Australian rules footballer
Australian rules footballer
| Clyde Helmer |
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 |
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| Full name |
Reginald Clyde Helmer |
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| Date of birth |
22 April 1916 |
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| Place of birth |
Mooroopna, Victoria |
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| Date of death |
24 April 1945(1945-04-24) (aged 29) |
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| Place of death |
Aitape, New Guinea |
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| Original team(s) |
Mooroopna |
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| Height |
184 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
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| Weight |
80 kg (176 lb) |
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|
| Years |
Club |
Games (Goals) |
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| 1937–1941 |
Geelong |
71 (137) |
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| 1942 |
Melbourne |
02 00(3) |
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| Total |
|
73 (140) |
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|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1942. |
|
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Reginald Clyde Helmer (22 April 1916 – 24 April 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of Nils Helmer (1882-1967), and Eva May Helmer (1887-1971), née Hill, Reginald Clyde Helmer was born at Mooroopna on 22 April 1916. He was the nephew of Reginald Valentine Hill, D.S.O.,[1] the cousin of Fred Hawking, and the uncle of Geelong footballer John Helmer.
He married Marjorie Mary Frances Gibson (1919-1983), later Mrs. Maurice Steeth, in 1944.
A forward, Helmer could torpedo punt on either foot.
Geelong (VFL)
In 1937 he played a centre half-forward in the Geelong Second XVIII team that won the Second's premiership.
In 1938, just his second league season, topped Geelong's goalkicking with 74 goals. In a game that year against Fitzroy he kicked a career best eight goals.
Interstate Team (VFL)
On 29 July 1939 he played at centre half-forward for Victoria against South Australia.
Melbourne (VFL)
He crossed to Melbourne in 1942 but could only manage two games.[2]
In 1944 he played for the South Sydney Australian Football Club in the New South Wales Football League.
Military service
During World War II Helmer was a Temporary Warrant Officer in the Australian Army and lost his life in New Guinea after a bomb he was trying to defuse exploded.
Remembered
On 5 May 1945, a minute's silence was observed in Helmer's memory before the match between the South Sydney and RAAF teams at Trumper Park Oval in Paddington, New South Wales.[3]
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