1954 French Championships (tennis)
The 1954 French Championships (now known as the French Open) was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 18 May until 30 May. It was the 58th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1954. Tony Trabert and Maureen Connolly won the singles titles.


1954 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Men's Doubles
Vic Seixas /  Tony Trabert  defeated  Lew Hoad /  Ken Rosewall  6–4, 6–2, 6–1


1954 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Women's Doubles
Maureen Connolly /  Nell Hall Hopman defeated  Maud Galtier /  Suzanne Schmitt 7–5, 4–6, 6–0


1954 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Mixed Doubles
Maureen Connolly /  Lew Hoad defeated  Jacqueline Patorni /  Rex Hartwig  6–4, 6–3


1954 French Championships – Men's Singles
Second-seeded Tony Trabert defeated Arthur D. Larsen 6–4, 7–5, 6–1 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1954 French Championships.


1954 French Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Tony Trabert is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1954 French Championships – Women's Singles
First-seeded Maureen Connolly defeated Ginette Bucaille 6–4, 6–1 in the final to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 1954 French Championships.


1954 French Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Maureen Connolly is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1954 French Grand Prix
The 1954 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 4 July 1954, the same date as the 1954 Football World Cup Final. It was race 4 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 61-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Karl Kling finished second and Ferrari driver Robert Manzon came in third. This race was held the same day as the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final in Bern, Switzerland, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.


1954 French Grand Prix, Race report
The long-awaited Mercedes W196 with its straight-8 fuel-injection engine made its debut with Juan Manuel Fangio transferring from Maserati to join an otherwise all-German line-up of Hans Herrmann, Karl Kling and pre-war driver Hermann Lang. It was a dominant return with Fangio recording a practice lap of 124.31 mph. He and Kling led away and continued to race side by side around the Rheims track. The Ferrari drivers simply couldn't cope with the pace. José Froilán González retired after 12 laps and Mike Hawthorn's car blew up spectacularly.


1954 French Grand Prix, Race report
Former Ferrari double World Champion (1952 & 1953) Alberto Ascari drove a Maserati, as the Lancia D50 was not yet ready for racing, and lasted only 1 lap after starting on the outside of the front row. Herrmann set fastest lap before retiring, but Fangio and Kling continued their duel until the last lap when team orders were put in force and Fangio led Kling over the line by a mere 0.1 seconds-half a car length. Only six cars finished the gruelling race.


1954 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The 1954 Fresno State Bulldogs football team represented Fresno State College during the 1954 college football season.


1954 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The team was led by third-year head coach Clark Van Galder and played home games at Ratcliffe Stadium on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. They finished the season as champions of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), with a record of seven wins and three losses (7–3, 4–0 CCAA).


1954 Fresno State Bulldogs football team, Team players in the NFL
No Fresno State Bulldogs were selected in the 1955 NFL Draft.


1954 GP Ouest–France
The 1954 GP Ouest-France was the 18th edition of the GP Ouest-France cycle race and was held on 31 August 1954. The race started and finished in Plouay. The race was won by Ugo Anzile.


1954 Gambian legislative election
General elections were held in the Gambia in 1954 following constitutional amendments, which increased the number of elected members on the Legislative Council from three to four, with an additional seven non-elected members. The seven unelected members were the Colonial Secretary, Financial Secretary, the Attorney General, the Senior Commissioner, Dr. S.H.O Jones (director of Medical Services), and two members appointed by the Governor-general from a list of nine names submitted by the Bathurst Town Council and the Kombo Rural Authority after consultation with members of the council.


1954 Gator Bowl (December)
The 1954 Gator Bowl (December) was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Baylor Bears and the Auburn Tigers.


1954 Gator Bowl (December), Background
Auburn had finished tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference, in their second straight Gator Bowl appearance, being the first school to ever play in the same bowl twice in the same year. Baylor finished tied for 3rd in the Southwest Conference in their third bowl appearance in 5 years.


1954 Gator Bowl (December), Game summary
Five plays after Del Shofner fumbled the ball on the opening return (which Auburn recovered at the Baylor 27), Joe Childress scored on a 7-yard run to make it 7-0 with 11:54 in the 1st quarter. A 63-yard drive in 9 plays culminated with a Reuben Saage touchdown plunge to make it tied with 7:05 in the first quarter. Fob James broke the tie with his 43-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. Jimmy Long's catch of Bobby Freeman's touchdown pass from 6 yards out made it 21-7 with only :17 remaining in the 1st half.


1954 Gator Bowl (December), Game summary
Childress rushed for his second touchdown plunge midway through the quarter to make it 28-7. L. G. Dupre made it 28-14 on his 38-yard dash with 4:25 to go in the 3rd, but Auburn sealed the deal with a Freeman touchdown run near the end of the third quarter. Joe Childress rushed for 134 yards on 20 carries with 2 touchdowns in a winning MVP effort for Auburn. Billy Hooper threw 9-of-15 for 112 yards for Baylor in a losing MVP effort.


1954 Gator Bowl (December), Aftermath
Auburn would return for their third straight Gator Bowl appearance. Baylor returned in 1960.


1954 Gator Bowl (January)
The 1954 Gator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1, 1954, at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the ninth annual playing of the Gator Bowl. The game pitted the Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Auburn Tigers


1954 Gator Bowl (January), Background
The Red Raiders finished as champions of the Border Conference for the fifth time in eleven years while winning ten games for the first time since 1938, with a 27–14 loss to Texas A&M being the only blemish. This was their first-ever Gator Bowl appearance. As for Auburn, they started the season 2-1-1, with two victories (including a victory over #15 Ole Miss), a tie to #13 Mississippi State, and a loss to #8 Georgia Tech. The Tigers would promptly win their next five games to rise to #16 in the rankings leading into the Iron Bowl matchup with Alabama, which they lost 10–7, as Auburn finished third in the Southeastern Conference. This was Auburun's first bowl game since 1938.


1954 Gator Bowl (January), Game summary
Texas Tech outrushed the Tigers 226 to 195, outthrew them 145 to 72 while forcing two four turnovers. Bobby Cavazos ran for 141 yards on 13 carries. Vince Dooley went 4-of-8 for 49 yards while rushing for 56 yards on 14 carries. Both were named MVP.


1954 Gator Bowl (January), Aftermath
Auburn would finish 8–3 the following year, while competing in the Gator Bowl once again, played on December 31, 1954, becoming the first school to play the same bowl twice in the same year. This time, they won, beating Baylor 33–13. As for Tech, they finished champions of the conference for two more seasons before becoming independent in 1957 and member of the Southwest Conference in 1960. They reached the Gator Bowl five years later in 1965. Tech did not win a bowl game again until 1973.


1954 Geneva Conference
The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 26 to July 20, 1954. The part of the conference on the Korean question ended without adopting any declarations or proposals, so is generally considered less relevant. The Geneva Accords that dealt with the dismantling of French Indochina proved to have long-lasting repercussions, however. The crumbling of the French Empire in Southeast Asia led to the formation of the states of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the State of Vietnam (the future Republic of Vietnam, South Vietnam), the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos.


1954 Geneva Conference
Diplomats from South Korea, North Korea, the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United States of America (US) dealt with the Korean side of the Conference. For the Indochina side, the Accords were between France, the Viet Minh, the USSR, the PRC, the US, the United Kingdom and the future states being made from French Indochina.


1954 Geneva Conference
The agreement temporarily separated Vietnam into two zones, a northern zone to be governed by the Viet Minh and a southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam, then headed by former emperor Bảo Đại. A Conference Final Declaration, issued by the British chairman of the conference, provided that a general election be held by July 1956 to create a unified Vietnamese state. Despite helping create some of the agreements, they were not directly signed onto nor accepted by delegates of both the State of Vietnam and the United States. The State of Vietnam, under Ngo Dinh Diem, subsequently refused to allow elections, leading to the Vietnam War. Three separate ceasefire accords, covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, were signed at the conference.


1954 Geneva Conference, Background
On February 18, 1954, at the Berlin Conference, participants agreed that "the problem of restoring peace in Indochina will also be discussed at the Conference [on the Korean question] to which representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Chinese People's Republic and other interested states will be invited."


1954 Geneva Conference, Background
The conference was held at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, commencing on April 26, 1954. The first agenda item was the Korean question to be followed by Indochina.


1954 Geneva Conference, Background, Korea
The armistice signed at end of the Korean War required a political conference within three months—a timeline which was not met—"to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc."


1954 Geneva Conference, Background, Indochina
As decolonization took place in Asia, France had to relinquish its power over Indochina (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). While Laos and Cambodia were both given independence, France chose to stay in Vietnam. This ended with a war between French troops and the Vietnamese nationalists led by Ho Chi Minh. The latter's army, the Viet Minh, fought a guerrilla war, while the French employed traditional Western technology. The deciding factor was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, where the French were decisively defeated. This resulted in French withdrawals, and the Geneva conference.


1954 Geneva Conference, Background, Indochina
It was decided that Vietnam would be divided at the 17th parallel until 1956, when democratic elections would be held under international supervision. All parties involved agreed to this (Ho Chi Minh had strong support in the north, which was more populous than the south, and was thus confident that he would win an election), except for the U.S., which, in the spirit of the Cold War, feared seeing  communism spreading in a domino effect throughout Asia.


1954 Geneva Conference, Korea
The South Korean representative proposed that the South Korean government was the only legal government in Korea, that UN-supervised elections should be held in the North, that Chinese forces should withdraw, and that UN forces, a belligerent party in the war, should remain as a police force.


1954 Geneva Conference, Korea
The North Korean representative suggested that elections be held throughout all of Korea, that all foreign forces leave beforehand, that the elections be run by an all-Korean Commission to be made up of equal parts from North and South Korea, and to increase general relations economically and culturally between the North and the South.


