviving this terrifying ordeal, Bache was sadly killed in February 1916
Meanwhile, Bernard Vann, who played for the Casuals between 1907 and 1911, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1918 after twice being given a Military
Cross for displaying extraordinary bravery on the battlefield. Tragically just four days after being given the most prestigious award of the British honours system, Vann lost his life after being shot by a sniper at Ramicourt.
Harrison told The NLP: “A lot of our players were public school boys which meant that they were commissioned and were therefore some of the first to go over onto the front lines.
Sacrifices
“It was very moving to read about what happened to many of the former players and it is important that we always remember the great sacrifices that they made.
“As a club we try our best to remember these former players and a few years ago much of the current squad paid a visit to where the battle of the Somme took place and there was a really touching moment when goalkeeper Danny Bracken laid a wreath at the grave of fellow stopper Reginald Rogers.
“We had arranged for a bugle to be played before the minute’s silence at the game against Tonbridge Angels that was due to be played on November 10. However, that game has had to be postponed, which is a real shame.
“Nevertheless we will make sure that we keep those who lost their lives while serving their country at the forefront of our minds this weekend.”