Sport

In less than a month after the first occupants of the camp arrived on the 6^th of April 1917, work started on the preparation of sports facilities on land rented for the purpose outside the camp perimeter, and sporting activities were well established by the time that the first issue of the newspaper was published on the 30^th of September. The very first article in the newspaper¹ describes how, with the support of the camp authorities, extensive sports facilities had been set up. A bowling alley was also opened on the 25^th of May², and in July people started bathing in the Otose River³.

A sports week was held at the start of October ^4,5,6 . At this time, there were frequent articles in the newspaper about individual sports^7,8, but later they were less frequent ^9,10. Despite this, sports were obviously thriving, and there was even an article complaining that they were having a negative impact on gymnastics¹¹.

In later editions, sporting matters tend to be found in the Camp Chatter articles. For example, we learn that additional tennis courts were opened in July 1918, and that rounders was particularly popular¹². In November 1918, people were playing croquet¹³. In December, when Spanish flu was prevalent in the camp, the resumption of sporting activity during recovery from illness was discouraged¹⁴.

In January 1919 thanks to the armistice and also the initiative taken by Captain Buttersack, walks and day-trips were organised in the surrounding countryside. Such activities would continue to take place throughout the year¹⁵.

Two significant sporting events occurred in 1919: the walking race which took place on the 17^th of April¹⁶, and the swimming festival which took place on the 13^th of August¹⁷. There was also another tennis report in May ¹⁸. As time went on in, walks to Kushigi became very frequent – there were seven in the month of October¹⁹.

Footnotes

• 1.#1.01: Sport in Bando, Page 1
• 2.#1.15: Our Bowling Alley, Page 9
• 3.#1.10: Camp Chronicle for 13^th of July 1917, Page 3
• 4.#1.01: The Games Week, Page 7
• 5.#1.03: Rounders and Top Hats, Page 7
• 6.#1.08: Review of the Sports Week, Page 1
• 7.#1.05: Rounders, tennis, fistball, football, Page 6 et seq.
• 8.#1.07: Football, hockey, Page 6 et seq.
• 9.#2.17(43): Rounders, Page 10
• 10. #3.03(56): Tennis, Page 6
• 11. #2.6(32): Gymnastics and Athletics, Page 8
• 12. #2.18(44): Camp Chatter, Page 8
• 13. #3.06(59): Camp Chatter, Page 7
• 14. #3.10(63): The Course of Spanish Influenza in the Camp, Page 2
• 15. #3.21(74): Our Walks, Page 4
• 16. #4.01(80): Thoughts on the Walking Competition on the 17^th of April, Page 51
• 17. #4.05(84): The swimming festival at Kushigi on the Inland Sea, Page 42
• 18. #4.02(81):Tennis, Page 45
• 19. Camp Chronicle Extract: Page 39

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