Many former professional and top-level association footballers lost their lives during World War II, either while serving in their own or other countries' armed forces, as civilian casualties of enemy action or in enemy captivity. In addition, a number of Jewish players became victims of the Nazi Holocaust. [1]
In the case of players whose countries were annexed by others or who migrated from their country of birth, they are classified under the nation of football association in which they spent most if not all of their playing careers.
Those who died as a result of the war or service in it, include:
World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, or about 3% of the estimated global population of 2.3 billion in 1940. Deaths directly caused by the war are estimated at 50–56 million, with an additional estimated 19–28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine. Civilian deaths totaled 50–55 million. Military deaths from all causes totaled 21–25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war. More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union. The following tables give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses. Statistics on the number of military wounded are included whenever available.
The Menin Gate, officially the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads that led Allied soldiers to the front line.
The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (1940), prior to the United States' entry into the war in December 1941.
David Euan Wallace, MC PC was a British Conservative politician who was an ally of Neville Chamberlain and briefly served as Minister of Transport during World War II.
John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley,, styled Lord Wodehouse from 1902 to 1932, was a British hereditary peer and Liberal politician. He was a champion polo player.
Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery is a Second World War military war grave cemetery, located in the village of Hautot-sur-Mer, 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Dieppe in Normandy, France. It contains Canadian and British soldiers killed during the Dieppe Raid on the 18/19 August 1942. This large scale daylight assault on a fortified objective was an abject failure and casualties were very heavy. Of an attacking military force of some 6,100, over 3,600 were killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner.
Major General Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd CBE, DSO and Bar, MC was an officer in the British Army and the British Indian Army during the First and Second world wars.
Dan Billany was an English novelist.
The Taukkyan War Cemetery is a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the Second World War. The cemetery is in the village of Taukkyan, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Yangon on Pyay Road. It is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley "Willy" Williams was an Australian air ace during the Second World War. He served in the Middle East and North Africa with the Royal Air Force (RAF), and was among the Allied prisoners of war (POWs) murdered by the Gestapo following "The Great Escape" in 1944. He commanded No. 450 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force for three days, before he was captured in 1942.
Major Cyril Penn Hamilton was an Australian born English soldier and sportsman. He played racquets, squash, hockey and first-class cricket and rose to the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery. Hamilton was born in Australia in 1909 and died near Keren in Italian Eritrea at the age of 31 in 1941 whilst on active service during World War II.
George Frederick "Ted" Regan was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Donald Gordon Cobden was a New Zealand All Black rugby player, No 430 in 1937. He was a wing.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Bolton Littledale DSO was a British Army officer who became a prisoner of war and successfully escaped from Colditz Castle during the Second World War but was killed in action on 1 September 1944.
Hamilton Road Cemetery is a combined municipal and military burial ground situated in the coastal town of Deal, Kent, in South East England. Opened in May 1856, it was created to provide a new burial ground for Deal at a time when its general population was expanding and when previous, often ad hoc facilities for dealing with deaths in the area no longer sufficed.
Flying Officer Jindřich "Henry" Bartoš was a Czechoslovak fighter pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain.
The Arras Flying Services Memorial Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial in the Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France. The memorial commemorates nearly 1,000 airmen from forces of the Commonwealth who were killed on the Western Front during World War I and who have no known grave. The memorial was designed by Edwin Lutyens, sculpted by William Reid Dick and unveiled by Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 31 July 1932.
American Ambulance, Great Britain (AAGB) was a humanitarian organisation founded in 1940 by a group of Americans living in London for the purpose of providing emergency vehicles and ambulance crews to the United Kingdom during World War II. The idea for the service came from Gilbert H. Carr during a meeting of The American Society in London shortly after the Dunkirk evacuation.
Alec Douglas Howie was a first-class cricketer who made one appearance for the Indian army cricket team. He died during the Second World War in the Battle of Belgium in 1940.
John Lawson Richards was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)