John Evans Riddell played hockey at high school for the Montreal Westmount Academy before going to McGill University to study mining in 1931. A good rugby player, he was a hockey defenseman, and was on the McGill team that played two exhibition games at the 1932 Olympics. Riddell left university with a degree in mining and M.Sc. in geology, and his work took him to South African gold and copper mines and, during his time there, Riddell and other former McGill men, introduced the sport of ice hockey to the people of Johannesburg. He served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Air Force Bomber Command during World War II, reaching the rank of flight lieutenant. After the War Riddell worked for several Canadian mining companies before returning to McGill as a professor. He retired in 1988 to pursue another of his sporting passions, sailing. Riddell married his wife Joan in 1939, and she too was an Olympian, representing Canada as a fencer at the 1932 Games.
Great Britain