1954 Geneva Conference, Korea
The Chinese delegation proposed an amendment to have a group of neutral nations supervise the elections, which the North accepted. The U.S. supported the South Korean position, saying that the USSR wanted to turn North Korea into a puppet state. Most allies remained silent and at least one, Britain, thought that the South Korean–U.S. proposal would be deemed unreasonable.


1954 Geneva Conference, Korea
The South Korean representative proposed all-Korea elections, to be held according to South Korean constitutional procedures and still under UN-supervision. On June 15, the last day of the conference on the Korean question, the USSR and China both submitted declarations in support of a unified, democratic, independent Korea, saying that negotiations to that end should resume at an appropriate time. The Belgian and British delegations said that while they were not going to accept "the Soviet and Chinese proposals, that did not mean a rejection of the ideas they contained". In the end, however, the conference participants did not agree on any declaration.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
While the delegates began to assemble in Geneva from late April, the discussions on Indochina did not begin until May 8, 1954. The Viet Minh had achieved their decisive victory over the French Union forces at Dien Bien Phu the previous day.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The Western allies did not have a unified position on what the Conference was to achieve in relation to Indochina. Anthony Eden, leading the British delegation, favored a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Georges Bidault, leading the French delegation, vacillated and was keen to preserve something of France's position in Indochina to justify past sacrifices, even as the nation's military situation deteriorated. The U.S. had been supporting the French in Indochina for many years and the Republican Eisenhower administration wanted to ensure that it could not be accused of another "Yalta" or having "lost" Indochina to the Communists. Its leaders had previously accused the Democratic Truman administration of having "lost China" when the Communists were successful in taking control of the country.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The Eisenhower administration had considered air strikes in support of the French at Dien Bien Phu but was unable to obtain a commitment to united action from key allies such as the United Kingdom. Eisenhower was wary of becoming drawn into "another Korea" that would be deeply unpopular with the American public. U.S. domestic policy considerations strongly influenced the country's position at Geneva.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Columnist Walter Lippmann wrote on April 29 that "the American position at Geneva is an impossible one, so long as leading Republican senators have no terms for peace except unconditional surrender of the enemy and no terms for entering the war except as a collective action in which nobody is now willing to engage." At the time of the conference, the U.S. did not recognize the People's Republic of China. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, an anticommunist, forbade any contact with the Chinese delegation, refusing to shake hands with Zhou Enlai, the lead Chinese negotiator.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Dulles fell out with the UK delegate Anthony Eden over the perceived failure of the UK to support united action and U.S. positions on Indochina; he left Geneva on May 3 and was replaced by his deputy Walter Bedell Smith. The State of Vietnam refused to attend the negotiations until Bidault wrote to Bảo Đại, assuring him that any agreement would not partition Vietnam.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Bidault opened the conference on May 8 by proposing a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire in place, a release of prisoners, and a disarming of irregulars, despite the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu the previous day in northwestern Vietnam.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On May 10, Phạm Văn Đồng, the leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) delegation set out their position, proposing a ceasefire; separation of the opposing forces; a ban on the introduction of new forces into Indochina; the exchange of prisoners; independence and sovereignty for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; elections for unified governments in each country, the withdrawal of all foreign forces; and the inclusion of the Pathet Lao and Khmer Issarak representatives at the Conference. Pham Van Dong first proposed a temporary partition of Vietnam on May 25.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Following their victory at Dien Bien Phu and given the worsening French security position around the Red River Delta, a ceasefire and partition would not appear to have been in the interests of the DRV. It appears that the DRV leadership thought the balance of forces was uncomfortably close and was worried about morale problems in the troops and supporters, after eight years of war. Turner has argued that the Viet Minh might have prolonged the negotiations and continued fighting to achieve a more favorable position militarily, if not for Chinese and Soviet pressure on them to end the fighting. In addition, there was a widespread perception that the Diem government would collapse, leaving the Viet Minh free to take control of the area.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On May 12, the State of Vietnam rejected any partition of the country, and the U.S. expressed a similar position the next day. The French sought to implement a physical separation of the opposing forces into enclaves throughout the country, known as the "leopard-skin" approach. The DRV/Viet Minh would be given the Cà Mau Peninsula, three enclaves near Saigon, large areas of Annam and Tonkin; the French Union forces would retain most urban areas and the Red River Delta, including Hanoi and Haiphong, allowing it to resume combat operation in the north, if necessary.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Behind the scenes, the U.S. and the French governments continued to discuss the terms for possible U.S. military intervention in Indochina. By May 29, the U.S. and the French had reached agreement that if the Conference failed to deliver an acceptable peace deal, Eisenhower would seek Congressional approval for military intervention in Indochina.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
However, after discussions with the Australian and New Zealand governments in which it became evident that neither would support U.S. military intervention, reports of the plummeting morale among the French Union forces and opposition from Army Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway, the U.S. began to shift away from intervention and continued to oppose a negotiated settlement. By early to mid-June, the U.S. began to consider the possibility that rather than supporting the French in Indochina, it might be preferable for the French to leave and for the U.S. to support the new Indochinese states. That would remove the taint of French colonialism. Unwilling to support the proposed partition or intervention, by mid-June, the U.S. decided to withdraw from major participation in the Conference.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On June 15, Vyacheslav Molotov had proposed that the ceasefire should be monitored by a supervisory commission, chaired by non-aligned India. On June 16, Zhou Enlai stated that the situations in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were not the same and should be treated separately. He proposed that Laos and Cambodia could be treated as neutral nations if they had no foreign bases. On June 18, Pham Van Dong said the Viet Minh would be prepared to withdraw their forces from Laos and Cambodia if no foreign bases were established in Indochina.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The apparent softening of the Communist position appeared to arise from a meeting among the DRV, Chinese and Soviet delegations on June 15 in which Zhou warned the Viet Minh that its military presence in Laos and Cambodia threatened to undermine negotiations in relation to Vietnam. That represented a major blow to the DRV, which had tried to ensure that the Pathet Lao and Khmer Issarak would join the governments in Laos and Cambodia, respectively, under the leadership of the DRV. The Chinese likely also sought to ensure that Laos and Cambodia were not under Vietnam's influence in the future but under China's.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On June 18, following a vote of no-confidence, the French Laniel government fell and was replaced by a coalition with Radical Pierre Mendès France as Prime Minister, by a vote of 419 to 47, with 143 abstentions. Prior to the collapse of the Laniel government, France recognized Vietnam as "a fully independent and sovereign state" on June 4. A long-time opponent of the war, Mendès France had pledged to the National Assembly that he would resign if he failed to achieve a ceasefire within 30 days. Mendès France retained the Foreign Ministry for himself, and Bidault left the Conference.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The new French government abandoned earlier assurances to the State of Vietnam that France would not pursue or accept partition, and it engaged in secret negotiations with the Viet Minh delegation, bypassing the State of Vietnam to meet Mendès France's self-imposed deadline. On June 23, Mendès France secretly met with Zhou Enlai at the French embassy in Bern. Zhou outlined the Chinese position that an immediate ceasefire was required, the three nations should be treated separately, and that two governments existed in Vietnam would be recognized.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Mendès France returned to Paris. The following day he met with his main advisers on Indochina. General Paul Ély outlined the deteriorating military position in Vietnam, and Jean Chauvel suggested that the situation on the ground called for partition at the 16th or 17th parallel. The three agreed that the Bao Dai government would need time to consolidate its position and that U.S. assistance would be vital. The possibility of retaining Hanoi and Haiphong or just Haiphong was dismissed, as the French believed it was preferable to seek partition with no Viet Minh enclaves in the south.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On June 16, twelve days after France granted full independence to the State of Vietnam, Bao Dai appointed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister to replace Bửu Lộc. Diem was a staunch nationalist, both anti-French and anticommunist, with strong political connections in the U.S. Diem agreed to take the position if he received all civilian and military powers. Diem and his foreign minister, Tran Van Do, were strongly opposed to partition.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
At Geneva, the State of Vietnam's proposal included "a ceasefire without a demarcation line" and "control by the United Nations... of the administration of the entire country [and] of the general elections, when the United Nations believes that order and security will have been everywhere truly restored."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
On June 28 following an Anglo-US summit in Washington, the UK and the U.S. issued a joint communique, which included a statement that if the Conference failed, "the international situation will be seriously aggravated." The parties also agreed to a secret list of seven minimum outcomes that both parties would "respect": the preservation of a noncommunist South Vietnam (plus an enclave in the Red River Delta if possible), future reunification of divided Vietnam, and the integrity of Cambodia and Laos, including the removal of all Viet Minh forces.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Also on June 28, Tạ Quang Bửu, a senior DRV negotiator, called for the line of partition to be at the 13th parallel, the withdrawal of all French Union forces from the north within three months of the ceasefire, and the Pathet Lao to have virtual sovereignty over eastern Laos.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
From July 3 to 5, Zhou Enlai met with Ho Chi Minh and other senior DRV leaders in Liuzhou. Most of the first day was spent to discuss the military situation and balance of forces in Vietnam, Giáp explained that while


