The son of Alan Peter Chitty (1884-1981), and Hannah Evelyne Chitty (1887-1974), née Wilson, Robert Mainwaring "Bob" Chitty was born at Corryong, Victoria on 4 July 1916.
He married Hazel Irene Leggo (1907-1976) on 26 April 1941.[2]
Chitty's brother Peter played VFL football for St Kilda. Later, as a prisoner of War in Changi Prison, Peter was awarded a "Brownlow Medal" for being the Best and Fairest player in the Changi Football League.[3][4]
Football
Chitty played much of his junior and amateur football for his home town of Cudgewa.
Leaving the country for the city, Chitty played for Sunshine in the Victorian Sub-Districts before being signed by Carlton. Chitty made his debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 7 of the 1937 season. While a brilliant, versatile player, Chitty built his reputation as one of the game's most fearsome hardmen:
"Some players manufacture aggression, others seem born to it; as far as Bob Chitty was concerned, aggression oozed out of his every pore." — australianfootball.com.
Chitty captained Carlton to victory in the infamous 1945 "Bloodbath" Grand Final. Chitty's king hit of South Melbourne's Ron Clegg in the second quarter is seen as what triggered the succession of violent incidents that garnered the match its nickname. In the fourth quarter, Chitty was knocked out by opponent Laurie Nash.[5] After the match, Chitty was suspended for eight weeks for elbowing Bill Williams.
In 1947, while he was living in Benalla,[9] Chitty ("a good horseman and bushman")[10] starred as bushrangerNed Kelly in the critically panned feature film, The Glenrowan Affair, that was released in 1951.[11]
