Harry Comte

William Henry James Comte (10 March 1909 – 30 May 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and Sandringham in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) during the 1930s.

Harry Comte
Personal information
Full name William Henry James Comte
Date of birth (1909-03-10)10 March 1909
Place of birth Moama, New South Wales
Date of death 30 May 1945(1945-05-30) (aged 36)
Place of death Tarakan Island, Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies
Original team(s) Echuca
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 71 kg (157 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1930–1937 St Kilda 104 (55)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1937.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He fought in World War II with the 2/24th Battalion, Second A.I.F., and died of wounds sustained in action during the 1945 Battle of Tarakan.

Family

The second son of William Thomas Comte (1881–????), and Matilda Comte (1884–1943), née Flowers,[1] William Henry James Comte was born at Moama, in New South Wales on 10 March 1909.

He married Ruby Irene "Connie" Curtis (later, Mrs Jack Shearer) on 31 May 1941.[2] They had one son: John Henry Comte (1942–2018).

Football
Harry Comte in action against Carlton's Ansell Clarke, with St Kilda's Stan Lloyd shepherding (1935)

Echuca (BFL)

Recruited from the Moama Junior Football Club, he played for the Echuca Football Club (coached by ex-Fitzroy footballer Steve Donnellan) in the Bendigo Football League for three seasons (1927–1929).[3]

He was the club's best and fairest in his first year at the club, and played a number of games over those three seasons for combined Bendigo League teams.[4]

St Kilda (VFL)

Comte usually played as a rover or in defence. He won St Kilda's best and fairest in 1933.

Sandringham (VFA)

Cleared from St Kilda to Sandringham on 13 April 1938,[5] he was only able to play 17 matches over the two years he was with Sandringham (1938–1939), due to the knee injuries that had ended his career at St Kilda.

Military service

He enlisted for service with the Second AIF and served with the 2/24 Australian Infantry Battalion.

Death

He died at Tarakan Island on 30 May 1945 of wounds he sustained in action on 29 May 1945, and was buried at the Labuan War Cemetery.[6][7]

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See also
  • List of Victorian Football League players who died in active service

Footnotes
  1. Funerals: Late Mrs Matilda Comte, The Riverine Herald, (Friday, 16 July 1943), p. 1.
  2. Today's Marriages: Comte—Curtis, The Herald, (Saturday, 31 May 1941), p. 21.
  3. The Late Harry Comte; A Great Footballer and Grand Sportsman, The Riverine Herald, (Monday, 16 July 1945), p. 2.
  4. Main & Allen 2002, p. 224.
  5. League Men Cleared, The Argus, [Thursday, 14 April 1938), p. 20.
  6. Deaths: Comte, The Age, (Tuesday, 5 June 1945), p. 6; Deaths: Comte, The Riverine Herald, (Monday, 11 June 1945), p. 2.
  7. Former St. Kilda Footballer Killed, The Herald, (Tuesday, 5 June 1945), p. 3; The Last Post, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 16 June 1945), p. 3.

References
  • Main, Jim; Allen, David (2002). Fallen: The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War. Melbourne: Crown Content. pp. 224–226. ISBN 978-1-74095-010-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • World War Two Service Record: Private William Henry James Comte (VX102248), National Archives of Australia.
  • Roll of Honour: Private William Henry James Comte (VX102248), Australian War Memorial.
  • Australian Army Casualty List: Victoria: Overseas: Died of Wounds, The Argus, (Wednesday, 27 June 1945), p. 4.
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