In the latest instalment of our series on England’s World Championships performances over the years, Diane Webb (Chair of Archives, Museum and Records Committee) turns to Paris 1947 – the first Championships held since the Second World War.
It had been eight long years since the last World Championships in Cairo in 1939 and the world and much in it had changed since then.
There were some familiar faces and a lot of new ones. Many had lost their lives in the conflict or had been interned in prisoner of war camps. Two England internationals were killed, Eric Findon in the Battle of Britain and Eric Hardman whilst on active service in the RAF. Tommy Sears had been a prisoner of war in Japan and worked on the Death Railway. Although he continued to play he never fully recovered his form.
On the plus side, many service personnel at home and abroad, particularly in the RAF, were able to play where they were stationed.
One new name of note was Johnny Leach, who had the good fortune to be with England’s foremost coach, Jack Carrington, and also Ron Crayden.
With Europe coming to life again, Paris seemed an ideal city to set the scene after the hiatus, and 21 countries took part in the World Championships in 1947, mainly from Europe. However, Egypt, India, Iran, Palestine and the USA were also represented.
The ETTA arranged for players and friends to travel to Paris as an organised party at a total cost of £28 1s 0d per person which included travel from London to Dover and onward to Calais and Paris. It was first-class travel on the Cross-Channel steamer plus three meals a day as well as two half-days sightseeing and a trip to Versailles. The magazine Table Tennis Review also organised a seven-day trip through Thos. Cook & Son Ltd travel agents.
Trials for England places took place in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Peterborough and London, with 16 men and 16 women being selected for the final trials.
Many English players who were not selected for the official teams made their own way over the Channel so there was good representation in every event.
Swaythling Cup
England’s team was Ernie Bubley, Benny Casofsky, Eric Filby, George (Eli) Goodman and Johnny Leach. Ron Sharman and Ronnie Rumjahn were selected as non-travelling reserves. Adrian Haydon resumed his mantle of non-playing captain.
England’s men were in Group B and had eight matches. They beat India, Holland and Wales 5-0, Belgium 5-1 and Switzerland 5-2. However, losses to France and Hungary, both 5-3, and the USA 5-2 left the team fourth in their group. USA finished top of Group B whilst Czechoslovakia won Group A with wins over Austria, Sweden, Egypt, Ireland, Palestine, Denmark and Luxembourg. Bubley played in seven matches, Leach in six, Casofsky in five and Filby and Goodman three apiece.
The top teams from each group contested the final which resulted in a 5-2 win for the Czechoslovakian team of Bohumil Vana, Ivan Andreadis and Vaclav Tereba, leaving the USA in silver medal position. Austria and France were equal third.
Corbillon Cup
England’s team comprised Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Blackbourn, Vera Dace and Peggy Franks with Margaret Knott (nee Osborne) as the non-playing captain.
In their group England had 3-0 wins over Belgium, France, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Hungary topped the other group, defeating Czechoslovakia 3-2, Holland 3-1 and Wales 3-0. They had walkovers against Austria, Egypt, Luxembourg and Romania.
Playing three fewer matches, they were well rested for the final against England. However, nothing was going to stop England’s ladies as they made it another 3-0 victory. A clean sweep of 21 games played, 21 games won. Blackbourn played in every match, Dace in five and Franks in four. Hungary finished in silver medal position with Czechoslovakia and the USA joint third.
Disappointingly for the ladies, it was not possible for them to be presented with the Corbillon Cup as it had disappeared sometime after it was last won in 1939 by the Nazi Germany team and its whereabouts were unknown.
Men’s Singles
The title went to Bohumil Vana of Czechoslovakia who beat Ferenc Sido of Hungary 10, -19, 20, 16 in a close final. In the semi-finals Sido had beaten Lou Pagliaro of the USA 13, -17, 7, 20. In the other semi-final, Johnny Leach, playing in his first World Championships and who hadn’t been beaten in the previous 12 months, went down to Vana 10, -19, 20, 16. Leach was definitely a player to watch having defeated his coach, Jack Carrington, in the quarter-finals 12, 13, 15.
Ernie Bubley was the next best England player, he lost in the round of 16 to Frenchman, Michel Haguenauer 18, 9, -18, 16. Spare a thought for Fred Cromwell who broke his ankle not long before travelling and so was unable to play. To compensate, he got the top players to sign his plaster cast – an unusual memento of the Championships.
