The Turning Point: The 1950 British Empire Games as an Imperial Spectacle

Abstract

This article examines the origins, staging and reaction to the 1950 British Empire Games held in Auckland, New Zealand, in the context of broader attitudes to the British Empire and Commonwealth in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. It argues that New Zealand, as perhaps the most loyal and Empire-focused of the former white dominions, viewed the Games far less as a sporting event than a spectacle through which the country could display its continued devotion to Britain. In this context considerable effort was made to present the best possible image of New Zealand for domestic and overseas audiences. The ‘family’ atmosphere and amateur spirit of the Games was also presented as a conscious counterpoint to the intensity and internationalism of the Olympic movement. However, contradictory attitudes to race, and especially to the performances of non-white athletes in Auckland, also reveal the conservative limits of New Zealand's conception of the imperial family.

Notes

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6. Quoted in A. Ross, ‘Australia and New Zealand Relations: Historical Perspectives’, in Australia and New Zealand Relations: Foreign Policy School, 1978, ed. R.H.C. Hayburn (Dunedin: Department of University Extension, University of Otago, 1978), 25.

7. Evening Post (Wellington), August 12, 1930, 8.

8. Belich, Paradise Reforged, 46–52, 440–43.

9. W.D. McIntyre, ‘Imperialism and Nationalism’, in The Oxford History of New Zealand, ed. G.W. Rice, 2nd ed. (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1992), 337.

10. M. McKinnon, Independence and Foreign Policy: New Zealand in the World since 1935 (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1993), 14–81.

11. Evening Post, February 1, 1950, 9.

12. M. Dawson, ‘Acting Global, Thinking Local: ‘Liquid Imperialism’ and the Multiple Meanings of the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games’. The International Journal of the History of Sport 23, no. 1 (2006), 12–13.

13. R. Palenski and T. Maddaford, The Games (Auckland: Moa Publications, 1983), 37–38

14. R. Palenski and T. Maddaford, The Games (Auckland: Moa Publications, 1983), 43.

15. Evening Post, April 28, 1939, 6.

16. Auckland Star, September 8, 1945, 4.

17. The Story of the British Empire Games, Auckland, New Zealand, 1950 (Auckland: Organising Committee for the 1950 British Empire Games, 1950), 11.

18. Diana Beaglehole. ‘Porritt, Arthur Espie’, from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 8 January 2014. http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/biographies/5p34/porritt-arthur-espie. Such was Porritt's modesty that he did not consent to being identified in the film and the bronze medallist was portrayed as ‘Tom Watson’.

19. Palenski and Maddaford, The Games, 81; Christchurch Star-Sun, August 12, 1948, 1.

20. New Zealand Herald (Auckland), August 13, 1948, 6.

21. Christchurch Star-Sun, August 12, 1948, 2; August 13, 1948, 2; The Press (Christchurch), August 13, 1948, 6.

22. New Zealand Herald, October 1, 1948, 8.

23. C. Dheensaw, The Commonwealth Games: The First 60 Years, 1930-1990, (Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1994), 28.

24. Christchurch Star-Sun September 1, 1948, 1; The Press, September 2, 1948, 6; September 3, 1948, 8; New Zealand Herald, September 3, 1948, 6; NZOBEGA, Minutes of Executive Meeting, 27 September 1948, Records relating to the British Empire Games (1950): New Zealand Amateur Cycling Association, Ref: 2004-231-01/2, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

25. Christchurch Star-Sun, September 2, 1948, 2. See also September 7, 1948, 2.

26. Christchurch Star-Sun, September 9, 1948, 2.

27. Story of the British Empire Games, 13.

28. Story of the British Empire Games, 15, 145.

29. NZOBEGA, Minutes of Executive Meeting, 28 March 1949. The participants were Australia, Canada, Ceylon, England, Fiji, Malaya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and Wales.

30. Auckland Weekly News, February 8, 1950, 3.

31. Derived from a search of Papers Past 1930-38, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast

32. Quoted in Evening Post, January 6, 1950, 9.

33. Story of the British Empire Games, 19; New Zealand Herald, February 3, 1950, 8.

34. Records Relating to the British Empire Games (1950).

35. NZOBEGA, Minutes of Executive Meeting, 8 October 1949.

36. The Press, February 6, 1950, 6.

37. Story of the British Empire Games, 21.

38. Speech notes, Empire Games folder: Arthur Porritt Papers, MS-Papers-9608-91, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

39. British Empire Games 1950: Athletics: First Day (Auckland: Organising Committee for the 1950 British Empire Games, 1950), 5. See also Story of the British Empire Games, 23–5.

