1938 British Empire Games

The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 years since the foundation of British settlement in Australia). Venues included the Sydney Cricket Ground (the main stadium), the Sydney Sports Ground, North Sydney Olympic Pool and Henson Park. An estimated 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony. A competitors' residential village was established within the grounds of the Sydney Showground.^[1][2]

III British Empire Games

Host city	Sydney, Australia
Nations	15
Athletes	464
Events	71
Opening	5 February 1938
Closing	12 February 1938
Opened by	John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
Main venue	Sydney Cricket Ground
← II IV →

The star of the games was the Australian athlete Decima Norman, who won five gold medals in track and field. Margaret Dovey, later married to Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam, finished sixth in the 220 yards breaststroke.

Due to the onset of World War II, the games were not held again until 1950.

Participating teams

 

Countries that participated

•   Australia
•   Bermuda
•   British Guiana
•   Canada
•   Ceylon
•   England
•   Fiji
•   India
•   New Zealand
•   Northern Ireland
•   Scotland
•   South Africa
•   Southern Rhodesia
•   Trinidad and Tobago
•   Wales

Medals by country

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia (AUS)*	25	19	22	66
2	England (ENG)	15	15	10	40
3	Canada (CAN)	13	16	15	44
4	South Africa (SAF)	10	10	6	26
5	New Zealand (NZL)	5	7	13	25
6	Wales (WAL)	2	1	0	3
7	Ceylon (CEY)	1	0	0	1
8	Scotland (SCO)	0	2	3	5
9	British Guiana (BGU)	0	1	0	1
10	Southern Rhodesia (SRH)	0	0	2	2
Totals (10 entries)		71	71	71	213

Medals by event

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1938 British Empire Games

Boxing

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight	Johnny Joubert (SAF)	Joe Gagnon (CAN)	Hugh Cameron (SCO)
Bantamweight	William Butler (ENG)	Hendrik Knoesen (SAF)	Jack Dillon (AUS)
Featherweight	Barney Henricus (CEY)	James Watson (SCO)	Kenneth Moran (NZL)
Lightweight	Harry Groves (ENG)	Harry Hurst (CAN)	William Fulton (RHO)
Welterweight	Bill Smith (AUS)	Arthur Heeney (NZL)	Andrew Tsirindonis (RHO)
Middleweight	Denis Reardon (WAL)	Maurice Dennis (ENG)	Rex Carey (CAN)
Light heavyweight	Nick Wolmarans (SAF)	Cecil Overell (AUS)	Joseph Wilby (ENG)
Heavyweight	Thomas Osborne (CAN)	Claude Sterley (SAF)	Leslie Harley (AUS)

Cycling

Track

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Time Trial	Bob Porter (AUS)	1:15.2	Tasman Johnson (AUS)	1:15.7	Ernest Mills (ENG)	1:15.9
Sprint 1000 yd	Dunc Gray (AUS)		Bob Porter (AUS)		George Giles (NZL)
10-mile Scratch	William Maxfield (ENG)	24:44.0	Ray Hicks (ENG)		Syd Rose (SAF)

Road

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Road Race	Hennie Binneman (SAF)	2'53:29.6	John Brown (NZL)	s.t.	Ray Jones (ENG)	s.t.

Diving

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	Ron Masters (AUS)	126.36	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	124.78	George Athans (CAN)	117.90
10 m platform	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	108.74	Ron Masters (AUS)	102.87	George Athans (CAN)	98.93

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	Irene Donnett (AUS)	91.18	Lynda Adams (CAN)	88.27	Marie Sharkey (CAN)	81.66
10 m platform	Lurline Hook (AUS)	36.47	Lynda Adams (CAN)	36.39	Irene Donnett (AUS)	34.57

Lawn bowls

Main article: Lawn Bowls at the 1938 British Empire Games

Rowing

All events were for men only. The double sculls competition was an invitation event and originally no medals were awarded nevertheless these medals were counted nowadays. The bronze medal is listed as won by New Zealand.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Single sculls	Herb Turner (AUS)	8:24	Peter Jackson (ENG)		Robert Smith (NZL)
Double sculls	Cecil Pearce and William Bradley (AUS)	7:29.4	Jack Offer and Dick Offer (ENG)		Gus Jackson and Robert Smith (NZL)
Coxed four	Australia Don Fraser Gordon Freeth Harry Kerr Jack Fisher Stewart Elder	7:16.8	New Zealand Albert Hope George Burns John Rigby Ken Boswell Jim Clayton	+1.25 lgths	Canada Donald Davis James Temple James MacDonald Kenneth Jaggard Max Winkler	+0.75 lgths
Eights	England Basil Beazley Desmond Kingsford John Sturrock John Burrough John Turnbull Peter Jackson Rhodes Hambridge J. Tim Turner William Reeve (cox)	6:29	Australia Joe Gould Alfred Gregory Ted Bromley Frank le Souef Gordon Yewers Richard Paramor William Godfrey Thomas^[3] Bill Dixon Doug Bowden	+0.75 lgths	New Zealand Gus Jackson Cyril Stiles Rangi Thompson Howard Benge John Charters Les Pithie Oswald Denison James Gould William Stodart	+2 lgths