Sido earlier in the Championships had broken his bat against England’s George Goodman at 18-all in their third game. He appealed for a substitute racket and went on to win the next three points and the match.
Women’s Singles
Betty Blackbourn, after winning all her games in the team event, including against Hungary’s Gizi Farkas, was looking promising to win the singles. However, in the final it was Farkas, dressed to impress in a red shirt and ginger trousers, whose solid defence, backhand flick and well-placed drop shot got the better of Blackbourn 15, 19, 12. Farkas had earlier beaten Vera Dace in the semis -13, 18, 11, 15.
Blackbourn was an all-round player with a range of shots that included a two-wing attack, a sound defence, a well disguised drop shot and exemplary footwork. Blackbourn in her semi-final had an easy 11, 15, 10 win over holder, Trude Pritzi, who was once again playing for Austria. Apart from the final, Blackbourn’s toughest match had been in the quarters against Scotland’s Helen Elliot with the score 12, -14, -12, 13, 18.
Blackbourn lived in the West Country and had little opportunity to play or practise against top opposition, so to reach the final showed how talented she was.
Young star Violet Patterson, only 19 years old, had an excellent tournament and reached the quarter-finals where she lost to the eventual champion 10, 11, 12. Peggy Franks went out in the second round to Eliska Furstova of Czechoslovakia. Margaret Osborne played in the singles but went out in the first round to another pre-war player, the Czechoslovakian, Vera Depetrisova. Finally, Miss Wright-Swatman lost in the second round to Egypt’s Abou Heif.
Men’s Doubles
Further medals came England’s way in the Men’s Doubles. The coach/pupil duo of Carrington & Leach reached the final only to be defeated by Adolf Slar & Vana of Czechoslovakia 8, 14, 15. For the first time, the men’s doubles champions were presented with the beautiful Iran Cup which was donated by the Shah of Iran.
The English pair had an excellent run to the final beating Frenchmen Maurice Bordrez & Michel Lanskoy, USA’s Dick Miles & Lou Pagliaro, Alex Agopoff & Charles Dubouille of France, and Hungary’s Eros & Farkas.
In the semi-finals, Barna & Haydon were the second English players to fall to the eventual champions. Another medal to add to both of their already impressive collection. Les Cohen & Mr Kay, who replaced the injured Fred Cromwell, were the next best placed English players when they reached the round of 16.
Women’s Doubles
Farkas & Pritzi teamed up in the Women’s Doubles to take the title, beating Americans Mae Clouthier & Reba Monness 20, 14, 19 in the final. The best England’s lady’s duo was Osborne/Knott & Patterson who were quarter-finalists. Dace & Blackbourn went out in the round of 16 to the eventual winners in a closely fought match after leading 2-0, the final score 18, 22, -18, -9, -19. Peggy Franks played with Scotland’s Helen Elliot and they also went out at this stage, as did Miss Bennett & Miss Wright-Swatman.
Mixed Doubles
There was one more medal for England as Barna & Franks reached the semi-finals. It was Farkas with her partner Ferenc Soos who knocked the English pair out and then went on to beat Adolf Slar & Vlasta Depetrisova of Czechoslovakia -18, 13, 16, 15 in the final. An all-England clash in the quarter-finals saw Filby & Blackbourn go out to Barna & Franks. Carrington & Patterson, and Haydon & Osborne/Knott went out in the round of 16. It was a round of 32 exit for Leach & Dace and the round of 64 for Bennett & Bennett, and Alec Brook & Wright-Swatman.
Snippets:
It was the first time that serving with a flat hand was required.
England International, A J Wilmott, was resplendent in his royal blue blazer with white braid and England badge on the pocket. A French waiter seated him with the Americans on the basis that “such fine feathers could not belong to an Englishman”.
It was a 20-minute walk twice a day to the restaurant for the players, from the hotel to the venue took half an hour and two changes on the Metro. Not ideal.
One world-class player who was missing from the line-up was the holder of the Men’s Singles title, Richard Bergmann. Bergmann was now eligible to compete for England in the team event as well as the individuals. He had served for four years in the RAF and landed on the beaches of Normandy on day two of the D-Day landings, bat packed in his rucksack. However, before the Championships he had announced that he would no longer play in Open competitions. However, he was present in Paris and distributed leaflets offering a challenge for a best of five match with £500 as the stake. (The comparable figure today is an astonishing £25,395). As gambling was prohibited, anyone who took up the challenge would have been banned from playing in any organised event. It generated a lot of publicity but no takers.
