title: Jim Knight (footballer)
text: # Jim Knight (footballer)
  
  James Bell Knight (3 January 1918 – 11 October 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Carlton in the VFL.
  
  ## Family
  
  The son of Archie Cecil Clarence Knight (1896–1965), and Margaret May Knight (1892–1960), née Paterson, James Bell Knight was born on 3 January 1918.
  
  ## Football
  
  ### Geelong
  
  Knight was Geelong's best and fairest player in 1941.
  
  ### Carlton
  
  He joined Carlton in 1942 after Geelong withdrew from the competition due to the war and spent two seasons with the club.
  
  ## Military service
  
  While playing at Carlton he received military training; and, in 1943, he joined the RAAF, and served in Papua New Guinea, fighting against the Japanese.
  
  He was killed on 11 October 1943 when the bombs aboard his Douglas Boston bomber (A28-26) exploded after the aircraft crashed during take-off from Goodenough Island in Papua New Guinea. The other two crew members survived the accident.
  
  ## Remembered
  
  The runner up in the Geelong Best and Fairest now wins the Jim Knight Memorial Trophy.
  
  