| Godfrey Goldin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Godfrey Robert Goldin | ||
| Date of birth | 10 June 1919 | ||
| Place of birth | Abbotsford, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 7 February 1943 (aged 23) | ||
| Place of death | Territory of New Guinea | ||
| Original team(s) | Coburg Amateurs | ||
| Position(s) | Rover | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1939 | Essendon | 8 (6) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1939. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Godfrey Robert Goldin (10 June 1919 – 7 February 1943) was a champion schoolboy Australian rules footballer who also played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]
He died of wounds sustained in action while serving with the Second AIF in New Guinea during World War II.
The son of Robert Vane Goldin (1886-1969),[2][3] and Ellen Christina Goldin (1890-1973), née Graham, Godfrey Robert Goldin was born on 10 June 1919.
He was engaged to Grace Lillian Osborne in September 1942.[4] They never married.[5]
His younger brother, Allan "Dick" Goldin, played 104 games in six seasons (1947 to 1952) for the Preston Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).[6][7] He later coached Preston Seconds.[8]
He was a champion schoolboy footballer, he played for the East Coburg State School team (coached by Jack Baggott,[9] and represented Victoria in the 1933 Inter-State Schoolboys' Australian Rules Carnival in Brisbane.[10]
He played for the Coburg Amateurs team that won the D Grade premiership in 1936.
Recruited by Essendon in 1937, he played a season with Essendon's Second XVIII before making his debut against North Melbourne on 27 May 1939.[11]
With his early preseason training restricted by illness and injury,[12] Goldin played several games with the Second XVIII in 1940.
He played for Preston Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.[13]
He enlisted in the Second AIF on 11 March 1941.
Having served in the North Africa, he died in New Guinea on 7 February 1943 of wounds he had sustained fighting against the Japanese in the Battle of Wau.[14][15]
He was buried at the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.