Prior to that, however, Swannell was called up to play for NSW against the All Blacks in 1905, and was then selected for the Wallabies side to play New Zealand as well. Swannell was a contentious selection for many Wallabies given his past as a rough opponent. He played one Test and copped several kicks to the head from Kiwis on the trip, including one that saw him pick up a nasty eye injury. The official Wallabies team photo shows the eye swollen shut – and Swannell still grinning. One of Swannell’s biggest detractors was Wallabies captain Dr Herbert “Paddy” Moran, who later labelled the Englishman “a bad influence in Sydney football”. “His conception of rugby was one of trained violence,” Moran wrote. “He was a hard, virile, unsympathetic type, but a man.” Swannell eventually hung up the boots but continued to be at the centre of rancour, later becoming a forthright newspaper columnist, joining the referees ranks – he even officiated a NSW-Queensland game in 1914 – and became a Sydney rugby administrator during a time of great upheaval as well. Swannell’s profile on the Classic Wallabies website says: “A straight shooter, he seemed to be an individual who people liked or vehemently opposed. There seemed to have been no middle ground.” One place Swannell is still fondly remembered is the famous rugby nursery, St Josephs College in Hunters Hill. Swannell coached the First XV for three seasons between 1905 an 1907. Joeys won the GPS premiership in all three years. In a monograph compiled by historians Jon Cooksey, Graham McKechnie and Dennis Burns, the trio say “there’s no doubt Swannell was a difficult, divisive man”. But they further contend: “He was also fiercely loyal. He had a fine sense of humour and he was most certainly very courageous. Blair Swannell is a remarkable man … (and) a man who deserves to be more accurately – and better remembered – by a much wider audience.” The outbreak of war Swannell was quick to sign up for the Australian Infantry Forces (AIF) when World War One broke out. Aged 39, he was made major of D Company, First Infantry battalion, which travelled to Egypt and awaited further orders in sandy camps, with the pyramids as a backdrop. D Company was shipped out to be part of the Gallipoli campaign at Anzac Cove. Swannell’s men were part of the second wave on the first day, landing around 10am on April 25, 1915. Swannell led his troops up the cliffs towards Russell’s Top. By late morning D Company had reached an elevated area called Baby 700, and were preparing an assault on the Turkish Troops. But as the company came under attack, Swannell attempted to show one of his soldiers how to handle his weapon and return fire, but he was shot and instantly killed. He was one of 10 Wallabies to die in WW1, including six from the 1913 side alone. As recounted by Growden in Wallabies at War, Swannell’s death was mentioned by Australia’s official war correspondent, C. E. W. Bean, in his early Gallipoli dispatches. They’d sailed on the same troopship. “I believe Major Swannell of the 1st Battalion was picked out by a sharpshooter that day while he was fighting like a tiger. He had said on board ship the day before he knew he was going to be killed. He fought that day as a footballer fights in a good Rugger scrum – as he had fought in many an interstate and international match – and you cannot say more than that,” Bean wrote. Respectful, and kinder, tributes to Swannell appeared in many of Australia’s newspapers. Tom Richards was also at Gallipoli as a stretcher bearer and, as Growden recounted, wrote in his diary a few days later: “I am really grieved, as ‘Swanny’ with all his faults etc was quite all right, though he was a character seldom met.” Push for remembrance Robert Swannell, a well-known business figure in London who once chaired the Marks and Spencer board, began reading up on his great uncle after he was invited to a function at Australia House and sat next to the head of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He researched Blair’s story further when he later took part in 100th anniversary of Gallipoli events at Westminster Abbey and the Cenotaph in 2015. “It was very moving, as you can imagine, and it gave me a view of my great uncle that I just felt, he hadn’t quite been recognised in the way he should,” Robert said. Robert, who has some of Blair’s possessions including his Lions and Wallabies rugby caps, personal diaries and letters, and a commemorative coin issued by King George V to the next of kin of those who died in action – known as a “dead man’s penny” – discovered Rugby Australia listed Richards as the only dual Lion-Wallaby. The Lions and Wallabies play for the Tom Richards Trophy. He wrote to RA pointing out the error, which was amended, and then began a campaign to have Blair’s name honoured alongside Richards’. “My emails go back at least seven or eight years,” Swannell said. “I am not easily put off. Maybe I have the same genes as Blair that made him a fairly determined character.” Earlier this year, Swannell was informed the Lions and RA had decided to strike a medal in Blair’s name for the Australia-New Zealand v Lions clash. “I am really delighted,” Swannell said. “I am just very, very pleased that we have got to the point we have got to. In a way, its part of the tale of determination that Blair had in his own way, in his lifetime. “This medal for the Lions against combined Australia and New Zealand, it’s a rather good idea. Blair played for Australia against New Zealand, and obviously, the ANZAC element is very special in this case.” RA chief executive Phil Waugh said: “On the battlefield and sporting field, Blair Swannell holds a unique place in Australian and British history, having represented both nations militarily and in rugby. “It is with deep honour and respect that Rugby Australia and the British and Irish Lions recognise Blair’s extraordinary life this Anzac Day - 110 years to the day since he made the ultimate sacrifice on the shores of Gallipoli - by commissioning an award in his name for this year’s historic Lions tour.” Robert, who will travel to Australia for the game, says he hopes the recognition of Blair can help people better understand his great-uncle. “When you step back and look Blair’s short and incredible life, and of course making the ultimate sacrifice at Gallipoli, it was all pretty extraordinary,” he said. “He is certainly worthy of our remembrance.”