England’s expenditure for the Championships was £1,167 7s 4d and income £907 13s 5d.
It is always going to be an expensive trip for the USA team to travel to Europe. With the aid of a ‘Fighting Fund’, $3,500 was raised to help their teams. Two players not in the official teams and who had to pay their own way were Reba Monness and Mae Clouthier. It proved worthwhile for them as they took home silver medals from the Women’s Doubles.
Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Blackbourn
One of England’s outstanding female players, Betty was born in 1923 in Bath, Somerset. Her first international cap was against Wales in 1939 when she was just 16 years old. She won her singles match and her doubles with Vera Dace. It was a long wait for the next appearance for both ladies. Betty’s highest world ranking was at No 2, the same as her highest England ranking.
Paris was the only World Championships in which Betty played, gaining one gold medal in the Corbillon Cup, and a silver in the Women’s Singles. It was a quarter-final place with Eric Filby in the Mixed Doubles and a round of 16 place with Vera Dace in the Women’s Doubles.
Betty played in many Open tournaments at home and abroad and won over 25 titles including the USA Open Mixed Doubles in 1946/47 with Richard Miles after she had gone to the States to study to be a chiropractor. She also won the Mixed Doubles with Miles in the USA National Championships. There was success in the English Open, winning the Women’s Doubles with Vera Dace in 1947 and the Junior Girls’ Singles in 1940. Playing in the first J M Rose Bowl (England National Team Championships for Women), the Exeter team of Betty and Joan Brock were the victors.
Betty played international matches against Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, the USA and Wales and in the Europe Cup against Belgium, France and Czechoslovakia. She toured Czechoslovakia in October 1946 playing six matches. She travelled with Vera Dace, Johnny Leach, Jack Carrington, Ronnie Rumjahn and Geoffrey Harrower with Ivor Montagu the non-playing captain.
During the war she served in the WAAF for four years and it was here that her interest in medicine developed, culminating in her studying in America. She later, in 1948, emigrated to South Africa where she continued playing successfully, winning national titles in Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles and reaching the number one position in her adopted country.
Vera Dace (Thomas)
A Londoner, born in 1921, Vera was another player whose stellar career was interrupted by the war. She played in World Championships both before and after the Second World War and won gold medals in the Corbillon Cup in 1946/47 and 1947/48 and another in the Women’s Doubles with Peggy Franks in 1947/48. She added a silver in the Women’s Singles in 1947/48 and bronze in the Corbillon Cup in 1949/50 as well as the Women’s Singles in 1946/47 and Women’s Doubles in 1949/50 with Franks, making her one of our most decorated players.
Vera was England No 1 and world No 3. She won the English Open in 1939/40 whist still a teenager and twice was victorious in the Women’s Doubles. She won nearly 50 Open titles including the Women’s Singles in Austria, France and Ireland and was champion of all three titles in the Surrey County Closed.
Her first international appearance was in 1939 against Wales and after the war she went on to gain further caps against Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden and the USA. Vera also played in three Europe Cup matches against Belgium, Czechoslovakia and France; all three matches were won by England. Foreign tours to Czechoslovakia, Germany and Sweden were undertaken in 1946 and 1947 as well as an 11-town tour of England in January 1947 travelling from Barrow-in-Furness to Plymouth, covering 1,500 miles.
As well as being a world-class table tennis player, Vera was a tennis player of England class, representing the Lawn Tennis Association in Paris in 1946. She often played at Wimbledon where she reached the Women’s and Mixed Doubles quarter-finals. Squash was another sport at which she excelled.
During the war, Vera played in a great number of Red Cross and other charity exhibition games to help raise funds. Following her marriage in 1947 and the birth of her daughter she gave up playing table tennis competitively in the 1949/50 season although she continued to play tennis at a competitive level.
Vera was another star player who would no doubt have achieved much more if it had not been for those lost war years. She was described as having “a searing left-handed forehand drive executed with balance and a follow through straight out of the textbook. Coupled with her attacking skills she had a fine chop defence, and a sound temperament”.