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Dien Bien Phu had represented a colossal defeat for France ... she was far from defeated. She retained a superiority in numbers - some 470,000 troops, roughly half of them Vietnamese, versus 310,000 on the Viet Minh side as well as control of Vietnam's major cities (Hanoi, Saigon, Huế, Tourane (Da Nang)). A fundamental alteration of the balance of forces had thus yet to occur, Giap continued, despite Dien Bien Phu.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Wei Guoqing, the chief Chinese military adviser to the Viet Minh, said he agreed. "If the U.S. does not interfere,' Zhou asked, "and assuming France will dispatch more troops, how long will it take for us to seize the whole of Indochina?" In the best scenario, Giap replied, "full victory could be achieved in two to three years. Worst case? Three to five years."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
That afternoon Zhou "offered a lengthy exposition on the massive international reach of the Indochina conflict ... and on the imperative of preventing an American intervention in the war. Given Washington's intense hostility to the Chinese Revolution ... one must assume that the current administration would not stand idly by if the Viet Minh sought to win complete victory."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Consequently, "if we ask too much at Geneva and peace is not achieved, it is certain that the U.S. will intervene, providing Cambodia, Laos and Bao Dai with weapons and ammunition, helping them train military personnel, and establishing military bases there ... The central issue", Zhou told Ho, is "to prevent America's intervention" and "to achieve a peaceful settlement." Laos and Cambodia would have to be treated differently and be allowed to pursue their own paths if they did not join a military alliance or permit foreign bases on their territory.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The Mendes France government, having vowed to achieve a negotiated solution, must be supported, for fear that it would fall and be replaced by one committed to continuing the war." Ho pressed hard for the partition line to be at the 16th parallel while Zhou noted that Route 9, the only land route from Laos to the South China Sea ran closer to the 17th parallel.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Several days later the Communist Party of Vietnam's Sixth Central Committee plenum took place. Ho Chi Minh and General Secretary Trường Chinh took turns emphasising the need for an early political settlement to prevent a military intervention by the United States, now the "main and direct enemy" of Vietnam. "In the new situation we cannot follow the old program," Ho declared. "[B]efore, our motto was, 'war of resistance until victory.' Now, in view of the new situation, we should uphold a new motto: peace, unification, independence, and democracy."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
A spirit of compromise would be required by both sides to make the negotiations succeed, and there could be no more talk of wiping out and annihilating all the French troops. A demarcation line allowing the temporary regroupment of both sides would be necessary ..." The plenum endorsed Ho's analysis, passing a resolution supporting a compromise settlement to end the fighting.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
However, Ho and Truong Chinh plainly worried that following such an agreement at Geneva, there would be internal discontent and "leftist deviation", and in particular, analysts would fail to see the complexity of the situation and underestimate the power of the American and French adversaries. They accordingly reminded their colleagues that France would retain control of a large part of the country and that people living in the area might be confused, alienated, and vulnerable to enemy manipulations.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
"We have to make it clear to our people," Ho said that "in the interest of the whole country, for the sake of long-term interest, they must accept this, because it is a glorious thing and the whole country is grateful for that. We must not let people have pessimistic and negative thinking; instead, we must encourage the people to continue the struggle for the withdrawal of French troops and ensure our independence."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The Conference reconvened on July 10, and Mendès France arrived to lead the French delegation. The State of Vietnam continued to protest against partition which had become inevitable, with the only issue being where the line should be drawn. Walter Bedell Smith from the U.S. arrived in Geneva on July 16, but the U.S. delegation was under instructions to avoid direct association with the negotiations.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
All parties at the Conference called for reunification elections but could not agree on the details. Pham Van Dong proposed elections under the supervision of "local commissions." The U.S., with the support of Britain and the Associated States of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, suggested UN supervision. That was rejected by Molotov, who argued for a commission with an equal number of communist and noncommunist members, which could determine "important" issues only by unanimous agreement. The negotiators were unable to agree on a date for the elections for reunification.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
The DRV argued that the elections should be held within six months of the ceasefire, and the Western allies sought to have no deadline. Molotov proposed June 1955 then later softened later in 1955 and finally July 1956. The Diem government supported reunification elections but only with effective international supervision; it argued that genuinely free elections were impossible in the totalitarian North.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
By the afternoon of July 20, the remaining outstanding issues were resolved as the parties agreed that the partition line should be at the 17th parallel and that the elections for reunification should be in July 1956, two years after the ceasefire. The "Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam" was signed only by French and Viet Minh military commands, completely bypassing the State of Vietnam. Based on a proposal by Zhou Enlai, an International Control Commission (ICC) chaired by India, with Canada and Poland as members, was placed in charge of supervising the ceasefire.


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Because issues were to be decided unanimously, Poland's presence in the ICC provided the communists effective veto power over supervision of the treaty. The unsigned "Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference" called for reunification elections, which the majority of delegates expected to be supervised by the ICC. The Viet Minh never accepted ICC authority over such elections, stating that the ICC's "competence was to be limited to the supervision and control of the implementation of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities by both parties."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
Of the nine delegates present, only the United States and the State of Vietnam refused to accept the declaration. Bedell Smith delivered a "unilateral declaration" of the U.S. position, reiterating: "We shall seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the United Nations to insure that they are conducted fairly."


1954 Geneva Conference, Indochina
While the three agreements (later known as the Geneva Accords) were dated July 20 (to meet Mendès France's 30-day deadline) they were in fact signed on the morning of July 21.


1954 Geneva Conference, Provisions
The accords, which were issued on July 21, 1954, set out the following terms in relation to Vietnam:


1954 Geneva Conference, Provisions
The agreement was signed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, France, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The State of Vietnam rejected the agreement, while the United States stated that it "took note" of the ceasefire agreements and declared that it would "refrain from the threat or use of force to disturb them.


1954 Geneva Conference, Provisions
To put aside any notion specifically that the partition was permanent, an unsigned Final Declaration, stated in Article 6: "The Conference recognizes that the essential purpose of the agreement relating to Vietnam is to settle military questions with a view to ending hostilities and that the military demarcation line is provisional and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary."


1954 Geneva Conference, Provisions
Separate accords were signed by the signatories with the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos in relation to Cambodia and Laos respectively.


1954 Geneva Conference, Provisions
The British and Communist Chinese delegations reached agreement on the sidelines of the Conference to upgrade their diplomatic relations.


1954 Geneva Conference, Reactions
The DRV at Geneva accepted a much worse settlement than the military situation on the ground indicated. "For Ho Chi Minh, there was no getting around the fact that his victory, however unprecedented and stunning was incomplete and perhaps temporary. The vision that had always driven him on, that of a 'great union' of all Vietnamese, had flickered into view for a fleeting moment in 1945–46, then had been lost in the subsequent war. Now, despite vanquishing the French military, the dream remained unrealized ..."


1954 Geneva Conference, Reactions
That was partly as a result of the great pressure exerted by China (Pham Van Dong is alleged to have said in one of the final negotiating sessions that Zhou Enlai double-crossed the DRV) and the Soviet Union for their own purposes, but the Viet Minh had their own reasons for agreeing to a negotiated settlement, principally their own concerns regarding the balance of forces and fear of U.S. intervention.


1954 Geneva Conference, Reactions
France had achieved a much better outcome than could have been expected. Bidault had stated at the beginning of the Conference that he was playing with "a two of clubs and a three of diamonds" whereas the DRV had several aces, kings and queens, but Jean Chauvel was more circumspect: "There is no good end to a bad business."


1954 Geneva Conference, Reactions
In a press conference on July 21, President Eisenhower expressed satisfaction that a ceasefire had been concluded but stated that the U.S. was not a party to the Accords or bound by them, as they contained provisions that his administration could not support.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
On October 9, 1954, the tricolore was lowered for the last time at the Hanoi Citadel and the last French Union forces left the city, crossing the Paul Doumer Bridge on their way to Haiphong for embarkation.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
For the communist forces, which were instrumental in the defeat of the French, the ideology of communism and nationalism were linked. Many communist sympathisers viewed the South Vietnamese as a French colonial remnant and later an American puppet regime. On the other hand, many others viewed the North Vietnamese as a puppet of International Communism.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
After the cessation of hostilities, a large migration took place. North Vietnamese, especially Catholics, intellectuals, business people, land owners, anti-communist democrats, and members of the middle-class moved south of the Accords-mandated ceasefire line during Operation Passage to Freedom. The ICC reported that at least 892,876 North Vietnamese were processed through official refugee stations, while journalists recounted that as many as 2 million more might have fled had it not been for the presence of Viet Minh soldiers, who frequently beat and occasionally killed those who refused to turn back. The CIA attempted to further influence Catholic Vietnamese with slogans such as "the Virgin Mary is moving South". At the same time, 52,000 people from the South went North, mostly Viet Minh members and their families.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
The U.S. replaced the French as a political backup for Ngo Dinh Diem, the Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, who asserted his power in the South. The Geneva conference had not provided any specific mechanisms for the national elections planned for 1956, and Diem refused to hold them by citing that the South had not signed and were not bound to the Geneva Accords and that it was impossible to hold free elections in the communist North. Instead, he went about attempting to crush communist opposition.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
On May 20, 1955, French Union forces withdrew from Saigon to a coastal base and on April 28, 1956, the last French forces left Vietnam.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
North Vietnam violated the Geneva Accords by failing to withdraw all Viet Minh troops from South Vietnam, stifling the movement of North Vietnamese refugees, and conducting a military buildup that more than doubled the number of armed divisions in the North Vietnamese army while the South Vietnamese army was reduced by 20,000 men. U.S. military advisers continued to support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which was created as a replacement for the Vietnamese National Army. The failure of reunification led to the creation of the National Liberation Front (better known as the Viet Cong) by Ho Chi Minh's government. They were closely aided by the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) of the North, also known as the North Vietnamese Army. The result was the Vietnam War.


1954 Geneva Conference, Aftermath
Historian John Lewis Gaddis said that the 1954 accords "were so hastily drafted and ambiguously worded that, from the standpoint of international law, it makes little sense to speak of violations from either side".


1954 Gent–Wevelgem
The 1954 Gent–Wevelgem was the 16th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem cycle race and was held on 28 March 1954. The race started in Ghent and finished in Wevelgem. The race was won by Rolf Graf.


1954 George Washington Colonials football team
The 1954 George Washington Colonials football team was an American football team that represented George Washington University as part of the Southern Conference during the 1954 college football season. In their third season under head coach Bo Sherman, the team compiled a 1–7–1 record (0–4–1 in the SoCon).


1954 Georgia Bulldogs football team
The 1954 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia during the 1954 college football season.


