Set to turn 101 on May 5, Peninsula Villages resident Eric Tweedale is Australia’s oldest living Wallaby.
The former prop and Wallaby No. 336 has lived through World War II, the Great Depression and more recently the coronavirus pandemic, but is most known for his career as a Wallaby, having accrued 10 Test-caps between 1946 and 1949.
Born in Rochdale, England in 1921, Tweedale emigrated to Australia in 1924 with his parents who were previously working in the cotton mills of England.
Growing up at Merrylands Sydney, he found rugby union at the age of 15 and made his first-grade debut against Drummoyne.
“From the day I was born I was meant to be a sports person,” he said.
“I wasn’t a good student – I went and got a job with Anthony Hordern’s that paid 12 shillings and threepence which is just over $1.30 a week.
“It wasn’t until the famous Bill Cerutti approached me and said ‘Have you ever considered Rugby Union?’ that I then pursued the sport.”
Becoming a permanent member of the Parramatta club, Tweedale was one of the youngest members to ever be picked for the rep team.
His sporting career was put on hold when he joined the Royal Australian Navy during World War I.
After training at Flinders Naval Depot for convoy duty, in 1942 Tweedale was deployed in Sydney when it was attacked in May by Japanese midget submarines.
He was then drafted to escorting merchant ships up and down the Australian coast.
As the war progressed north, he moved to Queensland protecting merchant ships carrying iron ore and coal from being destroyed by the Japanese.
“After the war I was delighted to be selected as a Wallaby for the 1946 tour of New Zealand,” he said.
“That tour was a challenge.
“After the war, half our team was made up of soldiers while the other was new kids off the block.
“The New Zealand team had been to England and just returned so they were tough and hardy, they were internationally recognised, and their passion was so great that it made them a hard team to play against.”
Tweedale was part of one of the most famous touring teams, the 1947-48 Wallabies, who did not have their line crossed in internationals against Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.
Stand-out performances saw him reach the pinnacle of his career when chosen for the third Wallabies tour to the United Kingdom and Europe.
He played in four of the five Tests and was also selected in the first-ever match for an international team against the Barbarians RUFC.
Tweedale and his late partner, Enid, had an incredible love story.
“While sadly Enid passed last year, Eric and Enid’s remarkable tale is one that will live with us forever at the Village,” Peninsula Villages CEO, Colin Osborne, said.
The two were engaged to be married in 1942 before Tweedale joined the navy and fought in World War II.
During the three years he was serving, the pair drifted apart and didn’t see each other for many years, both going on to lead separate lives and marry other people.
Then one day in 2004, Tweedale was asked to do a favour for a friend – to meet a widow at Sydney’s Central Station and look after her for the day ahead of a RSL reunion.
“I asked, ‘What’s her name?’,” Tweedale said.
“They said, ‘Enid Wagner, do you know her?’ Know her? I almost married her!
“So we met at the big clock at Central Station and took on from there.
“Two years later, I lost my second wife Phyllis, so we just ended up together 64 years after we last saw each other.”
Source:
Media release, Apr 19
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