Arthur Noel Ellis (9 July 1921 – 6 July 1942) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.
Family The son of Cornelius Stanley Ellis (1894–1948) and Amy Gertrude Ellis (1894–1982), née Christensen, Arthur Noel Ellis was born on 9 July 1921. He had two brothers: Paul and Graeme.
Education He attended Wesley College on St Kilda Road.School Speech Nights: Wesley College The Age 16 December 1939 page 32
Football Ellis played for Wesley College's First XVIII'Old Boy's' Sporting Review: College Sports, The Australasian, (Saturday, 8 July 1939), p.19; 'Old Boy's' Sporting Review: College Sports, The Australasian, (Saturday, 5 August 1939), p.16. and, at the same time, was playing for Collegians Football Club.The Amateurs, The Age, (Friday, 14 June 1940), p.4.
In 1940, "Noel Ellis was outstanding at centre half-back with Collegians, in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, [who] transferred to the Demons when the amateurs suspended their competition halfway through the season [due to the war]" (Sporting Globe, 24 August 1940).The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 24 August 1940), p.3.
Ellis's application for a permit to play with South Melbourne was refused by the VFL Permit Committee, on 26 June 1940 – on the precedent-setting grounds that, as a boarder at Wesley College, Wesley College (rather than his parents' residence at Red Cliffs, Victoria) was deemed to be his official place of residence – and, so, given the physical location of Wesley College (on the eastern side of St Kilda Road), Ellis was residentially bound to Melbourne. The VFL Permit Committee granted him a clearance from Old Collegians to Melbourne.
Ellis participated in his first practice at Melbourne the following evening.Around League Clubs, The Argus, (Friday, 28 June 1940), p.16. He was selected as 19th man in his first First XVIII match for Melbourne, against Hawthorn, on 24 August 1940 (round 17).South Cricketer 19th Man for Melbourne: Noel Ellis a Sturdy Utility Player, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 24 August 1940), p.3. He also played for the First XVIII in the first two matches of the 1941 VFL season (against Fitzroy,"Ellis, in his first game, showed promise": Fitzroy Fast, The Age, (Monday, 28 April 1941), p.10. and South Melbourne).
Ellis was injured while playing for Melbourne against Carlton in the first round of the Patriotic Premiership (1941), at the M.C.G., on Saturday, 24 May 1941,V.F.L. Patriotic Premiership, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 24 May 1941), p.3: at and . and did not play again.
Cricket He played cricket at Wesley College and South Melbourne Cricket Club.South Melbourne Cricketer-Airman Killed, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 11 July 1942), p.1.
Military service He enlisted in the Second AIF in October 1941 – V185010.Sportsmen Turn to War, And Footballers are Proud of a New Uniform, The Australasian, (Saturday, 22 August 1942), p.12 ; Taylor, Percy, "They Take Strike Against the Enemy: Cricketers are On Service Everywhere, The Australasian, (Saturday, 29 August 1942), p.12.
Death Only 20 years of age (three days before he turned 21), Ellis was accidentally shot and killed, by a mishandled revolver, at a World War II military camp in Queensland.Deaths: On Active Service, The Argus, (Thursday, 9 July 1942), p.2 ; Deaths: On Active Service, The Argus, (Thursday, 9 July 1942), p.5. Memorial Service for Late Noel Ellis, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 22 August 1942), p.1 ; Memorial Service for Deceased Athlete, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 29 August 1942), p.3.
The soldier who fired the weapon, Lieutenant Mervyn David Henry (VX101968), had been talking to Ellis in the mess tent when the incident occurred.In relation to the incident, and the subsequent inquest, (i) Henry's service record (see ) makes no mention of the incident; and (ii) Ellis's service record has not been digitized (see: ).
The Melbourne First XVIII wore black armbands in their match against Carlton, on 11 July 1942, as a mark of respect for the memory of Ellis.
See also List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service
References
External links
World War II Nominal Roll: Ellis, Arthur Noel (V185010). Roll of Honour: Acting Sergeant Arthur Noel Ellis (V185010), Australian War Memorial. DemonWiki profile Boyles Football Photos: Noel Ellis.