1954 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team
The 1954 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented  the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 1954 college football season. The Yellow Jackets were led by 10th-year head coach Bobby Dodd and played their home games at Grant Field in Atlanta. They competed in the Southeastern Conference, finishing second behind Ole Miss. Georgia Tech accepted an invitation to the 1955 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated Southwest Conference champion Arkansas, 14–6.


1954 Georgia gubernatorial election
The 1954 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954.


1954 Georgia gubernatorial election
Lieutenant Governor Marvin Griffin won the Democratic primary on September 8 with 36.52% of the vote and 302 out of 410 county unit votes. At this time, Georgia was a one-party state, and the Democratic nomination was tantamount to victory. Griffin won the November general election without an opponent.


1954 Georgia gubernatorial election
This was the final of Melvin Thompson's three failed bids for Governor.


1954 German Grand Prix
The 1954 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 1 August 1954. It was race 6 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. It was the 17th German Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1926 and the 16th to be held at the Nürburgring complex of circuits. The race was won by 1951 world champion, Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio driving a Mercedes-Benz W196. Ferrari 625 drivers Mike Hawthorn (in a shared drive with José Froilán González) and Maurice Trintignant finished second and third for Scuderia Ferrari.


1954 German Grand Prix, Race report
The race was lengthened from 18 to 22 laps, bringing the German Grand Prix up to the approximately 500 kilometre race distance used by the majority of Formula One Grands Prix at the time. Mercedes had brought to the Nürburgring their new open-wheeled version of the W196 for Fangio, Kling and Hermann Lang (in a one-off drive) after Mercedes's defeat at Silverstone in their streamlined cars. Hans Herrmann drove a streamlined W196s. Qualifying saw Fangio take pole position from Hawthorn, but practice was marred by the death of official Maserati driver Onofre Marimón.


1954 German Grand Prix, Race report
Going into the Wehrseifen slight right hand/sharp left hand turn, Marimón's Maserati 250F failed to negotiate the corner while going down the downhill run to the corner, plunged down an embankment, the car somersaulted and he was killed instantly. Marimón's teammate Luigi Villoresi withdrew from the race, as did the Maserati of Ken Wharton (entered by Owen Racing) but the team's third car for Sergio Mantovani made the race start. Stirling Moss qualified third in his privately entered Maserati 250F ahead of Hans Herrmann (Mercedes-Benz W196s), Gonzalez and Paul Frère (Gordini T16).


1954 German Grand Prix, Race report
Fangio and Karl Kling led the way in their two Mercedes. Hawthorn was an early retirement with a broken axle as were Moss, Frère and privateer Maserati driver Roberto Mieres. Hermann Lang, one of the pre-war stars of the Mercedes 'silver arrows' spun out of his final Grand Prix appearance after ten laps. Gonzalez started and was running third but was so upset by Marimón's death he was called in after 16 laps to hand over to Hawthorn, who set off in pursuit of the Mercedes. He moved into second when Kling pitted and pursued Fangio relentlessly. Late in the race, drizzle forced him to slow and he held second from Trintignant. Kling finished fourth ahead of Mantovani, the last driver to travel the full race distance, getting some points for a saddened Maserati. Kling claimed the fastest lap point.


1954 German Grand Prix, Race report
Just ten of the 23 qualifiers finished the gruelling race. With an elapsed time of 3 hours 45 minutes 45.8 seconds this was the longest (non Indy 500) F1 championship race in history, until the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, which lasted just over four hours (but in this case it's also considered the time with race suspended). The win pushed Fangio further ahead in the championship, now to the point where he had more than double the points of his nearest rival Gonzalez. A win in the next race at the Swiss Grand Prix could wrap up his second championship.


1954 German football championship
The 1954 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1953–54. Hannover 96 were crowned champions for the second time after a group stage and a final.


1954 German football championship
It was Hannover's second appearance in the German final, having previously won the championship in 1938, beating Schalke 04 4-3 after extra-time. Kaiserslautern were making their fourth appearance, and was the third time they had reached the final in four years, following their championship wins in 1951 and 1953.


1954 German football championship
The format used to determine the German champion was different from the 1953 season. Only six teams qualified for the championship, instead of eight. These six teams were split into two groups of three, and only played a single round of matches with games on neutral grounds; previously it had been home-and-away games. The reason for this format change and the reduction in the number of games was Germanys qualifying for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, held shortly after the championship final. As in the past seasons, the two group winners then played the national final.


1954 Giro d'Italia
The 1954 Giro d'Italia was the 37th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started off in Palermo on 21 May with a 36 km (22.4 mi) team time trial and concluded in Milan with a 222 km (137.9 mi) relatively flat mass-start stage on 13 June. Fifteen teams entered the race, which was won by Swiss Carlo Clerici of the Welter team. Second and third respectively were Swiss rider Hugo Koblet and Italian Nino Assirelli.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Teams
Fifteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1954 edition of the Giro d'Italia. The organizers invited neighboring countries to gather a squad of riders to send to compete in the race. Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland all entered a team, while France was offered a spot in the race and accepted, but could not form a team in time. Each team sent a squad of seven riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 105 cyclists. From the riders that began the race, 67 made it to the finish in Milan.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
Fausto Coppi (Bianchi) was seen as the clear–cut favorite, because of the strength of his supporting team. Coppi's greatest challenger was thought to be Hugo Koblet (Cilo). Koblet entered the race in what was regarded as not great form, but if he were to gain his form in the race, then his chances of victory would be large. A La Sentinelle writer felt that Koblet's presence made the competition interesting as it felt no other rider could challenge Coppi. Koblet was thought to have a better support from his team relative to the past couple of years and was expected to contend for the general classification.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
Outside candidates included Fiorenzo Magni (Nivea) who would normally be considered a more legitimate contender; however, he was recovering from a fall in the one–day race Roma–Napoli–Roma. Roma-Napoli-Roma winner Bruno Monti (Arbos) and Pasquale Fornara (Bottecchia) were seen as other challengers. "Old" three–time champion Gino Bartali (Bartali) lined up to race while being supported by his usual domestiques Corrieri and Bresci.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
While noting that the Giro had been primarily won by Italian riders, Feuille d'Avis Valaisan felt the teams with Belgians, Spanish, and Swiss teams would have a good chance to rival the Italian squads. Nouvelliste Valasain writer even commented that a coalition of some sort exists between Italian riders against the foreign riders. Girardengo-Eldorado riders Stan Ockers and Rik Van Steenbergen were seen as the best Belgian entrants. Their Raymond Impanis was seen a potential threat, but due to disputes with their team director, his participation was questionable. Heinz Müller was the German Clement team's best chance.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
The Dutch team Locomotief was thought to be filled with good climbers and rouleurs with the likes of Wim Van Est, Wout Wagtmans, and the Voorting brothers Adrie and Gerrit. The team was expected to do well in the opening team time trial. Spanish Climber Jesus Loroño (Ideor) was seen as a contender in the mountains after his performance at the 1953 Tour de France, where he won as a stage and the Mountains classification. Bernard Ruiz and Francisco Masip were two other Spanish riders to watch. Fritz Schär (Guerra) was seen as a rider who would favor the intermediate sprints classification despite his recent poor performance at the Tour de Romandie. Carlo Clerici (Welter) was thought to have "class and will."


1954 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
Notable absences included Ferdinand Kübler (Fiorelli) who had an ongoing dispute with the race organizers following his abandonment of the Giro the year before. Louison Bobet (Mercier) was seen as a rider who could pose a threat to Coppi, but due to previous incidences of giving him up, he was not seen as a strong contender.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Route and stages
The route's first fourteen stages were revealed on 25 February 1954, amid speculation that Rome was not going to be included. The rest was revealed on 6 May 1954. The route included two time trials, one team and one individual. The inclusion of the team time trial was criticized as it was thought to give too much of an advantage to the wealthier teams. In addition, the team time trial that year was held midway through the race and several teams were down men through disease or abandonment, which only further hindered teams.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Route and stages
To assuage this complaint of the teams, the team time trial stage was made first. Critics felt that the route would be similar to year's past, where all the action would be in the closing days, citing the 20th and 21st stages as being the most difficult. The press felt that the increased number of intermediate sprints would lead to more attacks throughout the stage ad help animate the race. The race started in Palermo for the first time since 1949.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Race overview
In the sixth stage, Carlo Clerici escaped and took the lead with a big margin.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Race overview
In the twentieth stage, Fausto Coppi won and took some time back. His fans were hoping that he would show more action on the twenty-first stage which included the Bernina Pass, but cyclists rode slowly as a form of protest against the racing conditions, taking almost ten hours to cover the 222 km stage; this event became known as the Bernina strike. When the race ended in Milan the next day, angry supporters whistled at the cyclists. For his leading role in the strike, Coppi was given a two-months suspension, although this was later revoked.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Classification leadership
One jersey was worn during the 1954 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro. The winner of the general classification received 72,000 francs. In total 32,555,000 lire (then roughly 227,000 Swiss francs) was awarded. Each day a rider wore the pink jersey, he would win 15,000 francs. Each stage winner received  49,000 francs. A green jersey was awarded to the best ranked foreign rider in the general classification, who also received a sum of money each day the jersey was awarded.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Classification leadership
The mountains classification awarded all awarded three points to the first rider and one point to the second rider to cross the summit of a categorized climb. There was no leader's jersey awarded for this classification. The winner received 10,000 francs. Although no jersey was awarded, there was also a classification for the teams, in which the teams were awarded points for their rider's performance during the stages in the intermediate sprints.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Classification leadership
In the gran premio traguardi volanti or intermediate sprint classification points were awarded at designated sprint locations throughout each stage's route and at the stage finishes. In total there were 64 designated sprint points throughout the race. Points were awarded to the first three riders to pass through the assigned point: first received five points, second received three points, and third received one point. The winner of each sprint will receive 650 francs, while the overall classification winner received 81,000 francs. The leader of this classification wore a white jersey.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Aftermath
Following the race, a Nouvelliste Valaisan writer described how non-Italian riders dominated the race by winning 11 of the 22 stage, while having 35 foreigners riding to 75 Italians starting the race. The writer acknowledged that some critics felt Italian cycling was beginning to decline as the "Big Three" Bartali, Coppi, and Magni would be soon exiting the sport; however, the writer noted that Giancarlo Astrua, Nino Defilippis, Pasquale Fornara, among others would help maintain Italian cycling's presence. In particular, the writer felt the younger riders attacked more and forced the older riders out of their reserves quicker than expected.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Aftermath
The writer concluded that the Swiss riders have earned respect from their peers and become favorites entering races now, while stating that the Swiss riders that will contest the upcoming Tour de France will have a lengthy time off to rest before its start because of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. A Nouvelliste Valaisan writer wrote that large attacks were expected on the 21st stage which featured the Bernina pass; however, the attacks did not come, which at the time they speculated it was due to fatigue of the riders.


