Celebrating 175 years - Melbourne Cricket Club

FUNCTION NEWS
ABOVE: MCC president Paul Sheahan (right) and committeeman Charles Sitch (left) with
Colonel Marcus Fielding, guest speaker at a club function held in November to mark the 70th
anniversary of the MCG’s occupation by US forces.
MCG’s military
ties remembered
on Thanksgiving
The MCG has long had a connection
with the armed forces, initially hosting
matches against soldiers stationed in
the new colony and staging military concerts
there.
Later, the ground was the venue for
conscription rallies during the First World
War and as the site of Victoria’s first war
memorial, erected in Yarra Park in 1917.
But that was small beer compared with the
impact on the ground when it was
commandeered as a military base for four
years from 1942 to 1946 when more than
200,000 Australian and American servicemen
were billetted there.
Such an epic period was worthy of
remembrance and through the agency of
MCC committeeman Charles Sitch a Long
Room dinner was arranged on Thanksgiving
– November 22 – to mark the 70th
anniversary of the ground’s occupation by US
forces.
Some atmospherics were provided by the
MCC Library which mounted displays from
the Bob Shields Collection of wartime
photographs and material from the family of
Colonel W.H. Murphy, the man responsible
for the MCG being known as Camp Murphy
when personnel from the United States Army
Air Forces were in residence in 1942.
Guest speaker was Colonel Marcus
Fielding, president of Military History and
Heritage Victoria and author of Red Zone
Baghdad, an account of his experiences in
Iraq in 2008.
The subject of Colonel Fielding’s address
was the US victory on Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands where, despite being
undermanned and suffering heavy casualties
at the hands of the Japanese, the Americans
inflicted one of the first and most decisive
reverses in the Pacific theatre.
On December 9, the battle-weary men of
the 1st Marine Division were pulled out of the
action and sent to Melbourne for R&R,
arriving at the MCG in January 1943. They
enjoyed tremendous hospitality in “the best
liberty port in the world” and forged lasting
relationships with many local families.
A flag flown by the US Marines on
Guadalcanal eventually found its way to the
club in 2004 and is on display in the MCC
Museum.
MCG captures the
Australian spirit
Les Carlyon had the audience in the
palm of his hand right from the
start. “I can’t think of a more
appropriate place to celebrate Australia
Day than the MCG,” said the
distinguished journalist and author who
was guest speaker at a Long Room
luncheon on January 26.
After reciting a list of famous names to
have appeared at the ground over the
years, the former Herald Sun editor-inchief
and author of Gallipoli, The Great
War and Master, a personal portrait of
Bart Cummings, noted that the MCG “has
always been an egalitarian place.”
“Everyone comes here in good times
and bad and everyone has memories of it.
It links one generation to another…..and
not many places capture so well what we
can call the Australian spirit.”
Like most who are masters of their
craft, the Carlyon delivery seemed
effortless with short, evocative words,
clear of meaning and often recalling the
pre-federation era that he thought
fashioned the Aussie character. It was
good, strong think music without any
violins or flag waving.
He spoke of bedrock values that were
rooted in the 19th century and how we
took the best parts of British law pre-1901
and made positive amendments that
reflected our view of things. “Ahead of
most, we gave women the vote, paid our
parliamentarians and established a
minimum wage, radical stuff in those days.
“We were ahead of the world in social
welfare and we developed an appreciation
of the self-made man, and of a classless
society. Australians are very good at
looking after each other and this is how
the term mateship evolved.”
He said what makes Australia great is
its mix of the old and the new. “We should
celebrate today’s heroes but don’t forget
the great people of yesterday.”
Carlyon’s inspiring address was
preceded by some brilliant entertainment
from tenor Robert Barbaro and pianist
Amir Farid, testimony to the high quality of
this annual luncheon that has been a
worthy initiative of the MCC guides group.
March 2013
MCC NEWS
17