Remembering Joe Galibardy

I recall very clearly when researching Sikhs in the Olympic Games back in 2005, I was informed by Pat Rowley, a renowned journalist and a good friend of mine, that Joe was the oldest living hockey gold medalist and that he lived somewhere in London. But no one knew where and I could not find anyone who had met him. So my research expanded to locating the whereabouts of Joe.

After numerous enquiries and contacting all the 14 Galibardy families living in Greater London, I finally managed to speak to Neville Galibardy, his son, who confirmed that Joe was well and lived in Walthamstow, East London. Neville arranged a meeting at his house and on February 27, 2006, I finally met Joe Galibardy.
On meeting him for the first time, I immediately noticed his great sense of humour. The joy on his face while talking about hockey was such a pleasure. A charming personality, he was very keen to talk. His memory was excellent and he looked very fit and active.

A rare picture of Indian Olympic hockey team 1936

He vividly recalled the friendship he struck with Jesse Owens, the American sprinter, whom he met nearly on a daily basis. He told me that the US block was next to theirs in the Olympic Village and that he would also see Jesse training as he himself was interested in athletics.

He told me that he visited Calcutta in 2000 and met many former players during his trip. He mentioned Gurbux Singh and Leslie Claudius in particular and showed me a hockey stick that they had signed for him. He also recalled his teammate Gurcharan Singh from Punjab.

He told me that he did not play any hockey in the UK. He stated that, as most of the hockey was being played in West London, travelling was hard. Besides, he was also working and had a family to look after.
He said he served for British Rail at Stratford and the Royal Mail until his retirement.
In April 2006, I was invited by journalist and author Sundeep Misra to be a member of a select panel to choose “the Top 10 Sikh Hockey Stars of All Time”.

One of my fellow judges in New Delhi was the four-time Olympic medalist Leslie Claudius. When I mentioned to Claudius that I had met Joe, he was thrilled. He went on to tell me how he learnt his hockey watching Joe, the respect he had for him and how he owed all his achievements to him for the guidance he received in his early days.

In July 2007, Balbir Singh Senior, the triple gold medalist, was in London and when I mentioned Joe to him, he immediately said he wanted to meet him.

We met Joe on July 4 and it was again a very fruitful meeting. I had taken my records of the 1936 Berlin Olympic matches. Joe checked them and recalled all his teammates. He then signed my records.

I heard the two discuss their training and playing days and the sacrifices they had to make. It was a real privilege to hear it all and see the mutual respect they had for each other.

Joe made a point to see us off, walking to our car parked off the road.

On September 17, 2008, I visited Joe again and on this occasion with Pat Rowley. Pat had taken his copy of Dhyan Chand’s book, ‘Goal’ and the two shared different stories about hockey about which he was so happy talking.

I visited Joe with Cathy Harris of The Times, London, on April 1, 2011. Once again he was so cheerful and talked through his times in hockey with joy. His house in Walthamstow was only a stone’s throw away from the Olympic Park, the venue of the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was really looking forward to attending the Games. Sadly, he passed away on May 17, 2011, about six weeks later. His funeral took place on May 31, 2011. Pat Rowley and I represented hockey at his funeral.

Joe was born on January 10, 1915, in Madras (now Chennai), India. The family moved to Kharagpur, West of Calcutta (now Kolkata), where his father, a railwayman, was posted. He studied at Goethais Memorial School in Kurseong.
He started playing while serving in the Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR). His first major tournament was in 1935 when he played for Railways in the Beighton Cup tournament.
The following year he represented Bengal in the National Hockey Championship. He got noticed by the selectors while playing in the Bengal vs All Railways match and was selected for the India team to the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games.

He played as left-half in all five matches in Berlin. The Indian team toured Europe after the Olympics playing 36 matches. Joe played in 34 of those before sailing back to India.

In 1938 he was invited by the Manavadar State hockey team to tour Australia and New Zealand but declined the invitation because he had been selected to represent India in the Asiatic Games in Palestine.

 

The 1940 Olympic Games were cancelled because of war, depriving him of a second appearance at the Olympic Games. He then toured India with the Indian Hockey Federation team in 1942.
Apart from hockey, he played football and rugby, representing Bengal Nagpur Railway in the Indian Football Association and All India Rugby tournaments.

He emigrated to the UK in August 1956.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Diljit Singh Bahra, Dil to many, emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1967 from Kenya. He  played hockey for various UK Army units. On leaving the Armed Services, Dil joined the Metropolitan Police Force, London and served 32 years. Dil  formed the British Police hockey team in 1981 and was coach / Manager of the team for 15 years. He was involved in hockey at National, European and World level; was part of the Organising Committee of 1986 London World Cup. Served as Technical Officer for England Hockey and the Media Officer for various FIH (International Hockey Federation) tournaments. Dil was awarded The Hockey Association National Award of Merit ‘for outstanding service to the game at National level’ in March 1995. Dil founded Sikh Hockey Olympians website in 2013. Was the Hon. Secretary of the Hockey Writers Club from 2001 to 2012. He mainly focuses on Olympic field hockey and specialises in Sikh Hockey Olympians worldwide and Kenya Hockey at Olympics. He was one of the founder members of The Hockey Museum in 2011, a founder Trustee from 2012 until stepping down in December 2018.