1954 Giro d'Italia, Aftermath
Due to the low effort by the riders and slow stage speed, race organizers cut the prize money on the stage by half. Later this inaction by the peloton on the 21st stage became known as the "Bernina strike." Another Nouvelliste Valaisan writer described the collective performance by the Swiss riders as the best in the nation's history at the Giro, as three finished in the top 12 of the general classification.


1954 Giro di Lombardia
The 1954 Giro di Lombardia cycling race took place on October 31, 1954, and was won by Bianchi-Pirelli's Fausto Coppi. It was the 48th edition of the Giro di Lombardia "monument" classic race.


1954 Gold Coast general election
General elections were held in the Gold Coast on 15 June 1954. The result was a victory for Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party, which won 71 of the 104 seats.


1954 Gold Coast general election, Background
The election was held following the approval of a new constitution on 29 April 1954. The new constitution meant that assembly members were no longer elected by the tribal councils, the Assembly was enlarged, and all members were chosen by direct election from equal, single-member constituencies. It established a cabinet composed of African ministers, and only defense and foreign policy remained in the hands of the governor; the elected assembly was given control over the majority of internal affairs.


1954 Gold Coast general election, Aftermath
In May 1956, Nkrumah's government issued a white paper containing proposals for Gold Coast independence. The British Government stated it would agree to a firm date for independence if a reasonable majority for such a step were obtained in the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly after a general election. This election was held in July 1956, and resulted in another win for the CPP. Gold Coast became the independent nation of Ghana on 6 March 1957.


1954 Governor General's Awards
In Canada, the 1954 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the eighteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.


1954 Grand National
The 1954 Grand National was the 108th annual renewal of the Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 1954.


1954 Grand National
The race was won by ten-year-old gelding Royal Tan, an 8/1 shot trained by Vincent O'Brien. O'Brien had also trained the previous year's winner, Early Mist, and would secure a third consecutive win the following year with Quare Times. Royal Tan was ridden by jockey Bryan Marshall, who also won his second consecutive Grand National. Tudor Line was second and the 15/2 favourite Irish Lizard finished third.


1954 Grand National
Only 29 horses ran in the race, the fewest since 1935 when 27 ran. The 1954 running saw four equine fatalities during the race; this remains the only Grand National renewal to have yielded four fatalities. Dominick's Bar dropped dead jumping the second fence; Paris New York incurred a cervical fracture at the fourth. Legal Joy, who finished second two years previously, broke a leg at the 13th and had to be euthanised, while Coneyburrow was injured at the 28th and also had to be put down. The two latter fatalities remain the only ones ever recorded at the 13th and 28th fences in the Grand National.


1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the sixth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of nine Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 30 May, with French Grand Prix and ended with Spanish Grand Prix on 3 October.


1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1954 Grand Prix season calendar
† The 500 cc race was stopped by bad weather, and the FIM excluded the race from the World Championship.


1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1954 Grand Prix season calendar
†† The Sidecars and 125cc races were held on the 10.6-mile (17.364) km long Clypse Course other than the usual 37 mile (62 km) Snaefell mountain course.


