Wrestling Heritage

By Graeme Cameron

A British History of Australian Wrestling
By Graeme Cameron

PART 14:  THE FORTIES: AIR FORCE WRESTLING

As noted at the conclusion of the last part of this series, for obvious reasons, no British wrestlers active on the British circuit at the time toured Australia between 1938 and 1951, nor were there any new British immigrant wrestlers. Despite what he claimed, there’s no evidence that Mick McManus ever had a match at Leichhardt Stadium. A full record of cards for that stadium during the war period is available for perusal and all the wrestlers were well known names locally or internationally. 

With the declaration of war, things changed considerably. The North Queensland circuit had closed down by 1940 and all of the suburban Sydney Stadiums by the end of 1941, with the exception of Leichhardt. They would not return after the war. From 1942 to the end of 1945, City Baths in Adelaide and Leichhardt Stadium in Sydney were the only operational stadiums in Australia, although the odd presentation appeared in various places, usually run by wrestlers serving in the Armed Forces.  

Since the late Twenties, thanks to the influence of Ted Thye, pro wrestling in Australia had become increasingly Americanised. With the almost complete absence of British and European wrestlers, that became almost totally the case. American wrestlers continued to tour until the end of 1941, resuming straight after the war. Four former holders of American versions of the world heavyweight title visited, “Wild” Bill Longson” in 1940 (the first villain to hold a world title) and after the war, Jim Londos (1946), who engaged in matches with Fred Atkins, Hungarian Sandor Szabo and the returning Dean Detton (both 1947). Names familiar to Heritage readers who toured before the war were, Chief Thunderbird, George Modrich and Leo Demetral, (the latter remaining in Australia for the duration of the war) and after the war, the original Jack Claybourne, American Ray Gunkel and Emil Koroshchenko, who settled in Sydney. 

Holding the fort locally during the war period, were “The Four Kings” George Pencheff, Tom Lurich, Fred Atkins and Billy Meeske, joined by Olympic bronze and British Empire gold medalist Eddie Scarf and two-time British Empire Games gold medalist Jack Knight. They were ably supported by Bonnie Muir, Tommy Nilan, “Tiger” Jack Higgins and Frank Hurley, along with new immigrants, India’s Jaget Singh, American Leo Jensen and Canadian British Empire Games medalist Pat Meehan. As well, New Zealand’s Hori Tiki, Lofty Blomfield, Jim Bartlett and Kia Kohe made appearances.

Making their debuts in this decade were Al Costello (1940), who would quickly become a main event wrestler and, after the war, Roy Heffernan (1948). Costello and Heffernan would go on to form the legendary Fabulous Kangaroos tag team in America. In 1949, two names well known to Heritage readers, Ray Hunter and Mike Barrett, made their debuts. 

During the war a number of wrestlers served in the Armed Forces in various home-based roles. Most were employed as PT instructors. As we have seen in previous parts of the series, Peter Guion served as a Chief Petty Officer in the navy and Pat Gallagher and Gloucester wrestler Don Taylor served in the Army, but the service in which pro wrestlers were most well represented was the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Sergeant Bern Tamplin worked at the Air Force recruiting office in Sydney while Eddie Scarf worked as an aircraft mechanic at Richmond Air Force base, 50 km Northwest of the Sydney CBD. Two wrestlers with British heritage also served in the RAAF. Here are their stories. 

TAFFY LYONS (1938-40, 1944-48)

“Taffy” (Cliff) Lyons was born in Newport, Wales in 1908 to a father who was a decorated soldier, one of generations of Lyons to be born and reside in Newport. When he was 13 years old, the family emigrated to Australia, settling in Newcastle, north of Sydney. When old enough, young Cliff returned to Wales where, following in his father’s footsteps, he served in the South Welsh Borderers, based in his hometown of Newport.  According to a newspaper article, it was while serving there that Lyons won the Royal Army Light Heavyweight wrestling championship, though there’s no evidence that this is true.

Taffy Lyons returned to Australia sometime around 1938. There are few match records for him for the period 1938-40 but the same article, written in 1941, provides three, though there are no precise dates. In Rockhampton, Lyons defeated Billy Meeske in a match billed as being for the Australian Light Heavyweight championship. He also defeated local wrestler Billy Wood (not the English one) in Tamworth (460km Northwest of Sydney) and drew with fellow Newcastle resident Leo Jensen at Newcastle Stadium. He apparently also appeared as the bearded Russian Count Lavenski, though no records could be found for this name. 

In 1941, he joined the RAAF as a PT instructor at the rank of sergeant, serving at the Williamtown base in the Newcastle suburb of Broadmeadow. He remained in this position until the end of the war. There are two match records in this period, a loss to former amateur champion Neil Whittaker at Leichhardt Stadium in September 1944, his only known appearance in Sydney. In October 1945, he defeated a fellow RAAF sergeant, Blake Bennett at the base in a bout billed as being for the light heavyweight championship of the RAAF. The only other match records are two 1947 matches, one against American Joe Kopack at Raymond Terrace (a Newcastle suburb) which descended into chaos as the guest referee, former world boxing champion Vic Patrick punched both men when, in his view, things were getting out of hand. The actual result was not mentioned. The other match was a disqualification win over another local wrestler Keylock Stetcher at Gloucester.