Swimming

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Bob Pirie (CAN)	59.6	Terry Collard (SAF)	60.8	William Fleming (AUS)	61.0
440 yd freestyle	Bob Pirie (CAN)	4:54.6	Bob Leivers (ENG)	4:55.4	Robin Biddulph (AUS)	4:55.5
1650 yd freestyle	Bob Leivers (ENG)	19:46.4	Bob Pirie (CAN)	19:59.2	Norman Wainwright (ENG)	20:17.4
110 yd backstroke	Percy Oliver (AUS)	01:07.9	Gordon Kerr (CAN)	1:09.0	Micky Taylor (ENG)	1:09.3
220 yd breaststroke	John Davies (ENG)	2:51.9	Walter Spence (BGU)	3:00.5	Jimmy Prentice (CAN)	3:00.8
4×220 yd freestyle relay	England Frederick Dove Mostyn Ffrench-Williams Norman Wainwright Bob Leivers	9:19.0	Canada George Burleigh Gordon Devlin Robert Hooper Bob Pirie	9:20.2	Australia Robert Wilshire Noel Ryan Robin Biddulph William Fleming	9:32.9
3×110 yd medley relay	England Frederick Dove John Davies Micky Taylor	3:28.2	Canada Gordon Kerr Jimmy Prentice Bob Pirie	3:30.5	Australia Ernest Hobbs Percy Oliver William Fleming	3:31.8

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Evelyn de Lacy (AUS)	1:10.1	Dorothy Green (AUS)	1:11.1	Dorothy Lyon (CAN)	1:12.1
440 yd freestyle	Dorothy Green (AUS)	5:39.7	Margaret Jeffery (ENG)	5:40.2	Mona Leydon (NZL)	5:42.0
110 yd backstroke	Pat Norton (AUS)	1:19.5	Jeanne Greenland (WAL)	1:22.5	Margot Hamilton (SCO)	1:23.2
220 yd breaststroke	Doris Storey (ENG)	3:06.3	Carla Gerke (SAF)	3:12.1	Joan Langdon (CAN)	3:22.2
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Canada Noel Oxenbury Dorothy Lyon Mary Baggaley Phyllis Dewar	4:48.3	Australia Dorothy Green Evelyn de Lacy Margaret Rawson Pat Norton	4:49.0	England Edna Hughes Joyce Harrowby Margery Hinton Zilpha Grant	4:50.1
3×110 yd medley relay	England Doris Storey Lorna Frampton Margery Hinton	3:57.7	South Africa Carla Gerke Hazel Holmes Molly Ryde	4:07.5	Australia Evelyn de Lacy Pat Norton Valerie George	4:10.0

Wrestling

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bantamweight	Ted Purcell (AUS)	Vernon Blake (CAN)	Ray Cazaux (ENG)
Featherweight	Roy Purchase (AUS)	Larry Clarke (CAN)	Joe Genet (NZL)
Lightweight	Dick Garrard (AUS)	Vernon Thomas (NZL)	Alfred Harding (SAF)
Welterweight	Tom Trevaskis (AUS)	Felix Stander (SAF)	Jerry Podjursky (NZL)
Middleweight	Terry Evans (CAN)	Peter Sheasby (SAF)	Leslie Jeffers (ENG)
Light heavyweight	Eddie Scarf (AUS)	Sidney Greenspan (SAF)	Thomas Ward (SCO)
Heavyweight	Jack Knight (AUS)	Jim Dryden (NZL)	John Whelan (CAN)

See also

• 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney, Australia

References

1. . Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
2. "British Empire Games in Sydney 80 years ago was Australia's first major international event". insidethegames.biz. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
3. . rowinghistory-aus.info. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.

External links

• "Sydney 1938" 7 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation.
• "Results and Medalists—1938 British Empire Games". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation.

Preceded by London

British Empire Games Sydney III British Empire Games

Succeeded by Auckland