PORT ADELAIDE great Bob Quinn has had his military feats commemorated with the naming of an Australian Army vehicle in his honour.
The war hero, who was awarded a Military Medal for courage, leadership and devotion in battle during August 1941 also won Magarey Medals either side of his military service.
Quinn is a member of the South Australian Football Hall of Fame after his 239 games and 386 goals for Port Adelaide between 1933 and 1947.
Bob’s son Greg Quinn and members of the Quinn family joined representatives from the Port Adelaide Football Club at the Edinburgh RAAF Base on Tuesday morning as an 18-tonne armoured personnel carrier of the 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment was officially unveiled as “Bob Quinn MM”.
“It is just a fantastic privilege and honour to have such a machine named after dad,” Greg told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“The ADF is an enormous part of our family history and we respect immensely the service that these boys provide for our nation, and to be out here to see this unveiled with dad’s name on it was outstanding.
“As a family we’re so proud. Dad wouldn’t love the attention.
“He would absolutely love to be here. To see young men dressed in their khakis and serving their country, he’d have his chest out.
“He wouldn’t be too happy with (the attention) so he’d make more fuss of those boys than any celebration of his achievements.”
The vehicle’s naming in Bob Quinn’s honour was the idea of Major Jim Byers, the Officer in Charge of the Bravo Company of the 7RAR.
He was a guest of the Port Adelaide Football Club at its annual ANZAC Round game this season and saw “The Rover of Tobruk” documentary that was played before the game, which tells Bob Quinn’s story.
“After chatting with staff from the Port Adelaide Football Club, I conducted my own research and found that Bob’s story resonated with me personally as a South Australian footballer - the great work he did on the football field, but also on the battlefield enabled me to gain a better appreciation of his service to the nation,” Major Byers said.
“That spurred me on to wanting to provide an opportunity to bring out the Quinn Family and recognise what is an important legacy to the South Australian and Defence community.
“It was a great opportunity to welcome the family in honour of Bob Quinn and name my vehicle platform after him so that his legacy continues on, not only in the Port Adelaide Football community but within the Seventh Battalion and greater S.A Defence community.”
Bob Quinn signed up for the Australian Army in 1940 and was involved in key battles during WWII, both in northern Africa in Tobruk in 1941 and in the Pacific in 1943, receiving severe injuries from which it was thought he would never play football again.
He would return to play football and finished with three premierships, four best and fairest awards and 15 state games to go with his two Magarey Medals.
He died in 2008 in Adelaide aged 93.
Today, the Bob Quinn Medal is awarded to the best on ground in the SANFL’s traditional Anzac Day clash between the previous year’s grand finalists.
Major Byers shared Bob Quinn’s story with his battalion prior to Tuesday’s ceremony and intended it to live on, not only in the naming of the vehicle, but also through a museum to be created by the 7RAR in the coming months.
Port Adelaide Chief Executive Officer Matthew Richardson said it had been a privilege to be part of Tuesday’s ceremony.
“Bob Quinn is obviously a legend of our club,” he said. “It was great to be here with his family and the 7RAR.
“The relationship between the club and the ADF and 7RAR in particular runs deep.
“So many of our past players have served in the world wars and in Vietnam and beyond, and the relationship with the ADF is something that we value significantly.”
