KEITH ‘Bluey’ Truscott is without doubt one of the greatest names of the Melbourne Football Club.

Moreover, he is one of the great Australian stories.

Not only does Truscott have the club’s best and fairest award named in his honour – decided by Melbourne coach Frank ‘Checker’ Hughes – Truscott’s service feats have become legendary.

He won two Distinguished Flying Crosses and Bar, and became one of the most famous Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots.

This year marked the 75^th anniversary since Truscott was killed while flying a Kittyhawk over Exmouth Gulf in a training exercise.

He died on March 28, 1943. He was 26 years old.

Truscott, who was born in Prahran, played 50 matches and kicked 31 goals from 1937-40 and 1942, and was a member of Melbourne’s 1939-40 flags.  

He played his last game for Melbourne, while on leave in 1942, having returned from Europe, before he was deployed to New Guinea.

Truscott enlisted in the RAAF in 1940 and later flew Spitfires in England in 1941. He destroyed at least 16 German aircraft and became a flight commander. He later became acting squadron leader.

Truscott’s squadron also played a significant role in the Battle of Milne Bay, Papua, where he was Mentioned in Dispatches for his action. 

He then arrived in Learmouth, Exmouth Gulf, where he was acting squadron leader for the No.76 Squadron.

It was during a training accident that he died when his Kittyhawk hit the sea at high speed. His body was later recovered and buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth.

Later, his name was honoured with the naming of the ‘Truscott Airfield’ in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is now known as the Mungalalu Truscott Airbase or Truscott-Mungalalu Airport.

Truscott was a larger than life figure, a wartime hero and a dual premiership player – his legacy lives on today.

As Melbourne and Richmond prepare to meet on Anzac Day Eve, it’s important to remember people such as Truscott, who made such a significant contribution to the country.