W. N. ‘Bill’ Carson: Double All Black, Military Cross Recipient

Abstract

Measuring the impact of sports experience as preparation for war, and especially leadership in war, is open to debate. Accordingly, this paper is intended to highlight the role that sport played in New Zealand's effort in the Second World War and the way in which sport prepared some of those who would have positions of command in the structure of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The paper explores the realisation of the Commander of the New Zealand Division in the war, General Bernard Freyberg, that he needed to reshape his command by utilising younger, more durable, officers to cope with the more mobile methodology of the German war machine, especially after the military disasters that occurred in Greece and Crete. By concentrating on a particular soldier, W. N. ‘Bill’ Carson, a double New Zealand cricket-rugby representative, it is intended to show that sport was capable of providing the sort of life experiences that could prepare him for command and the need to adapt under extreme pressure by utilising the exposure to both success and failure in sport to cope with what were for him unique demands of battle.