Honouring Duncan Thompson on Remembrance Day

Duncan Thompson is celebrated as one of the most astute halfback tacticians in the history of the sport. His talent for creating overlaps, executing surprise blindside rushes, and delivering passes was deemed to be ahead of its time. Throughout his career, he played for Ipswich, North Sydney, and Toowoomba, as well as representing Queensland, NSW, and Australia. His promising career faced interruption due to World War I. On Remembrance Day 2025, we honor a man whose bravery was boundless.

For those familiar with Duncan Thompson's story, it is known that he survived a German bullet that lodged in his lung during World War I, which did not stop him from becoming one of Australia's most venerated halfbacks and a later respected coach.

However, the grim details of his injury in the village of Dernancourt, France, in 1917 are less known.

In an unpublished biography, Thompson recounted his wartime ordeal, describing how he crawled on his stomach and later on his knees for a mile across open land after a gunshot wound had penetrated his chest.

Thompson enlisted in 1916 at the age of 21, despite his father's opposition, and was assigned to the 49th Battalion. Following a training period at Salisbury Plain in southern England, the 49th Battalion was deployed to France in October 1917, where Thompson admitted to feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension.