1950 British Empire Games

4th British Empire Games

Host city	Auckland, New Zealand
Nations participating	12
Athletes participating	590
Events	87
Opening ceremony	4 February
Closing ceremony	11 February
Main venue	Eden Park
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The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth edition of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the 3rd edition of the games. The main venue was Eden Park, although the closing ceremonies were held at Western Springs Stadium, see New Zealand at the 1950 British Empire Games. The fourth games were originally awarded to Montreal, Canada and were to be held in 1942 but were cancelled due to World War II.

Participating teams

Countries that participated

(Teams participating for the first time in bold).

• Australia
• Canada
• Ceylon
• England
• Fiji
• Malaya
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Scotland
• South Africa
• Southern Rhodesia
• Wales

Medals by country

At the 1950 British Empire Games all the teams won at least one medal.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	34	27	19	80
2	England	19	16	13	48
3	New Zealand	10	22	21	54
4	Canada	8	9	13	30
5	South Africa	8	4	8	20
6	Scotland	5	3	2	10
7	Malaya	2	1	1	4
8	Fiji	1	2	2	5
9	Ceylon	1	2	1	4
10	Nigeria	0	1	0	1
10	Wales	0	1	0	1
10	Southern Rhodesia	0	1	0	1
Total		88	89	80	257

Medals by event

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1950 British Empire Games

Boxing

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight	Hugh Riley (SCO)	K. Edwin (CEY)	Marcus Temple (SAF)
Bantamweight	Johnny van Rensburg (SAF)	Albert Perera (CEY)	Len Walters (CAN)
Featherweight	Henry Gilliland (SCO)	Andy Verceuil (RHO)	Peter Brander (ENG)
Lightweight	Ronny Latham (ENG)	Billy Barber (AUS)	Jim Barnden (NZL)
Welterweight	Terry Ratcliffe (ENG)	Bill Seewitz (AUS)	Alex Obeysekere (CEY)
Middleweight	Theunis van Schalkwyk (SAF)	James Beal (NZL)	Bill Pinkus (CAN)
Light heavyweight	Don Scott (ENG)	Chris Rollinson (NZL)	Jack Taylor (AUS)
Heavyweight	Frank Creagh (NZL)	Sid Cousins (AUS)	none awarded

Cycling

Track

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Time Trial	Russell Mockridge (AUS)	1:13.4	Sid Patterson (AUS)	1:13.5	Tommy Godwin (ENG)	1:13.6
Sprint 1000 m	Russell Mockridge (AUS)	2–0	Sid Patterson (AUS)	0–2	Graham Avery (NZL)	2–1
4000 m Ind. Pursuit	Cyril Cartwright (ENG)	5:16.3	Russell Mockridge (AUS)	5:27.0	Les Lock (NZL)	5:26.7
10-mile Scratch	William Heseltine (AUS)	23:23.4	Les Lock (NZL)		Ken Caves (AUS)

Road

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Road race	Hector Sutherland (AUS)	3'13:06.4	Nick Carter (NZL)	3'13:06.5	Jack Fowler (AUS)	3'13:06.6

Diving

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	George Athans (CAN)	169.21	Peter Heatly (SCO)	168.80	Jack Stewart (NZL)	168.17
10 m platform	Peter Heatly (SCO)	156.07	George Athans (CAN)	145.36	Frank Murphy (AUS)	129.40

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	Edna Child (ENG)	126.58	Noeline MacLean (AUS)	124.59	Lynda Hunt (CAN)	115.38
10 m platform	Edna Child (ENG)	70.89	Gwen Fawcett (AUS)	65.64	Noeline MacLean (AUS)	59.93

Fencing

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Foil	René Paul (ENG)	7 wins	John Fethers (AUS)	6 wins	George Pouliot (CAN)	4 wins
Foil team	England Arthur Pilbrow Robert Anderson René Paul	20 wins	New Zealand Austin Gittos Gordon Dearing Murray Gittos Malcolm Millar	13 wins	Canada George Pouliot Robert Desjarlais Edward Brooke	12 win
Épée	Charles de Beaumont (ENG)	7 wins	Robert Anderson (ENG)	6 wins	Ivan Lund (AUS)	5 wins
Épée team	Australia Allan Jay Ivan Lund Charles Stanmore	3 wins	England René Paul Charles de Beaumont Robert Anderson	2 wins	Canada George Pouliot Robert Desjarlais Edward Brooke	1 win
Sabre	Arthur Pilbrow (ENG)		Robert Anderson (ENG)		George Pouliot (CAN)
Sabre team	England Charles de Beaumont Arthur Pilbrow Robert Anderson	4 wins	Canada George Pouliot Robert Desjarlais Edward Brooke	2 wins	Australia Norman Booth Leslie Chillug Edwin Dean Jock Gibson	1 win

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Foil	Mary Glen-Haig (ENG)	7 wins	Patricia Woodroffe (NZL)	6 wins	Catherine Pym (AUS)	5 wins

Lawn Bowls

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Singles (details)	James Pirrett (NZL)	8 points	Albert Newton (AUS)	6 points	Lionel Garnett (FIJ)	4 points
Pairs (details)	Evan Exelby and Robert Henry (NZL)	6 points	W. Gibb and H. J. van Zyl (SAF)	4 points	Leslie Brown and James Poulton (FIJ)	2 points
Fours (details)	South Africa Alfred Blumberg H. Currer Harry Atkinson Norman Walker	4 points+	Australia Charles Cordaiy James Cobley John Cobley Len Knight	4 points	New Zealand Fred Russell John Englebretson Noel Jolly Pete Skoglund	4 points

+ won play offs

Rowing

All events were for men only. The events were held at Lake Karapiro, 160 kilometres (99 mi) south of Auckland. Three special trains took 1500 people to Cambridge on 7 February 1950.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Single sculls	Mervyn Wood (AUS)	7:46.8	Tony Rowe (ENG)	7:54.0	Ian Stephen (SAF)	8:04.0
Double sculls	Mervyn Wood and Murray Riley (AUS)	7:22	Joe Schneider and Des Simonson (NZL)	7:32	Ken Tinegate and Jack Brown (ENG)	7:39
Coxless pairs	Wal Lambert and Jack Webster (AUS)	7:58	David Gould and Humphrey Gould (NZL)	8:10	none awarded
Coxed fours	New Zealand Ted Johnson John O'Brien Bill James Bill Carroll Colin Johnstone	7:17.2	Australia Leslie Montgomery Erwin Elder Cecil Winkworth Kenneth Gee Kevin Fox	7:24.0	none awarded
Eights	Australia Alan Brown Bruce Goswell Edward Pain Eric Longley James Barnes Peter Holmes Phil Cayzer Bob Tinning Ross Selman	6:27	New Zealand Bruce Culpan Donald Adam Don Rowlands Edwin Smith Graham Jarratt Kerry Ashby Murray Ashby Thomas Engel William Tinnock	6:27.5	England Tony Butcher Hank Rushmere Michael Lapage Patrick Bradley Peter de Giles Peter Kirkpatrick Dickie Burnell Bill Windham Jack Dearlove	6:40

Swimming

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Peter Salmon (CAN)	1:00.4	Frank O'Neill (AUS)	1:00.6	Pat Kendall (ENG)	1:01.8
440 yd freestyle	Garrick Agnew (AUS)	4:54.6	Graham Johnston (SAF)	60.8	Buddy Lucas (NZL)	4:55.5
1650 yd freestyle	Graham Johnston (SAF)	19:55.7	Jim Portelance (CAN)	20:08.3	Buddy Lucas (NZL)	20:10.1
110 yd backstroke	Jackie Wiid (SAF)	1:07.7	John Brockway (WAL)	1:08.0	Bert Kinnear (SCO)	1:10.8
220 yd breaststroke	David Hawkins (AUS)	2:54.1	Roy Romain (ENG)	2:54.2	Ron Sharpe (AUS)	2:56.0
4×220 yd freestyle relay	New Zealand Buddy Lucas Lyall Barry Michael Amos Colin Chambers	9:27.7	Australia Barrie Kellaway Garrick Agnew Frank O'Neill James Beard	9:34.5	England Donald Bland Jack Hale Pat Kendall Ray Legg	9:36.8
3×110 yd medley relay	England Jack Hale Pat Kendall Roy Romain	3:26.6	Canada Allan Gilchrist Lucien Beaumont Peter Salmon	3:29.4	New Zealand John Shanahan Lyall Barry Peter Mathieson	3:30.1

