Rugby League
Your Favorite Moments

Harold Palin was my great uncle.

I never watched him play as I wasn't born until 1955.

However I do remember him well as a person.

Quite often I see references to "Moggie" Palin. He did not like that name and the only one in the family who could get away with calling him that was his brother Bill, my grandad.

I consider him to be a hard man & a hero because during WW II he was wounded in the leg (North Africa), missing and presumed dead. His mother actually received a telegram. He was found by Axis troops and nursed back to health.

His injury was quite severe (I have heard that it was either shrapnel, bullet wounds or both)yet he went on to captain Warrington and set RL records for points and goals in an era renowned for it's hard-hitting and competitiveness. I believe that at least one of his records still stands.

Sadly, his wounds finally caught up with him.

His leg was amputated shortly before he died. At the time I was serving in Germany and came back to attend his funeral.

The people of Warrington gave him a tremendous send-off and did him proud.

He played during the Bevan era and did not receive the credit he really deserved.

If you go back through the records, I think you will notice that without the points racked up by Harold, Warrington would not have been the powerhouse they were.