Stan Bisset

Stan Bisset (27 August 1912 – 5 October 2010) was an Australia national representative rugby union player, military officer and newsagent, who saw active service in World War II.

Early life and career Bisset was born in Balaclava, Victoria,The Sydney Morning Herald obituary states Bisset was born in ;

Rugby union career A second-rower, goal-kicker and captain, Bisset played with the Power House Rugby Club in Melbourne. During his tenure as first grade captain at Power House, Bisset steered the side to their first premiership in 1938, earning Victorian selection along with six other Power House players. Bisset played in the last Victorian XV to beat the Waratahs in a fixture at Manly Oval in 1937, and represented Victoria against the Springboks the same year. He was one of four Victorians who were selected for the ill-fated 1939 Wallaby tour of Great Britain that was captained by Vay Wilson. The team docked at Southampton on the day when England declared war and after a couple of weeks spent filling sandbags to start the war effort, the squad set sail for Australia having not played a game.

World War II Bisset and the team returned home where he joined the 2/14th Battalion joining his older brother Hal, known as Butch. Stan Bisset was a lieutenant in charge of an intelligence section while Butch was a platoon commander. Both men saw service in the Middle East, and Stan Bisset was mentioned in dispatches, before Australian forces returned to the South West Pacific in 1942 to defend Australia against the Japanese push through Papua New Guinea on the Kokoda Track.

Later life Bisset married Shirley Craig in 1944 and they had four children. They divorced in 1967. He worked in sales and engineering roles in Melbourne and, in 1973, moved to Queensland where ran a newsagent. There he met and married Gloria Leeson. Bisset served on the council of the Lord Somers Camp and Power House, that was a positive influence on his life.

On 12 June 2000 Bisset was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to veterans particularly those of the 2/14th Battalion, 7th Division.