{{short description|Australian rules footballer (1919–1943)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}} {{Infobox AFL biography | name = Godfrey Goldin | image = | fullname = Godfrey Robert Goldin | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|6|10|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Abbotsford, Victoria]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|2|7|1919|6|10|df=y}} | death_place = [[Territory of New Guinea]] | originalteam = [[Coburg Amateurs Football Club|Coburg Amateurs]] | height = <!-- ### cm --> | weight = <!-- ### kg --> | position = Rover | statsend = 1939 | years1 = 1939 | club1 = {{AFL Ess}} | games_goals1 = 8 (6) | careerhighlights = }}

'''Godfrey Robert Goldin''' (10 June 1919 – 7 February 1943) was a champion schoolboy [[Australian rules football]]er who also played with [[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]] in the [[Australian Football League|Victorian Football League (VFL)]].<ref>Holmesby & Main (2007).</ref>

He died of wounds sustained in action while serving with the Second AIF in New Guinea during [[World War II]].

==Family== The son of Robert Vane Goldin (1886-1969),<ref>[https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=4770614&D=D World War One Service Record: Driver Robert Vain (sic) Goldin (1245)], ''National Archives of Australia''.</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23057663 He put Army on sound footing, ''The Argus'', (Saturday, 16 June 1951), p.5]; [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246265982 Foot Note, ''The Herald'', (Saturday, 16 June 1951), p.3.]</ref> and Ellen Christina Goldin (1890-1973), née Graham, Godfrey Robert Goldin was born on 10 June 1919.

He was engaged to Grace Lillian Osborne in September 1942.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article254755795 Personal, ''The Melton Express'', (Saturday, 5 September 1942), p.2.]</ref> They never married.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245941488 In Memoriam: On Active Service: Goldin, ''The Herald'', (Thursday, 7 February 1946), p.4.]</ref>

His younger brother, Allan "Dick" Goldin, played 104 games in six seasons (1947 to 1952) for the [[Northern Blues|Preston Football Club]] in the [[Victorian Football League|Victorian Football Association (VFA)]].<ref>[http://www.thevfaproject.org/pages/Players/Goldin,_Richard.php Richard Goldin], at ''The VFA Project''.</ref><ref>[http://www.boylesfootballphotos.net.au/Dick+Goldin Dick Goldin], at ''Boyles Football Photos''.</ref> He later coached Preston Seconds.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245166411 Priestley, John, "Players benefit from VFA fund, ''The Herald'' (Wednesday, 20 May 1953), p.24.]</ref>

==Football== ===East Coburg State School=== He was a champion schoolboy footballer, he played for the East Coburg State School team (coached by [[Jack Baggott]],<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205104251 State Schools' Association, ''The Age'', (Wednesday, 13 September 1933), p.12.]</ref> and represented Victoria in the 1933 Inter-State Schoolboys' Australian Rules Carnival in Brisbane.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22201563 Schoolboys' Carnival, ''The Brisbane Courier'', (Wednesday, 2 August 1933) p.5]; [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97705651 National Rules, ''The (Brisbane) Sunday Mail'', (Sunday, 6 August 1933), p.9.]</ref>

===Coburg Amateurs=== He played for the [[Coburg Amateurs Football Club|Coburg Amateurs]] team that won the D Grade premiership in [[1936 VAFA season|1936]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Almanac Footy (History) – Jack Mueller: The Power of One |url=https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/almanac-footy-jack-mueller-the-power-of-one/ |publisher=The Footy Almanac |access-date=20 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720031754/https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/almanac-footy-jack-mueller-the-power-of-one/ |archive-date=20 July 2024 |date=4 December 2023 |quote=Godfrey (ex-Coburg Amateurs VAFA) played just eight games for Essendon before enlisting in the Second AIF.}}</ref>

===Essendon (VFL)=== Recruited by Essendon in 1937, he played a season with Essendon's Second XVIII before making his debut [[1939 VFL season#Round 6|against North Melbourne on 27 May 1939]].<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243366557 Dons' New Man, ''The Herald'', (Friday, 26 May 1939), p.19]; [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180883193 Amateur Helps Essendon, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 19 July 1939), p.10.]</ref>

With his early preseason training restricted by illness and injury,<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204412941 Essendon's Newcomers, ''The Age'', (Wednesday 27 March 1940), p.8]; [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12466720 Around League Clubs, ''The Argus'', (Friday, 31 May 1940), p.12]; [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12474948 Around League Clubs, ''The Argus'', (Friday, 21 July 1940), p.15.]</ref> Goldin played several games with the Second XVIII in 1940.

==Cricket== He played for Preston Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188809164 Blake, Jim, "Who's Who of Football: No.12. Essendon", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 6 July 1940), p.5.]</ref>

==Military service== He enlisted in the Second AIF on 11 March 1941.

==Death== Having served in the North Africa, he died in New Guinea on 7 February 1943 of wounds he had sustained fighting against the Japanese in the [[Battle of Wau]].<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11335782 Deaths: On Active Service: Goldin, ''The Argus'', (Wednesday, 17 February 1943), p.2.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11807612 In Memoriam: Roll of Honour—On Active Service: Goldin, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 7 February 1944), p.2.]</ref>

He was buried at the [[Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery]].

==See also== * [[List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service]]

==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book|last=Holmesby|first=Russell|last2=Main|first2=Jim|title=The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers| publisher=BAS Publishing|year=2007|isbn=9781920910785}} * Main, J. & Allen, D., "Goldin, Godfrey", pp.&nbsp;254–257 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. {{ISBN|1-74095-010-0}} * Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. {{ISBN|0-9591740-2-8}} * [http://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=459422&c=WW2 World War Two Nominal Roll: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038)], ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''. * [http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1708116 Roll of Honour: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038)], ''Australian War Memorial''. * [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1069167/large/5609455.JPG Roll of Honour Circular: Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038)], collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''. * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11345552 Victorians in Casualty List: Australia and The Islands: Wounded in Action and Placed on the Dangerously Ill List, ''The Argus'', (Friday, 19 February 1943), p.4.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11335132 Victorians in Army Casualty List: Australia and The Islands: Previously Reported Wounded in Action, Now Reported Died of Wounds, ''The Argus'', (Thursday, 4 March 1943), p.5.]

==External links== *{{AFL Tables | G/Godfrey_Goldin }} * {{AustralianFootball|ref=6381}} * [https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2193291/goldin,-godfrey-robert Private Godfrey Robert Goldin (VX51038)], ''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Godfrey}} [[Category:1919 births]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne]] [[Category:Essendon Football Club players]] [[Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II]] [[Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Australian Army soldiers]] [[Category:Burials at Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery]] [[Category:Military personnel from Melbourne]] [[Category:People from Abbotsford, Victoria]] [[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]