Hawthorn Rowing Club War Memorial
Each year it is club tradition to remember our members who have served their country by holding club races followed by an Anzac service at the club’s war memorial located in the parkland to the North East of the clubhouse.
The club’s memorial which was erected in October 1919 to honour our fallen WW1 members, is one of the first and oldest Anzac memorials in Australia.
HRC War Memorial
The Hawthorn Rowing Club War Memorial is situated in the parklands behind the clubhouse and it commemorates the members of the Hawthorn Rowing Club who died in service or were killed in action during World War One and subsequent conflicts.
Extract from Weekly Times (Melbourne) 25 October 1919 :
“Through the generosity of Lt Claude Guy’s family, the Hawthorn Club has been enabled to erect a handsome memorial to those of its members, who gave their lives to the Empire. The memorial is in the form of a granite column which has been erected in the municipal reserve adjoining the boathouse. The unveiling ceremony, which was carried out by Cr. Sambell, was witnessed by a large gathering, including many lady supporters of the club, who were afterwards entertained at afternoon tea. Club fours provided a good deal of interesting rowing, and an entry of five crews was received. The committee had provided well for the entertainment of the visitors, and a string band enlivened the proceedings.”
VRA Regatta 7/12/1912 Maiden Fours Winner Hawthorn L.C.Guy (Str), D Barrie, H.B.Kirsch, T.A Nelson, H.Unerhau (C)
Lt Claude Guy.
Bendigonian 15th Nov 1917:
“The Hawthorn club and the sport of rowing generally have suffered another severe loss through the death of Lieut. L. Claude Guy, who has died of wounds after three and a quarter years on active service. This young soldier during his short racing career prior to enlisting met with considerable success in maiden and junior events.
He was a fine type of athlete, and showed considerable judgment as a stroke, in which seat he won all his races. With a little experience he would no doubt have done well in the senior ranks. His only attempt at senior racing was the champion fours, on 13th December, 1913. He was highly respected by his fellow oarsmen, who deeply sympathise with his parents in their sorrow.”
Lieut. Guy enlisted as a Gunner in the artillery immediately on the outbreak of war, and went right through the Gallipoli campaign.
His record of wins in regatta events is for Hawthorn Rowing Club is as follows:-Maiden Eight, Henley, 2/10/1912; Maiden Four V.R.A., 7/12/1912; Junior Four, Henley, 2/10/1913; Junior Pair; Seymour. 8/11/1913; Junior Eight, V.R.A., 6/12/1913.
Victoria’s Rowers at War
Between 1914 and 1918, recruitment posters like these were used to enlist the nation’s fit young athletes to leave our shores and defend the Empire. Rowing Clubs like Hawthorn Rowing Club were at the centre of community life and hence a major source of volunteers.
In 1915, within the first 12 months, following the declaration of war, 600 Victorian oarsman had enlisted and were shipped off to the fight. The University of Melbourne Boat Club alone contributed 70 members.
Hawthorn Rowing Club had 13 in the very first list of volunteers and by 1917, 85% of the club’s oarsmen, 44 in total, had volunteered.
Cairo 8th February 1915
On the 8th February 1915, a group of the first wave of volunteers - unaware of the horrors that lay ahead of them - held the First Annual Dinner of the Victorian Oarsman at the Metropole Hotel, Cairo. One of the dinner attendees was Gunner Thomas Alfred Nelson, a Hawthorn member, whose menu was replicated for the recent Hawthorn Centenary of Anzacs Dinner -100 years on. The menu is framed for posterity on the South wall of the HRC clubhouse.
Thomas Nelson -Winner Junior Fours Elsternwick Cup Henley 1913.
Hawthorn Rowing Club’s WW1 Anzacs
“ We must look forward one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years, to the time when the vast continent of Australia will contain an enormous population; and when that great population will look back through the preceding periods of time to the world-shaking episode of the Great War, and when they will seek out with the most intense care every detail of that struggle; when the movements of every battalion, of every company, will be elaborately unfolded to the gaze of all; when every family will seek to trace some connection with the heroes who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, or fought on the Somme, or in the other great battles in France”.
- Winston Churchill, London, December 16, 1918.