Jack Drake (footballer)
John Montague "Jack" Drake was an Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League.
Drake was born in Perth to Frederick David Drake and Mary Elizabeth Falvey on 15 March 1904 and moved to Melbourne before he reached school age. Educated at Xavier College, he joined Hawthorn during the 1926 VFL season. Drake scored a goal on debut against Fitzroy but was also injured and missed the next six weeks. He played two more games at the end of the season but failed to make the senior squad for the 1927 season.
Jack Drake was killed during World War II on 23 April 1941 aged 37 while defending a bridge at the Bralos Pass, Thermopylae, Greece against German artillery. He was a Lance Bombardier. Whilst serving on a field gun position, both of his legs were amputated below the knee by a shell blast, fatally wounding Drake. The same blast killed and wounded several other gunners.