1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Standings, Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the four best races counted in the Sidecars, 125cc and 250cc, while in the 350cc and 500cc championships, the five best results were counted.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour
The 1954 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1954. Captained by Dickie Williams, the tour involved a schedule of 32 games: 22 in Australia and 10 in New Zealand, with two three-match Test Series against both nations. The tour began inauspiciously, with Great Britain losing four of their first seven matches, including the First Test against Australia in Sydney. Moving into the Queensland leg, the Lions’ results improved, and they won all nine of their matches in the state.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour
This included victory in the Second Test in Brisbane. A common feature of many of the tour matches was rough play, punches being throw in and out of tackles. The July 10 match against New South Wales was abandoned by the referee seventeen minutes into the second half due to persistent brawling by the players. One week after the abandoned game, Australia won the Third Test to claim the Ashes by a 2-1 margin. Moving to New Zealand, Great Britain lost the Second Test, but recovered to win the Third Test and the series, by a 2-1 margin.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour
The tour concluded with three matches in five days back in Australia at Sydney, Canberra and Maitland. Despite being a British team – five of the squad were Welsh, two from Scotland and hooker Tom McKinney from Northern Ireland – the team played, and were often referred to by both the press at home and away, as England.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
Western Division: FB: Ron Beaumont ( Canowindra), WG: P. Weldon (Trangie), CE: Joe Cohen ( Wellington), CE: Laurie Burke ( St Patrick's), WG: Peter Marks ( Warren), FE: Peter Bracken ( Parkes), HB: Keith Deacon (Dubbo), LK: R. Harben ( Baradine), SR: Frank Hogan ( St Patrick's), SR: Ron Potter (Our Boys), PR: R. Border (Coonabarabran), HK: Ken Fogarty ( Forbes), PR: Bryan Cameron (Trangie), Coach: Frank Bell (Arms Factory). Great Britain: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Terry O'Grady, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Lewis Jones, FE: Phil Jackson, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Brian Briggs, SR: Nat Silcock, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
Newcastle: FB: Dave Parkinson (age 31) ( Cessnock), WG: Bill Callinan ( Maitland), CE: Geoff Hawkey (20) ( Centrals), CE: Frank Threlfo (22) ( Maitland), WG: Don Adams (21) ( Maitland), FE: Merv Walters ( Cessnock), HB: Bobby Banks (24) ( Waratah Mayfield), LK: Barry Levido (24) ( Cessnock), SR: Don Schofield (23) ( Cessnock), SR: Doug Chappell (23) ( Kurri), PR: Fred Brown (26) ( Maitland), HK: Bob Crane (30) ( Norths), PR: Doug Hawke (24) ( Norths), Coach: Frank Hawthorne ( Centrals). Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Andrew Turnbull, CE: Doug Greenall, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Frank Castle, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: Brian Briggs, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
Riverina: FB: Peter McGrath ( Temora), WG: Johnny Graves ( Cootamundra), CE: Wal Towers ( Gundagai), CE: Gerry Lowe ( Cowra), WG: Jim Denaher (Ungarie), FE: Brian Longhurst ( Gundagai), HB: Doug Cameron ( Young), LK: Peter O'Connor ( Young), SR: Len Henman ( Temora), SR: Kenneth Fitzgerald ( Tarcutta), PR: Nevyl Hand ( Gundagai), HK: Ken Mulrooney ( Kangaroos), PR: G. Robinson ( Young). Albert Paul ( Griffith) and Tom Ryan ( Temora) were selected but withdrew owing to injury. Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Andrew Turnbull, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: John Henderson, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jim Bowden.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
Sydney: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( Souths), WG: Ross Kite (22) ( St George), CE: Dick Poole (23) ( Newtown), CE: Merv Lees (21) ( St George), WG: Kevin Hole (21) ( St George), FE: Johnny Dougherty (22) ( Souths), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Wests), LK: Harold Crocker (26) ( Parramatta), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Jack Rayner (33) ( Souths), PR: Roy Bull (24) ( Manly), HK: Ken Kearney (28) ( St George), PR: Don Evenden (24) ( Norths). Great Britain: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Doug Greenall, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Lewis Jones, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Nat Silcock, SR: Jack Wilkinson, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
Southern Division: FB: Darcy Russell ( Wests), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. ), CE: Harry Wells (22) ( Wollongong), CE: Johnny Rouse ( Nowra), WG: Jack Lumsden ( Wests), FE: Col Donohue ( Corrimal), HB: Noel Hill ( Thirroul), SR: Noel Mulligan (28) ( C.B.C. ), SR: Angus Miller ( Berry), LK: Jack Quinn ( Gerringong), PR: Austin Lawler ( C.B.C. ), HK: Neville Gosson (Bargo), PR: Bruce Noble (21) ( Jamberoo). Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Terry O'Grady, CE: Doug Greenall, CE: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Frank Castle, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Dave Valentine, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
New South Wales: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( Souths), WG: Noel Pidding (27) ( Maitland), CE: Dick Poole (23) ( Newtown), CE: Harry Wells (22) ( Wollongong), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. Wollongong), FE: Johnny Dougherty (22) ( Souths), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Wests), LK: Harold Crocker (26) ( Parramatta), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Jack Rayner (33) ( Souths), PR: Roy Bull (28) ( Manly), HK: Ken Kearney (24) ( St George), PR: Jim Evans (24) ( Newtown).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg
The following were named as reserves but did not play: Bill Garvin (22) ( Balmain) and Barry Levido (22) ( Cessnock). Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Terry O'Grady, CE: Doug Greenall, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Frank Castle, FE: Phil Jackson, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Nat Silcock, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Australia: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( South Sydney), WG: Noel Pidding (27) ( Maitland), CE: Ken McCaffery (22) ( Toowoomba Souths), CE: Alex Watson (24) ( Brisbane Western Suburbs), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. Wollongong), FE: Bob Banks (23) ( Toowoomba Newtown), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Western Suburbs), LK: Harold Crocker (26) ( Parramatta), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Kel O'Shea (20) (Ayr), PR: Roy Bull (28) ( Manly-Warringah), HK: Ken Kearney (28) ( St George), PR: Duncan Hall (28) ( Brisbane Western Suburbs).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
The following were named as reserves but did not play: Harry Wells (22) ( Wollongong) and Brian Davies (23) ( Booval Swifts). Great Britain: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Lewis Jones, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, CE: Phil Jackson, WG: Frank Castle, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Dave Valentine, SR: Nat Silcock, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Brisbane: FB: Norm Pope (22) ( Valleys), WG: Wally McDonald (27) ( Valleys), CE: Noel Hurley ( Valleys), CE: Alex Watson (22) ( Wests), WG: Garry Barnett ( Valleys), FE: Keith Brown ( Wynnum), HB: Ken Booth ( Easts), LK: Jack Jones ( Valleys), SR: Stan Hassum ( Norths), SR: Norm McFadden ( Valleys), PR: Duncan Hall (28) ( Wests), HK: Johnny Flynn ( Wests), PR: Don Davey ( Norths). Leo Johnson ( Souths) was selected in the Brisbane team but did not play owing to injury. Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Lewis Jones, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Brian Briggs, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Queensland: FB: Norm Pope (age 22) ( Valleys), WG: Bob Buckley (23) (Ayr), CE: Alex Watson (22) ( Wests), CE: Ken McCaffery (24) ( Toowoomba Souths), WG: Denis Flannery (26) ( Ipswich Brothers), FE: Bob Banks (23) ( Toowoomba Newtown), HB: Cyril Connell Jr (26) ( Toowoomba Newtown), LK: Kel O'Shea (20) (Ayr), SR: Brian Davies (24) ( Booval Swifts), SR: Bernie Drew (25) ( Ipswich Railways), PR: Duncan Hall (28) ( Wests), HK: Alan Hornery (28) ( Booval Swifts), PR: Jack Rooney (27) ( Toowoomba All Whites). Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Lewis Jones, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Brian Briggs, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Wide Bay: FB: Angie Venardos (North Coast), WG: Jim Gowdie (Gympie), CE: Cec Cooper (Bundaberg), CE: Noel Hawthorne (North Coast), WG: B. Jamieson (Gympie), FE: Ted Barnes (Bundaberg), HB: D. Nixon (Bundaberg), LK: M. Ziebath (Lower South Burnett), SR: Don Bowes (Rovers), SR: H. Symonds (Bundaberg), PR: P. Iszlaub (Lower South Burnett), HK: Keith Weston (Western Suburbs), PR: WP. Hegerty ( Cherbourg). Great Britain: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Doug Greenall, CE: Dickie Williams, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Geoff Gunney, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: Jack Wilkinson, PR: John Henderson, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: Jim Bowden.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
North Queensland Southern Districts/Zone: FB: Lou Della-Vedova ( Magpies), WG: Bill Rasmussen ( Bucas), CE: Ike Sturgeon ( Marian), CE: Ron O'Brien ( Bucas), WG: Brian Dimmock ( Collinsville), FE: Les Kieseker ( Magpies), HB: Doug Shew ( Marian), LK: Hume Ronald ( Carltons), SR: Kevin Elliott ( Magpies), SR: Charlie Ogilvie ( Magpies), PR: Ross Ryan ( Bucas), HK: Don McKenzie ( Magpies), PR: Ross Primrose ( Carltons). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Nat Silcock, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Geoff Gunney, SR: Brian Briggs, SR: Jack Wilkinson, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Tommy Harris.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Far North Queensland (North Queensland Northern Districts/Zone): FB: Frank Gill ( Kangaroos), WG: Allan Cripps (Uniteds), CE: R. Shambrook ( Kangaroos), CE: Pat Farrell (Herbert River), WG: R. Horn ( Kangaroos), FE: Hugh Kelly (22) ( Ivanhoes), HB: Dick Chant ( Ivanhoes), Jim Fallon (Mareeba), HK: R. Carter (Innisfail), Ossie Cumner (Ingham), Bill Allendorf ( Brothers), Danny Clifford (Tully), C. Blankensee ( Ivanhoes). The following were initially selected for the match but due to injury did not play: Gordon Farrelly ( Kangaroos), Mickey Shannon (Herbert River), N. McHardie and Eddie Kratzman (Tully).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
For the Great Britain team, the account for this match in E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Year Book remarks that hooker Tommy Harris played on the wing but omits his name from the accompanying Great Britain team list, which lists Alan Prescott twice, as half-back and prop. On the morning of the match (June 24) the team chosen as published in The Courier-Mail lists 14 players, with one to be omitted. This team differs from that given in the yearbook.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
The local, Cairns Post match report mentions within the text the eight point-scorers, but no other British players: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Tommy Harris, CE: Jack Cunliffe, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Dickie Williams, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell and Geoff Gunney. Hooker Tom McKinney was identified as playing in The Courier-Mail match report, winning “the scrums, 25 to 16, after leading 18 to 12 at half-time.” Alan Prescott was listed in both The Courier-Mail team list and the yearbook, but not mentioned in The Courier-Mail or Cairns Post match reports.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Four players listed in both The Courier-Mail team list but not in the yearbook, and not mentioned in the yearbook are: PR: Jack Wilkinson, John Henderson, Brian Briggs and Ken Traill. The above-named 14 players are credited with a match appearance in the Squad statistics. The following four players listed only in the yearbook are not credited with an appearance for this Far North Queensland match: LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: Nat Silcock, PR: Jim Bowden.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
North Queensland: FB: Nev Linde (age 23) (Ayr), WG: Bob Buckley (Ayr), CE: Gordon Farrelly ( Kangaroos), CE: Graham Laird ( Magpies), WG: Graham \ Geoff Nash (Tully), FE: Brian Dimmock ( Collinsville), HB: Jack Russell-Green (Ayr), LK: Ross Primrose ( Carltons), SR: Roy Greenwood (Tully), SR: Bill Duell (Ayr), PR:  Jack (Jerry) McAuliffe ( Brothers), HK: Ron Griffiths ( Ivanhoes), PR: Hume Ronald ( Carltons), Coach: Len Pegg (age 32). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, CE: Phil Jackson, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: Nat Silcock, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Alan Prescott.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 1st Test
Central Queensland: FB: Rex Morrison ( Norths), WG: Des McGovern (26) ( Railways), CE: Matt McCoy (30) ( Fitzroys), CE: Cec Cooper (28) ( Brothers), WG: Joe Jackson (Gladstone), FE: George Williams ( Fitzroys), HB: Duncan Jackson ( Lifesavers), LK: Alf Bawden ( Fitzroys), SR: Ray (Neilsen) Nielson ( Fitzroys), SR: John Perrin ( Norths), PR: R. Gutheridge ( Fitzroys), HK: L. Tynan ( Railways), PR: B. Cridland ( Norths). Great Britain: FB: Ted Cahill, WG: Nat Silcock, CE: Jack Cunliffe, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Brian Briggs, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Jack Wilkinson, PR: John Henderson, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jim Bowden