40. Story of the British Empire Games, 23; New Zealand Herald, February 6, 1950, 8.

41. Auckland Weekly News, February 15, 1950, 7.

42. Story of the British Empire Games, 23

43. The Press, February 6, 1950, 6.

44. Evening Post, February 3, 1950, 6.

45. New Zealand Herald, February 4, 1950, 10.

46. New Zealand Herald, February 6, 1950, 8.

47. Auckland Star, February 4, 1950, 2.

48. Otago Daily Times (Dunedin), February 6, 1950, 4.

49. These themes are discussed in F. Barnes, New Zealand's London: A Colony and its Metropolis (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2012).

50. Dheensaw, Commonwealth Games, 35.

51. The Press, February 13 1950, 8.

52. New Zealand Herald, February 4, 1950, 10.

53. The Press, February 8, 1950, 2.

54. New Zealand Sportsman, March 1950, 84–5.

55. C. Cleal to I.M. Plimmer, 18 January 1950, Records relating to the British Empire Games (1950).

56. The Press February 7, 1950, 6.

57. The Press, February 22, 1950, 8.

58. R.H. Chester and N.A.C. McMillan, The Visitors: The History of International Rugby Teams in New Zealand (Auckland: Moa Publications, 1990), 247–68.

59. Dheensaw, Commonwealth Games, 39.

60. New Zealand Herald, February 13, 1950, 6.

61. Evening Post, February 3, 1950, 4.

62. http://www.thecgf.com/games/intro.asp

63. For example, The Press, February 6, 1950, 8; Christchurch Star-Sun, February 6, 1950, 8.

64. New Zealand Herald, February 11, 1950, 2.

65. Christchurch Star-Sun, February 9, 1950 6.

66. Mirror (Perth), February 11, 1950, 2.

67. 1950 British Empire Games (Auckland: National Film Unit of New Zealand, 1950), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHtpdtJXL70 Reels 1–4 (accessed 20 January 2014).

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69. M. Holland and S. Kelly, ‘Britain, Europe and New Zealand – Trade’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 21 December 2012, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/graph/36837/exports-and-imports-1950-2008

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71. British Empire Games… Official Souvenir, 11.

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73. The Press, February 8, 1950, 4.

74. Christchurch Star-Sun, February 10, 1950, 1.

75. New Zealand Sportsman: 1950 Empire Games: Souvenir Issue, 7.

76. Evening Post, February 1, 1950, 12.

77. Sydney Truth, February 10, 1950, 1.

78. The Press, February 6, 1950, 6; New Zealand Herald, February 6, 1950, 6.

79. Story of the British Empire Games, 64–5 ‘Pakeha’ is a Maori term for New Zealanders of European descent.

80. 1950 British Empire Games (Auckland: National Film Unit of New Zealand, 1950), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHtpdtJXL70 Reels 1–4 (accessed 20 January 2014).

81. New Zealand Herald, February 4, 1950, 10.

82. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, ‘The Second World War and Māori Urbanisation’, http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/classroom/nz-race-relations/effects-of-second-world-war, updated 20 December 2012; M. Templeton, Human Rights and Sporting Contacts: New Zealand Attitudes to Race Relations in South Africa 1921-94 (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1998), 1–12.

83. Templeton, Human Rights and Sporting Contacts, 12–52; J. Battersby, ‘New Zealand, Domestic Jurisdiction and Apartheid, 1945–57’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 24, no. 1 (1996).

84. G. Ryan, ‘Anthropological football-Maori and the 1937 Springbok Rugby tour of New Zealand’, New Zealand Journal of History, 34, no. 1 (2000), 60–79.

85. Evening Post, February 15, 1950, 14.

86. Evening Post, February 17, 1950, 7.

87. Auckland Star, February 13, 1950, 4.

88. T. Richards, Dancing on our bones: New Zealand, South Africa, Rugby and Racism (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1999).

89. Auckland Weekly News, February 8, 1950, 22.

90. The Press, February 6, 1950, 6.

91. Story of the British Empire Games, 57.

92. New Zealand Herald, February 10, 1950, 6.

93. New Zealand Herald, February 11, 1950, 8.

94. Duncan White of Ceylon won the 440 yards hurdles and Tho Fook Hung and Koh Eng Tong from Malaya won gold medals for weightlifting. See http://www.thecgf.com/games/tally_cat_results.asp (accessed 1 March 2014).

95. New Zealand Herald, February 28, 1950, 8.