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Marjorie McQuade (AUS)	1:09.0	Margaret Wellington (ENG)	1:09.6	Joan Harrison (SAF)	1:10.7
440 yd freestyle	Joan Harrison (SAF)	5:26.4	Margaret Wellington (ENG)	5:33.7	Denise Norton (AUS)	5:33.8
110 yd backstroke	Judy-Joy Davies (AUS)	1:18.6	Jean Stewart (NZL)	1:19.1	Helen Yate (ENG)	1:20.5
220 yd breaststroke	Elenor Gordon (SCO)	3:01.7	Nancy Lyons (AUS)	3:03.6	Elizabeth Church (ENG)	3:10.3
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Australia Denise Spencer Denise Norton Judy-Joy Davies Marjorie McQuade	4:44.9	New Zealand Joan Hastings Kristin Jacobi Norma Bridson Winifred Griffin	4:48.7	England Grace Wood Helen Yate Lillian Preece Margaret Wellington	4:56.0
3×110 yd medley relay	Australia Judy-Joy Davies Marjorie McQuade Nancy Lyons	3:53.8	England Elizabeth Church Helen Yate Margaret Wellington	3:56.6	Scotland Elizabeth Turner Elenor Gordon Margaret Girvan	3:58.9

Weightlifting

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Bantamweight	Tho Fook Hung (MAL)	655 lb	Rosaire Smith (CAN)	615 lb	Keith Caple (AUS)	600 lb
Featherweight	Koh Eng Tong (MAL)	685 lb	Julian Creus (ENG)	670 lb	Barrie Engelbrecht (SAF)	640 lb
Lightweight	Jim Halliday (ENG)	760 lb	Thong Saw Pak (MAL)	735 lb	Vern Barberis (AUS)	730 lb
Middleweight	Gerry Gratton (CAN)	795 lb	Bruce George (NZL)	740 lb	Fred Griffin (AUS)	720 lb
Light Heavyweight	Jim Varaleau (CAN)	815 lb	Issy Bloomberg (SAF)	815 lb	Tan Kim Bee (MAL)	765 lb
Heavyweight	Harold Cleghorn (NZL)	900 lb	Ray Magee (AUS)	830 lb	none awarded

Wrestling

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Flyweight	Bert Harris (AUS)	1 win	Eric Matthews (NZL)	1 loss	none awarded
Bantamweight	Douglas Mudgway (NZL)	1 win	Jim Chapman (AUS)	1 loss	none awarded
Featherweight	John Armitt (NZL)	3 wins	Roland Milord (CAN)	2 w – 1 l	Arnold Parsons (ENG)	1 w – 2 l
Lightweight	Dick Garrard (AUS)	3 wins	Morgan Plumb (CAN)	2 wins	George Hobson (NZL)	1 win
Welterweight	Henry Hudson (CAN)	3 wins	Jack Little (AUS)	3 w – 1 l	Martin Jooste (SAF)	1 win
Middleweight	Maurice Vachon (CAN)	3 wins	Bruce Arthur (AUS)	3 w – 1 l	Carel Reitz (SAF)	2 w – 2 l
Light heavyweight	Patrick Morton (SAF)	2 wins	Arthur Sneddon (NZL)	1 win	Tom Trevaskis (AUS)
Heavyweight	Jim Armstrong (AUS)	3 wins	Pat O'Connor (NZL)	2 wins	Kenneth Richmond (ENG)	1 win

External links

• Commonwealth Games Official Site
• 1950 British Empire Games at the official Guernsey site
• 1950 British Empire Games – Australian Commonwealth Games official website

Preceded by Sydney

British Empire Games Auckland IV British Empire Games

Succeeded by Vancouver