Reg Farrant

Recruited from the northern Victorian town of Cohuna, Reg Farrant was a promising talent who looked set for a bright future at Glenferrie Oval after winning the club's reserves best-and-fairest award in 1939. He broke into the senior side the following year, playing five games as a mid-sized utility, but his football career was abruptly curtailed by the Second World War. Enlisting in the RAAF, Farrant became a Flying Officer and lived through a harrowing ordeal during the Borneo campaign in August 1945 when his Beaufighter was shot down over enemy territory. Despite suffering a leg injury in the crash, he and a crewmate successfully evaded Japanese patrols with the aid of local villagers, trekking through the jungle to reach Allied lines. While he never returned to VFL football after his service, Farrant remains a figure of significant historical interest for his extraordinary tale of wartime survival.