1934 British Empire Games

The 1934 British Empire Games was the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events were in Manchester. Seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State (the only Games in which they participated, although an all-Ireland team competed at the 1930 Games).

II British Empire Games

Host city	London, England
Nations	17
Athletes	500
Events	68
Opening	4 August 1934
Closing	11 August 1934
Opened by	George V
Athlete's Oath	Robert Howland
Main venue	White City Stadium
← I III →

The 1934 Games had been originally awarded to Johannesburg, South Africa, but the change of venue to London was made due to concerns regarding the treatment of black and Asian athletes by South African officials and fans.^[1]

Six sports were featured in the Games: athletics in White City Stadium; boxing, wrestling, and aquatics (swimming and diving) in the Empire Pool and Arena, Wembley; cycling in Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester; and lawn bowls at Paddington and Temple.^[2] Events for women athletes included a debut in athletics; the previous games had women's events only in swimming and diving.

Participating teams

 

Countries that participated

(Teams participating for the first time in bold).

•   Australia
•   Bermuda
•   British Guiana
•   Canada
•   England
•   Hong Kong
•   India
•   Irish Free State*
•   Jamaica
•   New Zealand
•   Newfoundland
•   Northern Ireland*
•   Scotland
•   South Africa
•   Southern Rhodesia
•   Trinidad and Tobago
•   Wales

*The affiliation of Irish athletes at these games is unclear, see Ireland at the British Empire Games § 1934 games

Medals by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England*	29	20	24	73
2	Canada	17	25	9	51
3	Australia	8	4	2	14
4	South Africa	7	10	5	22
5	Scotland	5	4	17	26
6	New Zealand	1	0	2	3
7	British Guiana	1	0	0	1
8	Wales	0	3	3	6
9	Northern Ireland	0	1	2	3
10	Jamaica	0	1	1	2
11	Southern Rhodesia	0	0	2	2
12	India	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)		68	68	68	204

Medals by event

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1934 British Empire Games

Boxing

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight	Pat Palmer (ENG)	Maxie Berger (CAN)	Jackie Pottinger (WAL)
Bantamweight	Eddie Ryan (ENG)	Albert Barnes (WAL)	Thomas Wells (SCO)
Featherweight	Charles Catterall (SAF)	J. D. Jones (WAL)	William Fulton (RHO)
Lightweight	Leonard Cook (AUS)	Frank Taylor (WAL)	Harry Moy (ENG)
Welterweight	Dave McCleave (ENG)	Dick Barton (SAF)	William Duncan (NIR)
Middleweight	Alf Shawyer (ENG)	Leonard Wadsworth (CAN)	Jimmy Magill (NIR)
Light heavyweight	George Brennan (ENG)	George Holton (SCO)	Robey Leibbrandt (SAF)
Heavyweight	Pat Floyd (ENG)	Jan van Rensburg (SAF)	David Douglas-Hamilton (SCO)

Cycling

Track

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Time Trial	Dunc Gray (AUS)	1:16.4	Bob McLeod (CAN)	1:18.0	Ted Clayton (SAF)	1:18.4
Sprint 1000 yd	Ernest Higgins (ENG)		Horace Pethybridge (AUS)		Ted Clayton (SAF)
10 mile Scratch	Bob McLeod (CAN)	24:26.2	Ted Clayton (SAF)		William Harvell (ENG)

Diving

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	John Brisco Ray (ENG)	117.12	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	110.50	Harry Class (CAN)	106.57
10 m platform	Tommy Mather (ENG)	83.83	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	83.63	Louis Marchant (ENG)	70.64

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	Judith Moss (CAN)	62.27	Lesley Thompson (AUS)	60.49	Doris Ogilvie (CAN)	57.00
10 m platform	Dot Macready (ENG)	30.74	Lesley Thompson (AUS)	27.64	Cecily Cousens (ENG)	27.36

Lawn bowls

Main article: Lawn bowls at the 1934 British Empire Games

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Singles (details)	Robert Sprot (SCO)	William McDonald (CAN)	Charles Abbott (SAF)
Pairs (details)	Tommy Hills and George Wright (ENG)	William Hutchinson and Alfred Langford (CAN)	Thomas Davies and Stan Weaver (WAL)
Rinks (details)	England Fred Biggin Ernie Gudgeon Percy Tomlinson Robert Slater	Northern Ireland Percy Watson Charlie Clawson George Watson Cecil Curran	Scotland William Lowe Charles Tait James Morrison James Brown

