page_title: Laurie Nash
section_title: War service
hierarchical_section_title: Laurie Nash / War service
caption_attribution_description: English: This image shows a photograph of Laurie Nash, taken in 1943. Under Australian law, all photographs taken in Australia before 1955 are in the public domain. This image is in the public domain under both Australian copyright law and US copyright law. Accessed from http://cas.awm.gov.au/pls/PRD/glbx.accept_login?screen_name=cas_search_pkg.pr_search_by_link&amp;screen_parms=acid~ps_query_type=accnum~ps_query=137940~ps_referrer=oai:awm:262196/763126&amp;screen_type=BOTTOM
context_page_description: Laurence John "Laurie" Nash was a Test cricketer and Australian rules footballer. An inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Nash was a member of South Melbourne's 1933 premiership team, captained South Melbourne in 1937 and was the team's leading goal kicker in 1937 and 1945. In cricket, Nash was a fast bowler and hard hitting lower order batsman who played two Test matches for Australia, taking 10 wickets at 12.80 runs per wicket, and scoring 30 runs at a batting average of 15.
  The son of a leading Australian rules footballer of the early twentieth century who had also played cricket against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club in 1921, Nash was a star sportsman as a boy. Following the family's relocation from Victoria to Tasmania, he began to make a name for himself as both a footballer and a cricketer, and became both one of the earliest professional club cricketers in Australia and one of the first fully professional Australian rules footballers. Nash made his Test cricket debut in 1932, against South Africa and his Victorian Football League debut in 1933.
context_section_description: Nash did not rush to enlist in the Australian armed forces on the outbreak of war in 1939. While there was no public statement from Nash, it is thought that with a family to support and an Irish Catholic anti-pathy to the British, Nash did not feel an urgency to fight. However, following the commencement of the war against Japan, Nash enlisted on 2 February 1942.
  Realising the potential public relations coup in having a star sportsman enlist, officers recommended that Nash be seconded to the Army School of Physical Training (where Don Bradman had been given a commission), which offered greater pay and rank and ensured that Nash would not be posted overseas, away from family. Additionally, a medical examination detected osteoarthritis in both his knees, derived from the number of injuries he sustained throughout his footballing career. Nash refused, stating that he did not wish to be treated differently from ordinary recruits, and enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, gaining the rank of Trooper.
  Nash was posted to the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, which had seen action in the Syria-Lebanon and the Netherlands East Indies campaigns. The 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion was sent to the South West Pacific theatre, supporting the 7th Division in the New Guinea campaign and fought in the Finisterre Range campaign in the advance to Lae.
  Throughout his tour of duty Nash had been wary of preferential treatment towards him due to his fame and opposed any attempts to promote him, which he believed he did not deserve. However, a jeep crash resulted in further injury to Nash's knees and ultimately led to a medical discharge from the Army on 18 February 1944. Following his return to Australia, Nash sold War Bonds and appeared at war-related charity functions, including one where he raised an additional £100 by singing to the large crowd.
  Although Nash would claim that he was never prouder than when he was a soldier, always wore his Returned Services League (RSL) badge and eagerly attended reunions of the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, he never marched on Anzac Day or applied for the campaign medals for which he was eligible.
caption: Trooper Nash on recreation leave during World War II.
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