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 2nd Test
Australia: FB: Clive Churchill ( South Sydney), WG: Noel Pidding ( Maitland), CE: Noel Hazzard (Roma), CE: Alex Watson ( Brisbane Western Suburbs), WG: Brian Carlson ( C.B.C. Wollongong), FE: Bob Sullivan ( North Sydney), HB: Keith Holman ( Western Suburbs), LK: Harold Crocker ( Parramatta), SR: Norm Provan ( St George), SR: Kel O'Shea (Ayr), PR: Duncan Hall ( Brisbane Western Suburbs), HK: Ken Kearney ( St George), PR: Roy Bull ( Manly-Warringah). The following were named as reserves but did not play:  Cyril Connell Jr ( Toowoomba Newtown) and Brian Davies ( Booval Swifts). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Nat Silcock, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Alan Prescott.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 2nd Test
Toowoomba: FB: Bevan Hoyle ( Souths), WG: Bill Monkland ( All Whites), CE: Noel Hazzard (Roma), CE: Athol Halpin ( All Whites), WG: Alan Norris ( Valleys), FE: Bob Banks ( Newtown), HB: Cyril Connell Jr ( Newtown), LK: Ron (Roy) Teys ( Valleys), SR: Don Furner ( Souths), SR: Bill Beardsworth ( Valleys), PR: Vince Soorley ( Newtown), HK: Kev Boshammer ( All Whites), PR: Neil Teys ( Newtown), Coach: Duncan Thompson ( Toowoomba). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Jack Cunliffe, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Nat Silcock, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: Geoff Gunney, PR: Jack Wilkinson, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 2nd Test
Northern NSW: FB: Brian Graham (17) ( South Grafton), WG: John Rowlings ( Armidale), CE: Bruce Grace ( Gunnedah), CE: Jim Daley (Casino All Stars), WG: George Smith ( Nambucca), FE: Noel McKay (18) ( Bowraville), HB: Barry McConnell (Tweed), LK: Les Reid ( Scone), SR: Monty Porter ( East Tamworth), SR: George Alaban (Diggers), PR: Harry Melville ( Scone), HK: Alf Hardman ( Moree), PR: Arthur Henderson ( Moree). Great Britain: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Nat Silcock, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Brian Briggs, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Jack Wilkinson, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 2nd Test
New South Wales: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( Souths), WG: Noel Pidding (27) ( Maitland), CE: Harry Wells (22) ( Wollongong), CE: Merv Lees (21) ( St George), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. Wollongong), FE: Dick Poole (23) ( Newtown), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Wests), LK: Peter Diversi (22) ( Norths), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Jack Rayner (33) ( Souths), PR: Jim Evans (24) ( Newtown), HK: Ken Kearney (28) ( St George), PR: Roy Bull (24) ( Manly).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 2nd Test
The following were named as reserves but did not play:  Ross Kite (22) ( St George) and Don Evenden (24) ( Norths),Great Britain: FB: Geoff Gunney, WG: Brian Briggs, CE: Jack Cunliffe, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Jack Wilkinson, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Charlie Pawsey, SR: John Henderson, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Dickie Williams, PR: Tommy Harris.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 3rd Test
Australia: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( South Sydney), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. Wollongong), CE: Harry Wells (22) ( Wollongong), CE: Alex Watson (22) ( Brisbane Western Suburbs), WG: Noel Pidding (27) ( Maitland), FE: Bob Banks (23) ( Toowoomba Newtown), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Western Suburbs), LK: Peter Diversi (22) ( North Sydney), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Kel O'Shea (21) (Ayr), PR: Brian Davies (23) ( Booval Swifts), HK: Ken Kearney (28) ( St George), PR: Duncan Hall (28) ( Brisbane Western Suburbs), Roy Bull ( Manly-Warringah) was selected but withdrew owing to injury.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian Leg, 3rd Test
The following were named as reserves but did not play: Dick Poole (23) ( Newtown) and Don Evenden (24) ( North Sydney). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Nat Silcock, SR: Charlie Pawsey, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jim Bowden.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, New Zealand leg
For Māori the following 14 players were selected, with one to be omitted: R. Haggie, A. Berryman, J. Gibbons, J. Wright, T. Penny, William Sorensen, G. Turner, J. Wills, D. Diamond, John Yates, H. Maxwell, N. Rakena, R. Royal, J. Ratima. For Great Britain: centre Doug Greenall scored a try.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, New Zealand leg
He was not, however, amongst the 13 players named prior to the match: FB: Jack Cunliffe, WG: Terry O'Grady, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, CE: Phil Jackson, WG: Frank Castle, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Nat Silcock, SR: Brian Briggs, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: John Henderson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, New Zealand leg, 1st Test
New Zealand: FB: Des White, WG: Cyril Eastlake ( Auckland), CE: Ron McKay ( Taranaki), CE: Tommy Baxter, WG: Jim Edwards ( Auckland), FE: George Menzies (West Coast), HB: Jim Haig, PR: Cliff Johnson ( Auckland), HK: Roy Roff, PR: William McLennan (West Coast), SR: John Bond ( Canterbury), SR: Frank Mulcare, LK: Alister Atkinson ( Canterbury). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Gerry Helme, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: Jack Wilkinson, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Charlie Pawsey, LK: Dave Valentine.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, New Zealand leg, 2nd Test
New Zealand: FB: Des White, WG: Jim Edwards ( Auckland), CE: Ron Ackland, CE: Tommy Baxter, WG: Vern Bakalich, FE: William Sorensen ( Auckland), HB: Jim Haig, PR: Cliff Johnson (Auckland ), HK: Lory Blanchard ( Canterbury), PR: William McLennan (West Coast), SR: John Butterfield ( Canterbury), SR: Frank Mulcare, LK: Alister Atkinson ( Canterbury). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: Jack Wilkinson, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Brian Briggs, LK: Dave Valentine.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, New Zealand leg, 3rd Test
New Zealand: FB: Des White, WG: Jim Edwards ( Auckland), CE: Ron Ackland, CE: Jim Austin ( Auckland), WG: Tommy Baxter, FE: William Sorensen (Auckland ), HB: Jim Haig, PR: Cliff Johnson ( Auckland), HK: Lory Blanchard ( Canterbury), PR: William McLennan (West Coast), SR: John Butterfield ( Canterbury), SR: Frank Mulcare, LK: Alister Atkinson ( Canterbury). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, WG: Terry O'Grady, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Alf Burnell, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jim Bowden, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Charlie Pawsey, LK: Ken Traill.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian return Leg
New South Wales: FB: Clive Churchill (age 27) ( Souths), WG: Brian Carlson (21) ( C.B.C. Wollongong), CE: Dick Poole (23) ( Newtown), CE: Merv Lees (21) ( St George), WG: Ross Kite (22) ( St George), FE: Greg Hawick (23) ( Souths), HB: Keith Holman (26) ( Wests), LK: Peter Diversi (22) ( Norths), SR: Norm Provan (22) ( St George), SR: Jack Rayner (33) ( Souths), PR: Jim Evans (24) ( Newtown), HK: Ken Kearney (28) ( St George), PR: Roy Bull (24) ( Manly).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian return Leg
The following were named as reserves but did not play: Bobby Whitton (22) ( Newtown) and Harold Crocker (24) ( Parramatta). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Billy Boston, CE: Dave Valentine, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Nat Silcock, PR: Jim Bowden, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Alan Prescott, WG Dickie Williams.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian return Leg
Southern NSW: FB: Keith Barnes ( Wollongong), WG: Jack Lumsden ( Wests), CE: Col Johnson ( Cooma Rovers), CE: Alan (Allan) Hawke ( Norths), WG: Johnny Graves ( Cootamundra), FE: Jim / Jack Gartner (Adaminaby), HB: Doug Cameron ( Young), LK: Noel Mulligan ( C.B.C. ), SR: Angus Miller ( Berry), SR: Stan Greenwood ( Yass), PR: Ron (Ralph) Foster ( Norths), HK: Billy Rayner ( Yass), PR: Bill Hodges ( Wollongong). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Nat Silcock, CE: Phil Jackson, CE: Doug Greenall, WG: Dave Valentine, FE: Dickie Williams, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Ken Traill, SR: Brian Briggs, SR: Jim Bowden, PR: Alan Prescott, HK: Tom McKinney, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Australian return Leg
Newcastle Coalfields: FB: Dave Parkinson ( Cessnock), WG: Don Adams ( Maitland), CE: Bill Sneddon ( Cessnock), CE: Colin De Lore ( Lakes United), WG: Lester Batey ( Cessnock), FE: Ray Allsop ( Lakes United), HB: Bobby Banks ( Waratah Mayfield), LK: Gus Gray ( Lakes United), SR: Doug Hawke ( Norths), SR: Tom Pitman ( Lakes United), PR: Jack Mantle ( Norths), HK: Bob Crane ( Norths), PR: Fred Brown ( Maitland). Great Britain: FB: Lewis Jones, WG: Doug Greenall, CE: Ernie Ashcroft, CE: Phil Jackson, WG: Nat Silcock, FE: Raymond Price, HB: Gerry Helme, LK: Dave Valentine, SR: Geoff Gunney, SR: Alan Prescott, PR: Brian Briggs, HK: Tommy Harris, PR: Jack Wilkinson.


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Statistics
Brian Carlson, Clive Churchill, Keith Holman, Ken Kearney, and Norm Provan all appeared in seven matches against Great Britain - in each instance three games for Australia, three for New South Wales and one for Sydney. The most tries scored against the Lions was six, by Brian Carlson. Keith Holman and Ken McCaffery each scored four tries. Noel Pidding scored the most points against the tourists, with 51 from three tries and 21 goals in five matches. In the Test Series the leading scorers were Noel Pidding 36 (Australia) and Des White 22 (New Zealand).


1954 Great Britain Lions tour, Statistics
Lewis Jones scored the most points for the Lions against both opponents, 30 against Australia and 20 against New Zealand. Billy Boston scored six tries in the six tests, including four against New Zealand. Dickie Williams scored three tries against Australia. Brian Carlson scored three tries in the Ashes Tests for Australia. No New Zealander scored more than a single try in their three Test series.


1954 Green Bay Packers season
The 1954 Green Bay Packers season was their 36th season overall and their 34th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 4–8 record under new head coach Lisle Blackbourn and finished fifth in the Western Conference.


1954 Green Bay Packers season
In a season of streaks, the Packers lost their first three games, all at home, climbed back to .500 at 4–4, then lost their final four.


1954 Green Bay Packers season, Regular season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1954 Grenadian general election
General elections were held in Grenada on 20 September 1954. Although independent candidates received the most votes, Eric Gairy's Grenada United Labour Party (the only political party in existence at the time) won six of the eight seats, as it had done in the 1951 elections. At this time the Legislative Council had few powers. The role of head of government remained with the Administrator.


1954 Guamanian legislative election, Electoral system
The 21 members of the Legislature were elected from a single district, with the candidates receiving the most votes being elected. Candidates were required to be at least 25 years old and have lived in Guam for at least five years before the election.


1954 Guamanian legislative election, Results
The Popular Party won a majority of seats, with the remainder won by independents.


