Bert Grace

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Bert Grace
DFC
Full nameBert Augustus Grace
Date of birth(1912-04-29)29 April 1912
Place of birth Sydney, NSW, Australia
Date of death28 March 1982(1982-03-28) (aged 69)
Place of death Vaucluse, NSW, Australia
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight178 lb (81 kg)
School Cranbrook School
Occupation(s)Retail executive
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre / Wing
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1933 Australia

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Bert Augustus Grace DFC (29 April 1912 — 28 March 1982), also known as Mick Grace, was an Australian retail executive and international rugby union player. [1] [2]

Biography

Born in Sydney, Grace was the only son of Albert Edward Grace, co-founder of the Grace Bros department store chain. [3]

Grace played rugby during his time at the Cranbrook School and afterwards competed as a centre for Sydney club Eastern Suburbs, winning a premiership in 1931. Following impressive performances for NSW in the 1932 Wallabies trials, Grace won an international call up for the 1933 tour of South Africa, selected to play on the right wing. He featured in five of the first eight tour matches in the lead up to the first Test, but his positional rival Doug McLean was preferred to play against the Springboks. By the end of the trip, Grace had played in ten tour matches, scoring four tries. [3]

After the death of his father in 1938, Grace took over as chairman of Grace Bros. He flew with a Kittyhawk fighter squadron of the RAAF No. 82 Squadron during the war and was promoted to squadron leader. In 1944, Grace was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his war service. He continued to head Grace Bros up until his death in 1982. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Union Tourist In Hospital". The Labor Daily . 12 October 1932. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ Davies, Will (1 September 2010). "The Roar of the Kittyhawk". Battle for Australia commemoration. The History Channel.
  3. 1 2 "Bert Augustus ('Mick') Grace". Classic Wallabies.
  4. ↑ "OBITUARY Grace Bros head dies, aged 69". The Canberra Times . 30 March 1982. p. 12 – via National Library of Australia.
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