This Saturday will mark the 115th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli of armed forces from Australia and New Zealand.

Each year on ANZAC Day we remember those who served and those who lost their lives, not just in that campaign but in all wars and military engagements. 

While social distancing rules mean we will not be able to commemorate ANZAC Day in the usual fashion in 2020, Saturday will still be an opportunity to reflect on those who served, including a number of Bulldogs players. 

One of those players, Bruce Fountain, was born 100 years ago today.  Fountain played only 23 matches for the Bulldogs, coming to the Kennel in 1946 as a 26-year-old, but he could well have played many more had it not been for World War II.

Fountain played his early football for his home town of Lindenow, a hamlet in East Gippsland, 20 km west of Bairnsdale.  Unfortunately for Fountain the declaration of war in 1939, when he was 19, would limit his chances of playing football during his prime years. 

Enlisting in the AIF in January 1942, Fountain served for three years, attaining the rank of Corporal with the 159 General Transport Company.  His stint included a year in the Torres Strait Islands, a long way from his farm in Lindenow, 260 km east of Melbourne. 

Fortunately for Bruce, he did manage to play some football during his service years.  While based in Sydney he made several appearances with the South Sydney side before being "transferred north". Coincidentally, Fountain's place in the team after he was transferred was taken by Evan Rees, who would also later join Footscray and play two seasons alongside him. 

In fact, it was Rees who suggested that the Bulldogs recruit Fountain in 1946, and when the Bulldogs' talent scouts saw the 6-foot 2-inch ruckman train, they signed him up immediately.  Fountain was given his chance art senior level against Geelong, named in a back pocket as a back-up ruckman for Pat Cahill. 

Fountain played 11 games for the Dogs in 1946, including the First Semi-Final against Melbourne which Footscray lost narrowly after leading well into the final term.  It was in that match that Fountain kicked the only goal of his VFL career. 

After playing 12 games in his second season at Footscray, Fountain decided to return home to Lindenow, where he starred as both a footballer and cricketer.  He won the Gippsland East League's best and fairest award in 1949 and continued to play until 1955. 

In 1955 Fountain displayed some footballing bravery that was echoed more than 60 years later by Dale Morris, who helped the Dogs through a successful finals campaign in 2016 while carrying a broken back. 

Having hurt his back in a match against Bruthen on April 23, 1955 — coincidentally his 35th birthday —Fountain missed three matches before returning to the fray.  He played on for another couple of months, but his back injury continued to niggle him, so in July he was given an x-ray where it was revealed he had a fractured spine! 

Fountain's injury was so severe that his doctor claimed it was remarkable he hadn't been paralysed.

So today we remember brave Bruce Fountain, servant of club and country, who passed away in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of his birth.  

And on Saturday, we will remember him again, along with all others, including Bulldogs players, who served.