Max Wheeler (footballer) explained

Max Wheeler
Fullname:	Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler
Birth Date:	21 May 1912
Birth Place:	Coleraine, Victoria
Death Place:	Merdjayoun, French Lebanon
Originalteam:	Ballarat Football Club
Position:	Forward pocket
Guernsey:	15
Statsend:	1937
Years1:	1937
Games Goals1:	1 (0)

Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler (21 May 1912 – 17 June 1941) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He played only one VFL game, against Melbourne.^{[1] [2]}

Family

The son of Herbert John Wheeler (1877–1947),^{[3] [4]} and Eliza Lousia Wheeler (1878–1975), née James, Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler was born at Coleraine, Victoria on 21 May 1912.^[5]

He married Margaret Isabel Lingham (1914-1998) in 1937.^[6] They had three children: Maxine, Alan, and Mabel.

Football

Wheeler topped the Ballarat - Wimmera FL goalkicking with 107 goals in 1936.^[7]

Hawthorn managed to secure a permit from Ballarat for Wheeler to play on a Monday.^[8] He played on a split round weekend in which the Hawks and Melbourne played at Glenferrie oval. The following week he was dropped and lined up in the reserves. A few weeks later while playing in the seconds Wheeler had his arm broken and that finished his season.^[9]

Wheeler returned from Hawthorn and played with North Ballarat FC^[10] and he topped the Ballarat Football League goalkicking in 1938 with 93 goals and in 1939, 93 goals.

In 1938, Wheeler kicked 17 goals in a match against the Ballarat CYMS FC.^[11]

Military service

He enlisted in the Second AIF on 24 July 1940, and served in the 2/2 Pioneer Battalion.^[1]

Death

He was killed in action, at Merdjayoun, in French Lebanon, on 17 June 1941, serving with the Second AIF.^{[12] [1]}

See also

• List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service

Sources

• Roll of Honour: Private Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler (VX45857), Australian War Memorial.
• Epic of The Pioneers: History Made at Merdjayoun, The Age, (Friday, 26 September 1941), p. 6.
• Private Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler (VX45857), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
• World War Two Nominal Roll: Private Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler (VX45857), Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
• Quinlan, Kim, "Footy Stars of the Battlefield", The (Ballarat) Courier, 4 April 2002.

External links

• • • A gold watch and a toy camel via Australian Football

Notes and References

1. https://australianfootball.com/articles/view/a%2Bgold%2Bwatch%2Band%2Ba%2Btoy%2Bcamel/3855 Gigacz, Andrew, "A Gold Watch and a Toy Camel", australianfootball.com.
2. Holmesby & Main (2007).
3. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22433413 Deaths: Wheeler, The Argus, (Monday, 16 June 1947), p. 19.
4. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1068943/large/5364318.JPG World War One Nominal Roll: Private Herbert John Wheeler (5636), Australian War Memorial.
5. Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Births Registration no.19360/1912.
6. Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Marriages Registration no.16433/1937.
7. Web site: 1936 - Finals in football contest . The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic) . 26 May 2024 . 32 . 28 September 1936.
8. Web site: League Snapshots. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954). 18 June 1937. 19.
9. Web site: Hawthorn. Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954). 14 July 1937. 17.
10. Web site: 1938 - League Permits . The Argus . 26 May 2024 . 18 . 12 May 1938.
11. Web site: 1938 - Country Football Matches . The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic) . 26 May 2024 . 34 . 1 August 1938.
12. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206851779 In Memoriam: On Active Service: Wheeler, The Age, (Friday, 21 May 1943), p. 5