1954 Guamanian legislative election, Aftermath
Following the elections there was a dispute within the Popular Party over the election of the Speaker. Eight MPs accused Antonio Borja Won Pat, who had served as Speaker during the 1950–52 and 1952–54 legislatures, of going back on a gentlemen's agreement to stand down after two terms. The eight left the party and joined with three independents to elect Francisco B. Leon Guerrero as Speaker. The eight later formed the Territorial Party.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
The 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, code-named Operation PBSuccess, was a covert operation carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that deposed the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz and ended the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944–1954. It installed the military dictatorship of Carlos Castillo Armas, the first in a series of U.S.-backed authoritarian rulers in Guatemala.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
The Guatemalan Revolution began in 1944, after a popular uprising toppled the military dictatorship of Jorge Ubico. Juan José Arévalo was elected president in Guatemala's first democratic election. He introduced a minimum wage and near-universal suffrage, and turned Guatemala into a democracy. Arévalo was succeeded in 1951 by Árbenz, who instituted land reforms which granted property to landless peasants. The Guatemalan Revolution was disliked by the United States federal government, which was predisposed during the Cold War to see it as communist. This perception grew after Árbenz had been elected and formally legalized the communist Guatemalan Party of Labour.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
The United Fruit Company (UFC), whose highly profitable business had been affected by the end to exploitative labor practices in Guatemala, engaged in an influential lobbying campaign to persuade the U.S. to overthrow the Guatemalan government. U.S. President Harry Truman authorized Operation PBFortune to topple Árbenz in 1952; although the operation was quickly aborted it was a precursor to PBSuccess.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected U.S. president in 1952, promising to take a harder line against communism; the links that his staff members John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles had to the UFC also predisposed them to act against the Guatemalan government. Additionally, the U.S. federal government drew exaggerated conclusions about the extent of communist influence among Árbenz's advisers. Eisenhower authorized the CIA to carry out Operation PBSuccess in August 1953. The CIA armed, funded, and trained a force of 480 men led by Carlos Castillo Armas. The coup was preceded by U.S. efforts to criticize and isolate Guatemala internationally.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
Castillo Armas' force invaded Guatemala on 18 June 1954, backed by a heavy campaign of psychological warfare. This included a radio station which broadcast anti-government propaganda and a version of military events favorable to the rebellion, claiming to be genuine news, as well as air bombings of Guatemala City and a naval blockade. The invasion force fared poorly militarily, and most of its offensives were defeated. However, psychological warfare and the fear of a U.S. invasion intimidated the Guatemalan army, which eventually refused to fight. Árbenz briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to arm civilians to resist the invasion, before resigning on 27 June. Castillo Armas became president ten days later, following negotiations in San Salvador.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
Described as the definitive deathblow to democracy in Guatemala, the coup was widely criticized internationally, and strengthened the long-lasting anti-U.S. sentiment in Latin America. Attempting to justify the coup, the CIA launched Operation PBHistory, which sought evidence of Soviet influence in Guatemala among documents from the Árbenz era; the effort was a failure. Castillo Armas quickly assumed dictatorial powers, banning opposition parties, imprisoning and torturing political opponents, and reversing the social reforms of the revolution. Nearly four decades of civil war followed, as leftist guerrillas fought the series of U.S.-backed authoritarian regimes whose brutalities include a genocide of the Maya peoples.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Monroe Doctrine
U.S. President James Monroe's foreign policy doctrine of 1823 warned the European powers against further colonization in Latin America. The stated aim of the Monroe Doctrine was to maintain order and stability, and to ensure that U.S. access to resources and markets was not limited. Historian Mark Gilderhus states that the doctrine also contained racially condescending language, which likened Latin American countries to squabbling children.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Monroe Doctrine
While the U.S. did not initially have the power to enforce the doctrine, over the course of the 19th century many European powers withdrew from Latin America, allowing the U.S. to expand its sphere of influence throughout the region. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland laid out a more militant version of the doctrine, stating that the U.S. was "practically sovereign" on the continent.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Monroe Doctrine
Following the Spanish–American War in 1898, this aggressive interpretation was used to create a U.S. economic empire across the Caribbean, such as with the 1903 treaty with Cuba that was heavily tilted in the U.S.' favor. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt believed that the U.S. should be the main beneficiary of production in Central America. The U.S. enforced this hegemony with armed interventions in Nicaragua (1912–33), and Haiti (1915–34).


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Monroe Doctrine
The U.S. did not need to use its military might in Guatemala, where a series of dictators were willing to accommodate the economic interests of the U.S. in return for its support for their regimes. Guatemala was among the Central American countries of the period known as a banana republic. From 1890 to 1920, control of Guatemala's resources and its economy shifted away from Britain and Germany to the U.S., which became Guatemala's dominant trade partner. The Monroe Doctrine continued to be seen as relevant to Guatemala, and was used to justify the coup in 1954.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Authoritarian governments and the United Fruit Company
Following a surge in global coffee demand in the late 19th century, the Guatemalan government made several concessions to plantation owners. It passed legislation that dispossessed the communal landholdings of the indigenous population and allowed coffee growers to purchase it. Manuel Estrada Cabrera, President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920, was one of several rulers who made large concessions to foreign companies, including the United Fruit Company (UFC).


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Authoritarian governments and the United Fruit Company
Formed in 1899 by the merger of two large U.S. corporations, the new entity owned large tracts of land across Central America, and in Guatemala controlled the railroads, the docks, and the communication systems. By 1900 it had become the largest exporter of bananas in the world, and had a monopoly over the Guatemalan banana trade. Journalist and writer William Blum describes UFC's role in Guatemala as a "state within a state". The U.S. government was also closely involved with the Guatemalan state under Cabrera, frequently dictating financial policies and ensuring that American companies were granted several exclusive rights. When Cabrera was overthrown in 1920, the U.S. sent an armed force to make certain that the new president remained friendly to it.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Authoritarian governments and the United Fruit Company
Fearing a popular revolt following the unrest created by the Great Depression, wealthy Guatemalan landowners lent their support to Jorge Ubico, who won an uncontested election in 1931. Ubico's regime became one of the most repressive in the region. He abolished debt peonage, replacing it with a vagrancy law which stipulated that all landless men of working age needed to perform a minimum of 100 days of forced labor annually. He authorized landowners to take any actions they wished against their workers, including executions. Ubico was an admirer of European fascist leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, but had to ally with the U.S. for geopolitical reasons, and received substantial support from this country throughout his reign. A staunch anti-communist, Ubico reacted to several peasant rebellions with incarcerations and massacres.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Authoritarian governments and the United Fruit Company
By 1930 the UFC had built an operating capital of 215 million U.S. dollars, and had been the largest landowner and employer in Guatemala for several years. Ubico granted it a new contract, which was immensely favorable to the company. This included 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres) of public land, an exemption from all taxes, and a guarantee that no other company would receive any competing contract. Ubico requested the UFC to cap the daily salary of its workers at 50 U.S. cents, so that workers in other companies would be less able to demand higher wages.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Guatemalan Revolution and presidency of Arévalo
The repressive policies of the Ubico government resulted in a popular uprising led by university students and middle-class citizens in 1944. Ubico fled, handing over power to a three-person junta which continued Ubico's policies until it too was toppled, by the October Revolution that aimed to transform Guatemala into a liberal democracy. The largely free election that followed installed a philosophically conservative university professor, Juan José Arévalo, as the President of Guatemala. Arévalo's administration drafted a more liberal labor code, built health centers, and increased funding to education.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Guatemalan Revolution and presidency of Arévalo
Arévalo enacted a minimum wage, and created state-run farms to employ landless laborers. He also cracked down on the communist Guatemalan Party of Labour (Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo, PGT) and in 1945 criminalized all labor unions in workplaces with fewer than 500 workers. By 1947, the remaining unions had grown strong enough to pressure him into drafting a new labor code, which made workplace discrimination illegal and created health and safety standards. However, Arévalo refused to advocate land reform of any kind, and stopped short of drastically changing labor relations in the countryside.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Guatemalan Revolution and presidency of Arévalo
Despite Arévalo's anti-communism, the U.S. was suspicious of him, and worried that he was under Soviet influence. The communist movement did grow stronger during Arévalo's presidency, partly because he released its imprisoned leaders, and also through the strength of its teachers' union. Another cause for U.S. worry was Arévalo's support of the Caribbean Legion. The Legion was a group of progressive exiles and revolutionaries, whose members included Fidel Castro, that aimed to overthrow U.S.-backed dictatorships across Central America. The government also faced opposition from within the country; Arévalo survived at least 25 coup attempts during his presidency.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Guatemalan Revolution and presidency of Arévalo
A notable example was an attempt in 1949 led by Francisco Arana, which was foiled in an armed shootout between Arana's supporters and a force led by Arévalo's defense minister Jacobo Árbenz. Arana was among those killed, but details of the coup attempt were never made public. Other sources of opposition to Arévalo's government were the right-wing politicians and conservatives within the military who had grown powerful during Ubico's dictatorship, as well as the clergy of the Catholic Church.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Presidency of Árbenz and land reform
The largely free elections of 1950 were won by the popular Árbenz, and represented the first transfer of power between democratically elected leaders in Guatemala. Árbenz had personal ties to some members of the communist PGT, which was legalized during his government, and a couple of members played a role in drafting the new president's policies. Nonetheless, Árbenz did not try to turn Guatemala into a communist state, instead choosing a moderate capitalist approach. The PGT too committed itself to working within the existing legal framework to achieve its immediate objectives of emancipating peasants from feudalism and improving workers' rights.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Presidency of Árbenz and land reform
The most prominent component of Árbenz's policy was his agrarian reform bill. Árbenz drafted the bill himself, having sought advice from economists across Latin America. The focus of the law was on transferring uncultivated land from large landowners to poor laborers, who would then be able to begin viable farms of their own.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Presidency of Árbenz and land reform
The official title of the agrarian reform bill was Decree 900. It expropriated all uncultivated land from landholdings that were larger than 673 acres (272 ha). If the estates were between 224 acres (91 ha) and 672 acres (272 ha), uncultivated land was to be expropriated only if less than two-thirds of it was in use. The owners were compensated with government bonds, the value of which was equal to that of the land expropriated. The value of the land itself was what the owners had declared it to be in their tax returns in 1952. Of the nearly 350,000 private landholdings, only 1,710 were affected by expropriation. The law was implemented with great speed, which resulted in some arbitrary land seizures. There was also some violence, directed at landowners, as well as at peasants that had minor landholdings.


1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Historical background, Presidency of Árbenz and land reform
By June 1954, 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of land had been expropriated and distributed. Approximately 500,000 individuals, or one-sixth of the population, had received land by this point. Contrary to the predictions made by detractors, the law resulted in a slight increase in Guatemalan agricultural productivity, and in an increase in cultivated area. Purchases of farm machinery also increased. Overall, the law resulted in a significant improvement in  living standards for many thousands of peasant families, the majority of whom were indigenous people. Historian Greg Grandin sees the law as representing a fundamental power shift in favor of the hitherto marginalized.