RAF COSFORD'S museum has, as regular readers will know, been looking into the force's footballing history over recent months; specifically the Second World War years, when many of the country's top players found themselves representing the Air Force rather than a club team.
Philip Clayton, the museum's Education Officer, has already shared with the Bugle some of the fascinating items which have been put his way from a variety of sources — not least Wolverhampton Wanderers own collection — but more material is flowing in constantly, and leading Philip to believe that far from being a ramshackle business, wartime football was highly organised.
"I've never seen an offiicial fixture list," he told the Bugle, "it's always come across as ad hoc — but all this evidence suggests it was far from it."
And no wonder, because some very wellknown names seem to have been pulling the strings during those dark days.
Stanley Rous was Secretary of the Football Association at Lancaster Gate in London from 1934 to 1962, and seems to have been very much involved in keeping the game alive during the war. With most of the top players serving with either the RAF, Royal Navy or Army, it would have made sense to encourage them to turn out whenever possible, representing their own bases or, for the very best players, their respective forces in interservice competitions.
Rous, later knighted, went on to become president of FIFA.
But throughout the war, with the league suspended and international football a distant memory, Rous was more concerned with organising armed forces football.
Records of the time seem to be few and far between, but thanks to former Wolves and England keeper Bert Williams, we can get an insight into that period.
Bert has famously kept photographs, cuttings, letters, even menus from his travels abroad, and all these years on they make a fascinating and vital resource.
Letter One letter in particular, sent from Stanley Rous to Bert in July 1945, demonstrates that even though the war was over, the cream of the country's players were still serving their country and would be for some time, but that Rous fully intended to bring international football back onto the agenda as soon as possible. The letter is addressed to Sergeant B.F. Williams, at RAF Station, Wing, near Leighton Buzzard.
'Dear Williams,' he begins, 'I am writing to ask your acceptance of the enclosed watch which I brought for you from Switzerland. We were all sorry that it was not possible to include you in the party and I hope that the watch will keep good time and remind you that on some future occasion we hope that we shall be able to take you on a visit to that very remarkable country.
'The enclosed leaflet gives details of the exceptional use to which the watch, one of the latest chronometers invented in Switzerland, may be put.
'With kind regards, Yours sincerely, S.F.
Rous.' It seems, Philip Clayton tells us, that the RAF team was still in place in 1946, and began to engage in international mathces within months of the war being over.
Clearly the wartime football setup was seen as too valuable to disband as soon as hostilities ceased, and with the players the RAF had at their disposal, it’s no wonder. They must have bonded well in the previous years, and with their service still having some time to run, no one would have been keen to break up such a great side.
A programme from May 1945, the very end of the war, shows what a great line-up the RAF could put together. Their Touring XI, who turned out at Borough Briggs, Elgin FC's home ground, included Bert Williams in goal, and a formidable front line of Stanley Matthews, Sudnerland's Raich Carter, Arsenal's Ted Drake and Blackpool's Stan Mortensen; every one of them an England international.
There was also Frank Soo of Stoke, son of a Chinese sailor and an English mother, one of the very first ethnic minority players to reach the top level. And one man who would never be able to link up with the rest of the team in an international game was Scot George Paterson, Scottish cup-winner and twice-winner of the league with Celtic.
The RAF were a top notch, yet unique side, surely capable of taking on any team the world could offer, and as soon as the war was over they began to engage in international games. Philip has found evidence of several games abroad, including one in Portugal in 1946, in aid of British and Portuguese charities.
He has a feeling that it was as much about national morale as that of the forces themselves; almost a public relations exercise for the world stage.
On 20th January 1945, with the war gradually drawing to a close, there took place a game between the RAF XI and the FA XI, and tellingly, the RAF side looked a far more formidable force, with Bert, Frank Soo, Mortensen and Matthews in the line-up.
Philip has begun to believe that the RAF were the main driving force behind football during the war years, responsible in a very real sense for keeping the game alive, not least by arranging regular matches for most of the country's top players.
But he is always looking for more information, photographs, memorabilia and recollections of anyone who remembers seeing games from those times.
If you have any items or memories you think the RAF Museum would be interested in, you can either contact the Bugle, or the museum direct on: 01902 376200. You can email them at www.rafmuseum.org/cos ford/wolvesresearch, or write to: Philip Clayton, Access and Learning, RAF Museum Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 8UP.