Peggy Franks
The third of the winning Corbillon Cup team was Peggy Franks, another Londoner, born in 1924. Peggy played in five consecutive Corbillon Cup teams, winning gold in 1946/47 and 1947/48, silver in 1948/49, bronze in 1949/50 and 1951/52. A medal in each. In the Women’s Singles Peggy was a quarter-finalist in 1948/49. With Vera Dace it was another gold in the Women’s Doubles in 1947/48 and a bronze in 1940/50, again with Dace. A further two bronze medals came her way in the Mixed Doubles, in 1946/47 with Victor Barna and 1948/49 with Johnny Leach. England’s second highest female World Championships medallist after Diane Rowe.
In the late 1940s Peggy played in six European Cup matches and internationals against Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, USA and Wales. At the English Open she earned one gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. Peggy won over 70 Open titles at home and abroad including golds at the Belgian Open, the French Open and the Welsh Open. An extensive and successful career which included a tour of Sweden in 1947, and around England in January 1947 visiting 11 towns and covering 1,500 miles.
Violet Patterson
Born in Walthamstow, London, in 1927, Violet was the youngest of the English party who went to France where she played in her first World Championships. She conducted herself well, reaching the quarter-finals in the Women’s Singles. She defeated three foreign international players to reach that stage where she lost to the eventual winner Farkas 10, 11, 12. She reached the same stage in the Mixed Doubles with Margaret Osborne/Knott and the round of 16 in the Mixed Doubles with Jack Carrington. Violet also played in the World Championships in 1947/48 in London.
She had several good wins at Open championships. At the Welsh Open in 1946/47 she won the Women’s Doubles with Peggy Franks and had a handful of wins in Women’s Singles and Doubles at other tournaments. Her one international cap was against Scotland on 25 March 1947 which resulted in a 10-1 win for England. Violet won her Singles, Women’s Doubles with Molly Jones and Mixed Doubles with Ron Litten. At Essex County Closed in 1948/49, Violet won the Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles with G Patterson and Mixed Doubles with Keith Collar, she also won titles at the East London League Closed and North Middlesex League Closed.
Jack Carrington
Jack was one of the most influential coaches in the history of table tennis and was the architect of coaching schemes at home and abroad. He was born in 1909 and first came to prominence after the Second World War having met Johnny Leach in Northern Ireland when they both served in the same squadron in the RAF. The pair became a formidable partnership and in their first World Championships in 1947 were runners-up in the Men’s Doubles. Jack was the ETTAs first Director of Coaching; he introduced coaching qualifications and served in different capacities in the coaching field from 1953 until his death in 1984. He served on numerous ETTA committees mainly on coaching, equipment and competitions and acted as England captain for over 10 years.
In England, Jack’s influence was felt, alongside his wife Elsie, running numerous training camps for the ETTA and in a private capacity. He was also the Swedish official coach for three summers and was awarded the Swedish Table Tennis Association Diploma of Merit in 1951. He coached in Australia for six months, travelling around the country he visited 10 centres, coaching 800 players and had 80-90 coaches under his instruction. Jack also coached in West Germany. He wrote numerous coaching articles and several books.
His worth was recognised by the ITTF and became their Publicity and Propaganda Commission Chairman and Development Committee Member. He was passionate about table tennis in schools and started the Essex Schools Table Tennis Championships. He later took over as organiser of the English Schools Table Tennis Association (ESTTA) and became its first Chairman and later President. In everything Jack did, he always had wife, Elsie, by his side.
Although best known for his coaching influence, Jack was an excellent player who was ranked at two in England in singles, and two in doubles with Johnny Leach. He played in seven World Championships, reaching the Men’s Singles quarter-finals in 1947. He won a silver medal in the Men’s Doubles in 1947 and a bronze in 1951, both with Johnny Leach. He played in the Europe Cup against France, Ireland and Wales and international matches against Hungary, Scotland, USA and Wales.
At the English Open it was gold in November 1950 and a silver in 1949 and March 1950 in the Men’s Doubles, all with Johnny Leach. He won over 50 Open tournament titles, the majority in Men’s Doubles with Leach. He also won several titles in Closed Championships – Essex County, Surrey County, East London League, London Business Houses League and North Middlesex League.
As well as playing in tournaments, Jack enjoyed being on the road and in 1946 toured around Europe visiting 150 cities. He went on the tour of Czechoslovakia in 1946 and the round England tour in 1947.
