Stan
Bisset - Kokoda Wallaby
Author: Andrew James
Reviewed by Michael von Berg MC
Stan Bisset was a real hero, both in battle on the rugby
pitch and in desperate armed combat against the Japanese
during the Second World War.
As a member of the ill-fated 1939 Wallaby touring team
to England, he was a rugby legend. In the Middle East
and on the Kokoda Track, he was one of Australia’s most
distinguished and heroic combatants. But above all else,
he personified so many attributes of the Australian;
moral and physical courage, compassion, selflessness,
independence, loyalty, resourcefulness, devotion and
humour.
Stan Bisset MC, OAM (MID) remarkable life story is told
by former Australian soldier and Afghanistan veteran
Andrew James. This is a truly inspiring book that
crosses generations.
▼
I first met Stan Bisset during my time as
captain/coach of the Powerhouse Rugby Club
in Melbourne in the early seventies and I
was both humbled and honoured to be asked by
my old club to launch this wonderful book at
the club rooms on Lake Albert on the 30th of
November 2011. Stan was a diminutive and
quietly spoken man but when he spoke you
listened. Not one to talk about his
exploits, it wasn’t until I read this book
that I realised that I had been fortunate to
have had the opportunity to meet and shake
hands with such an incredible man.
This is not just a book about rugby and war, both in
the Middle East and Kokoda. It’s much more
than that. It’s the life story and journey
of a wonderful athlete and soldier who
overcame adversity both in sport and war. We
all know how difficult it is to be selected
for the Wallabies from Victoria and in 1939
where the game really was Sydney centric it
was almost an impossibility yet Stan made it
along with two other Powerhouse Rugby Club
players, Andy Barr and Max Carpenter. Whilst
the Wallabies were preparing for their
matches in England in 1939, war was
declared, and the team recalled. The team
members could either enlist in the UK forces
or come back to Australia to enlist which is
what Stan chose to do.
Those that have played not just rugby but any sport
will appreciate Stan’s total dedication to
his sport where he excelled in the then VFL
before turning to rugby. Those that have
experienced the horrors of war and those
that abhor it will equally appreciate the
pain and the suffering that Stan went
through on Kokoda, none more so than when
his beloved elder brother died in his arms
on Kokoda at 0400 hrs on the 30th August
1942. It’s bad enough losing a mate but to
lose your brother who you admired and looked
up to, take his last breathe in your arms is
heart wrenching stuff.
This book is what I would describe as an “easy read”
and that is not meant to denigrate the
terrific job by the author Andrew James. It
just seems to flow so easily from Stan’s
young days, his rugby and sporting feats,
his war experiences, his post war life and
his last enjoyable days in the sun in
Queensland, where the Australian Rugby Union
awarded Stan his Wallaby Cap in 2002 at the
Gabba stadium for a “Australia XV” match
against the Springboks in 1937 which was
granted belated Test status.
I strongly recommend this book to any aspiring athlete
and anyone who is in a leadership or
aspiring leadership role. It should be
compulsory reading for students at Duntroon,
the Australian Defence Force Academy and
Junior Leaders Course at the Infantry
Centre. Leadership must come from within the
very depths of the human spirit and the
qualities, characteristics and nuances of
leadership evident in this book are unable
to be adequately portrayed in any leadership
pamphlet or the sterile and sometimes
contrived environment of a class room making
this book an essential read.
Mike von Berg
3rd January 2012
A
postscript to this review is the six
degrees of separation where
Max Carpenter the third member of
the Powerhouse Club to be selected for the
Wallabies in 1939 was the NSW Army
inter-services coach in 1963 and Major
General Peter Arnison AC CVO
the then Governor of Queensland who
officiated at the investiture of Stan
Bisset with the Order of Australia,
in Brisbane in June 2000, was in that team
along with yours truly and
other well known Army rugby suspects.
In those days the numbers started at 15 for the tight
head prop and Peter Arnison can be seen
wearing number 13 as the loose head prop
(Graham Walker in 14) and although the head
shot is not clear those that have played
with Peter would immediately recognise his
generous posterior. The little fat bloke at
the end trying to get the ball is me.
.
MvB
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