Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Henry and Diana Slater, of 109, Swanston St., Geelong, Victoria. Born at Ballarat, Victoria.

SLATER.— (killed in action somewhere in France, Mav 3rd, 19l7, Captain Joseph Henry Slater, dearly loved and only son of Mrs D and the late Henry Slater: aged 28 years. 

An only son—He heard the Call,
And pausing not, his life laid down
Before his Country's need;
His Mother proudly mourns—
The sacrifice not vain. His Duty Done.
—Inserted byhis sorrowful mother.

ATHLETES IN ARMS
Two additions (writes Mr A. S. Howcroft) have unfortunately to be made to the already lengthy list of those who have made the supreme sacrifice. They are E. Fox and J. H. Slater. The latter, who was a captain in charge of a bombing squad in France, made the big sporting reputation he leaves here in Victoria less as an athlete than as a footballer, but he was nevertheless a sprinter of exceptional ability. Late in 1910 Slater was reinstated to  amateurism by the Amateur Athletic Union in session at Wellington at the close of the Australasian track championships there that year. His previous connection with football (then rather under a cloud from the amateur view
point) had rendered it necessary for him to be reinstated, and the Victor ian A.A.A. made the matter a 'special' case to the Union. The exGeelong Collegian rapidly came to the front, and in 1911 competed in the State championships at the Albert ground in St. Kilda road. J. Burton was at his top that day, and retained the hundred championship in even time, but Slater, took the furlong in 23 sec. At the next championship meeting (1912) the Geelong runner took the hundred in three yards outside evens and later in the day ran second to F, J. Evans the University sprinter. In the latter race the numerous attempts of Fay, the Queensland sprinter, to beat the gun somewhat disorganised the start, and when the field finally got away. Evans got a flying start; otherwise there is little doubt that Slater would have won. Australia is fast adding pages to its (as yet) youthful national history; 'Bullecourt' is the latest cross-heading, and all those who were acquainted with Joseph Henry Slater know that it was the type of man such as he was splendidly representative of, that has accomplished Pozieres and Bullecourt.

“Joe” Slater was the only son of Henry and Diana Slater. Born in Ballarat East, Victoria, on 28 November 1888, he moved with his family to Geelong as a young boy, where he attended and matriculated from Geelong College. Slater became the manager of a stationery printing business, but was much better known as a footballer. He began playing for the United Methodist team in Geelong, and soon entered the senior Victorian league. He was known as a “serious athlete” because he did not smoke or drink, and as a “brilliant and dashing” player for the Geelong Cats and Victoria.

Slater applied for a commission in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1915, and was posted to the 22nd Battalion with the rank of second lieutenant. He proved an able soldier and within 11 months was promoted to captain. Slater spent around two months on Gallipoli towards the end of the campaign. In early 1916 he went to France, and was for some time appointed chief instructor of a bombing school before joining his battalion in the field in September 1916. At some point he met and became engaged to Nellie Wigley, a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service.
Slater was a popular company commander for the 22nd Battalion and a handy addition to their football team. In January 1917 Captain Slater was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s despatches of November 1916 for his “distinguished and gallant conduct and devotion to duty in the field”.

In May 1917 he was leading his company in an operation at Bullecourt when he was hit by shrapnel, but on the way to a dressing station he was caught by machine-gun fire which killed him instantly. Although men went out to look for his body the following night, nothing was found except one of his boots. To this day he has no known grave.

Source: Surf Coast Memorial 1914-1918

The Legend in the Mist: The Life and Silent End of Joe Slater

Blood streams from a broken nose as the semi-final whistle blows against South Melbourne. It is 1914, and the man wiping the grime from his face has already enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He has just finished his 108th game for the Geelong Football Club, and it will be his last.

For decades, the story of Captain Joseph Henry Slater was one of fading echoes. In 2001, when the Geelong Football Club named its Team of the Century, the inclusion of a half-back flanker from the pre-war era prompted many to ask, "Joe who?". Yet, the selectors had unearthed a man who was arguably the greatest all-round athlete the nation had ever produced, a man who lived, coached, and died with a singular, stubborn grit.

Born in Ballarat on 29 November 1888, Joe was the only son of Henry and Diana Slater. He moved to Geelong as a boy and matriculated from Geelong College, where he was a sporting prodigy. He won the Old Collegians' Cup as the school’s champion athlete and was a fast bowler of such repute that he was selected to face the touring Englishmen in 1912.

By day, Slater was a man of the ledger, an accountant and business manager who oversaw a local stationery and printing firm. By Saturday afternoon, he was a 179cm, 85.5kg "dynamo" for the Pivotonians. He wore numbers 19, 17, 30, and 10 across his career, debuting at just 17 years of age. He was a non-drinker and non-smoker, a champion 220-yard sprinter who would occasionally run races during half-time of the very games he was playing.

In 1913, Slater’s civilian career took him to Melbourne. He sought a clearance to play for the Melbourne Football Club, but Geelong officials blocked it, claiming his new job was "obtained purely by football influence".

Slater refused to be sidelined. He became the honorary playing coach for Hawthorn in the metropolitan association. In a match against Collingwood District, he dislocated his collarbone early in the game. He refused to leave the field, had the bone set by a doctor on the boundary, and returned to the fray to lead his side to victory. It was a pointer to the "hero in the clan" that his descendants would only discover generations later.

Slater entered the 22nd Battalion as a lieutenant in 1915. He served at Gallipoli, enduring two months of shelling and a debilitating bout of diphtheria before the evacuation. His letters home to Geelong secretary Charles Brownlow revealed an articulate, observant man who spent his few hours of sleep watching the shrapnel splash in the Aegean.

On the Western Front, his leadership was absolute. Promoted to Captain, he was awarded a Mention in Dispatches by Sir Douglas Haig for "distinguished and gallant conduct" and exceptionally good work during the operations at Pozières in 1916. He was appointed commandant of a bombing school and later took command of an entire bombing division.

On 3 May 1917, during the Second Battle of Bullecourt, the athlete who had once goaled from 80 metres out at Punt Road marched into the shell smoke. Captain Slater was leading D Company into the wire when he was struck by shrapnel. He was moved to a shell-hole, but as he was being carried toward a dressing station, he was hit again by machine-gun or shell fire. He died instantly.

The next night, Private Frank Hancock crawled into the jagged mud to find his officer. The record is silent on his body; Hancock found nothing in the dirt but one of Joe’s boots.

News of the death precipitated "overwhelming grief" in Geelong. Fans walking to a match at Corio Oval simply turned back and went home to mourn. His mother, Diana, now childless, lived in "heroic fortitude," signing herself in the local press as his "lonely mother". His fiancé, Nellie Wigley, was a nurse on a ship bound for the war when he was killed. She never married, placing a memorial notice for her "dearest fiancé" every year until her own death in 1943.

Joe Slater has no known grave, but he is no longer a "Joe who?". He is a name on the wall at Villers-Bretonneux and a permanent fixture on the half-back flank of Geelong’s greatest team. Peace to his ashes.

Lest we forget

Rod Hutchings

Director, Virtual War Memorial Australia

Source Crediting:

AFL Record, "The Joe Slater Story" by Ben Collins (2017) .Pegasus, Geelong College Journal (August 1917).
The Sport and Geelong Advertiser archives (1908-1914).Main, Jim, and David Allen. Fallen: The Ultimate Heroes. Melbourne: Crown Content, 2002.