Jack was honoured by the ETTA in 1967 when he was made a Vice-President.
Benny Casofsky
Bernard ‘Benny’ Casofsky was born in Manchester on 19 June 1919. He played in two World Championships, 1947 and 1948, with a seventh-place finish in the Swaythling Cup 1947, winning five caps. It was at these Championships that Benny reached the final of the Consolation Men’s Singles after going out in the round of 128 in the main event. He won further caps in international matches against Ireland x 3, Scotland x 1 and Wales x 1. One more cap was added in the Europe Cup against Ireland in 1947. He was one of the few players who gained caps before and after the Second World War.
In the early years of the Wilmott Cup, Benny was part of the victorious Manchester team in 1937/38, 1947/48 and 1948/49.
Benny won over 40 Open tournament titles. His first victory was in the Junior Singles in 1935/36 at the Merseyside Open and the last at the Teesside Open in 1968/69 in the Veteran Singles. Further titles came his way in the Cheshire County Closed, Lancashire County Closed with 10 Veteran Singles wins and the Manchester League Closed where he won events at every level including nine consecutive Veteran Singles.
Playing in the Maccabiah Games he was one of the England team who were victorious in 1950/51 where, with George Eli Goodman, he also won the Men’s Doubles.
His style of play was described as “…. One of the most interesting “continental type” games of all the present England stars. A controlled forehand attack, which included both left-to-right and right-to-left sidespin hits, leading up to a really deadly ‘kill’”. Added to this was “a dainty forehand drop shot”.
Les Cohen
Leslie ‘Les’ was another Lancastrian, born in Chorlton on 20 March 1915. His first international cap was against the Irish Free State on 6 March 1937, a fixture England won 10-1 with Les winning his one singles match. He also played against Wales in that year. It was another victory for the team and for Les in the singles, and doubles with Hymie Lurie. Their doubles partnership saw them ranked at No 2 in England. Les played in just one World Championships, 1947 in Paris.
Les started playing in earnest after seeing his hero, Victor Barna, play at the World Championships in 1935 and determined to be good enough to play for England, which he duly did, later becoming good friends with Victor Barna.
Les won nearly 20 Open tournament titles, mainly in the north of England and was a member of the Manchester League Wilmott Cup team who were champions in 1938/39, 1947/48 and 1948/49.
Once his playing days were over, Les devoted himself to the administrative side of the game becoming Manchester & District League’s Chairman in 1959 and later its President in 1971 until his death in 1980. He served on the ETTA Board of Appeal and was the International Club Chairman for 10 years, previously being a member of their Management Committee from 1964 when it was formed.
An excellent player and a true servant of the game.
George Eli Goodman
Born in Manchester in 1921, George ‘Eli’ Goodman became an England international in the 1945/46 season when he played against Wales. A fixture England won, with George winning both his singles matches. He played against them again on 25 January 1947 with a further win for both the team and George. He also gained caps against Scotland and the USA. One more cap was added when playing against Wales in the European Cup: West Zone on 9 November 1946.
1947 was the only time George played for England in the Swaythling Cup team which finished seventh. He later played in the World Championships in 1948 and 1954.
Playing in the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1950, George came home with two gold medals, one with Benny Casofsky in the Men’s Team event and the other with the same partner in the Men’s Doubles.
George played in a handful of Open tournaments in the north of England in the late 1940s, early 1950s and had several good wins.
Geoff Owen
Geoff Owen was 31 when he played in the 1947 World Championships. Not best known as a player, he nevertheless reached the round of 64 in the Men’s Doubles with Mr Weinstein.
Geoff’s forte was in administration and officiating. He was a member of the National Umpires and Referees Committee from 1958-79 and a Conference and Seminars Panel Member from 1980-82. He was one of the speakers at the Referees Conference in Sheffield in 1974 and earlier had conducted a series of County Umpires classes as far back as 1951.
Geoff was the Deputy Referee at the English Open from 1958-61, the English Closed Referee in 1968/69, he umpired at the Commonwealth Championships in Cardiff in 1973 and refereed many tournaments closer to home. He became a County Umpire in 1951, National Umpire in 1956 and International Umpire in 1978. Geoff also qualified as a National Referee in 1971.
Originally, from West Ham in London, just before the outbreak of war, Geoff moved to the Salisbury area where he worked at Porton Down, the nuclear and biological warfare research centre.