What Taffy Lyons did for a living after the war is unknown, but it is known that he was involved in matchmaking and promotion of wrestling cards in both Newcastle and Wollongong. 

Taffy Lyons lived his entire life in two places to which he was fiercely loyal, Newport, Wales and Newcastle, New South Wales. He died in Newcastle in 1988, aged 80.  

Opponents: Billy Meeske, Billy Wood, Leo Jensen, Neil Whittaker, Blake Bennett, Joe Kopack, Keylock Stetcher

ROCKY BROOKS (1940-41, 1942,43) 

“Rocky” (George) Brooks was a Canadian heavyweight wrestler and strongman who lived and worked in Australia from mid-1940 to the end of 1945. He makes this list because his birthplace is given as London, England. When George was a child the Brooks family emigrated to Canada, settling in Vancouver. He competed in amateur wrestling in his high school years, turning pro as an adult. While establishing himself as a pro wrestler, Brooks worked in a copper mine for the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company, qualifying as a blaster (i.e. the one who sets and detonates the explosives).

Rocky Brooks arrived in Australia with his family around June 1940, settling in the Sydney suburb of Bondi where he went into the fruit and veg business, opening two shops in the area. He claimed to have 17 years of experience, but records could only be found back to 1931so this must include his amateur years. To say he was something of a character would be an understatement. He also performed as a strongman, demonstrating his lung power by blowing into and bursting water bottles and inner tubes and his strength by hammering a nail into a piece of wood with his palm and resisting the efforts of six men to move him with a rope tied around his neck. He also worked as an animal trainer and a Hollywood stuntman and had some bit parts in movies.

The first two months of his time in Australia were spent touring Victoria and South Australia. In June 1940, Brooks lost by injury default to the giant Mormon American Brother Jonathon, and defeated Fred Atkins 2-1, both matches at Fitzroy Stadium in Melbourne. In July he defeated Atkins again by disqualification and lost again to Jonathon, both matches at Grenfell Street Stadium in Adelaide. In between those two matches, he drew with “Tiger” Jack Higgins at Fitzroy Stadium. In August, he again defeated Atkins by disqualification at Grenfell Street Stadium, next traveling to Newcastle where he drew with a promising young local star, Tom O’Grady. He spent the remainder of the year in Sydney. At Carlton Stadium, he lost yet again to Jonathon 1-2 in October, then in November defeated Tom Lurich and Swede Karl Karlsson, both by disqualification. The result of a December match against Lurich at Parramatta Stadium is unknown.

Brooks began his 1941 season in February with two bouts at Newcastle Stadium, the first a rematch with “Tiger” Jack Higgins (result unknown), the second a loss to Leo Demetral   1-2. Late in that month he reversed that last result, defeating Demetral 2-1 at the Crystal Theatre in Broken Hill. At that same venue in early March, Brooks drew with Tommy Nilan, then a week later lost to Nilan in Newcastle when he was unable to continue with the match at one fall apiece. The result of match with Tom Lurich at Carlton Stadium later that month is unknown.  Rocky Brooks then headed west again in April, meeting Higgins once more at the City Baths (result unknown), then drawing with Nilan again at the Capitol Theatre, Perth in an exhibition match for charity, this after performing his strongman routine earlier in the night. At this point his life would change again

While in Perth, he was approached to move to Western Australia permanently. After some consideration, he and his family did just that. They first settled in the remote gold mining town of Kalgoorlie. After a two-month gap, Brooks reappeared in the records in July, losing to George Pencheff by disqualification, then defeating Leo Demetral 2-1, both matches at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall.

 After 8 months, the family moved to Perth where Brooks owned and ran a poultry farm and drove a taxi. He apparently then felt the need to contribute to the war effort and joined the RAAF, also working as a physical training instructor at the rank of sergeant. While he had effectively retired from wrestling, he did appear in two more matches in the next two years. In January 1942, just before moving to Perth, he met local wrestler Percy Lester at the Broken Hill Cabaret, which, confusingly, was in Kalgoorlie, not Broken Hill. The result of this match is unknown. A year later, he met Con Ricardo at the Luxor Theatre in Perth. Again, the result is unknown. This was the final match record for Rocky Brooks.

At the end of the war, the Brooks family returned to Canada, where Rocky Brooks took a position with the mining company he had previously worked for as a land agent, negotiating mining rights with landowners. He remained in Canada for the rest of his life. The date of his death is not known.

It has to be said that Rocky Brooks was most generous with his time while in Australia, performing his strongman act whenever asked for charity events as well as appearing in a few exhibition matches that were also for charity. With his mining background, he was particularly popular in mining towns such as Newcastle, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie.

Opponents: Brother Jonathon, Fred Atkins, “Tiger” Jack Higgins, Tom O’Grady, Tom Lurich, Karl Karlsson, Leo Demetral, Tommy Nilan, George Pencheff, Percy Lester, Con Ricardo

Next Time: The Fifties: P & O Wrestling

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