Swimming

Men's

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yd freestyle	George Burleigh (CAN)	55.0	George Larson (CAN)	55.6	Noel Crump (NZL)	56.2
440 yd freestyle	Noel Ryan (AUS)	5:03.0	Norman Wainwright (ENG)	5:07.8	Bob Pirie (CAN)	5:14.8
1500 yd freestyle	Noel Ryan (AUS)	18:25.4	Bob Pirie (CAN)	18:28.4	Norman Wainwright (ENG)	18:33.2
100 yd backstroke	Willie Francis (SCO)	01:05.2	John Besford (ENG)	1:05.6	Ben Gazell (CAN)	1:06.6
200 yd breaststroke	Norman Hamilton (SCO)	2:41.4	William McCarty (JAM)	2:42.4	Bill Puddy (CAN)	2:42.8
4×200 yd freestyle relay	Canada George Larson George Burleigh Robert Hooper Bob Pirie	8:40.6	England Mostyn Ffrench-Williams Norman Wainwright Reginald Sutton Bob Leivers	8:52.8	Scotland George Anderson Henry Cunningham Merilees Chassels William Burns	9:23.4
3×110 yd medley relay	Canada Ben Gazell George Burleigh Albert Puddy	3:11.2	Scotland Merilees Chassels Norman Hamilton Willie Francis	3:15.2	England Arthur Summers John Besford Mostyn Ffrench-Williams	3:16.0

Women's

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yd freestyle	Phyllis Dewar (CAN)	1:03.0	Irene Pirie (CAN)	1:03.6	Jean McDowell (SCO)	1:05.8
440 yd freestyle	Phyllis Dewar (CAN)	5:45.6	Jenny Maakal (SAF)	5:53.0	Irene Pirie (CAN)	5:54.4
100 yd backstroke	Phyllis Harding (ENG)	1:13.8	Margot Hamilton (SCO)	1:15.0	Valerie Davies (WAL)	1:18.2
200 yd breaststroke	Clare Dennis (AUS)	2:50.2	Phyllis Haslam (CAN)	2:55.4	Margery Hinton (ENG)	2:58.6
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Canada Phyllis Dewar Florence Humble Margaret Hutton Irene Pirie	4:21.8	South Africa Jenny Maakal Enid Hayward Kathleen Russell Molly Ryde	4:34.0	England Edna Hughes Beatrice Wolstenholme Olive Bartle Margery Hinton	4:34.4
3×110 yd medley relay	Canada Margaret Hutton Phyllis Haslam Phyllis Dewar	3:42.0	England Phyllis Harding Vera Kingston Edna Hughes	3:43.0	Scotland Jean McDowell Margot Hamilton Margaret McCullum	3:50.0

Wrestling

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bantamweight	Edward Melrose (SCO)	Ted McKinley (CAN)	Joseph Reid (ENG)
Featherweight	Robert McNab (CAN)	Joe Nelson (ENG)	Murdoch White (SCO)
Lightweight	Dick Garrard (AUS)	G. E. North (ENG)	Howard Thomas (CAN)^[3]
Welterweight	Joe Schleimer (CAN)	William Fox (ENG)	Rashid Anwar (IND)
Middleweight	Terry Evans (CAN)	Stanley Bissell (ENG)	Robert Harcus (SCO)
Light heavyweight	Mick Cubbin (SAF)	Bernard Rowe (ENG)	Alex Watt (CAN)
Heavyweight	Jack Knight (AUS)	Pat Meehan (CAN)	Archie Dudgeon (SCO)

References

1. . Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
2. "BODY- LINE BARRED – On the greens at Paddington and Temple take place the less strenuous contest of Empire Games". Pathé News. 9 August 1934. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
3. "Wrestling". The Times. 10 August 1934. p. 6 – via Times Digital Archives.

External links

• "London 1934". Commonwealthsport.com. Commonwealth Sport.
• "Results and Medalists—1934 British Empire Games". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation
• British Pathe: British Empire Games (1934)

Preceded by Hamilton

British Empire Games London II British Empire Games

Succeeded by Sydney