Commemorating the Centenary of Armistice Day & the Memories of Rowers

Honour Their Spirit on Remembrance Day
Commemorating the Centenary of Armistice Day & the Memories of Rowers

One hundred years ago on 11 November 1918, four bloody years of brutal conflict came to an end. 

Australia’s involvement in the First World War began when Britain and Germany went to war on 4 August 1914, and both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher, who were in the midst of an election campaign, pledged full support for Britain. The outbreak of war was greeted in Australia, as in many other places, with great enthusiasm.

For Australia, by 11 November 1918, from a population of fewer than five million, nearly 422,000 Australians enlisted, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 137,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner. 
After it was over, World War I was called "the war to end all wars" because it was so destructive that the nations of the world wanted to prevent such slaughter from ever happening again.

In New South Wales, as across of all of Australia, all sorts of organisations erected monuments to the members of their community who been killed – there are honour boards, stained-glass windows, books of memory, in schools, churches, community organisations and sporting clubs throughout the state.

A number of rowers died in the tragic years. The most poignant, I think, was Frederick Septimus Kelly who was buried not far from where he fell in Martinsart Cemetery in the Somme region. By many accounts, he was the best and most stylish rower and sculler of his day. He won the Diamonds three times at Henley and was part of the British Eight that took gold in the 1908 Olympics. The Sydney-born Kelly is perhaps more noted for his musical compositions, the most famous being his incredibly beautiful and equally haunting, Elegy for Strings, composed in 1915 to mark the death of his great friend, the poet Rupert Brooke. You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/3pte_d7i9-E

Forty Olympians enlisted in WWI and three made the ultimate sacrifice, including the rower Keith Heritage. Keith was part of the rowing team for Stockholm 1912. He is credited as being the first Australian volunteer to enlist when war broke in August 2014. He served in Papua New Guinea in 2014 and landed at Gallipoli in August 1915 with Sydney Middleton. He left the peninsula during the evacuation the following December. Heritage was the last person to be evacuated. In June 1916 he was awarded the Military Cross for leading a successful raid on enemy trenches. On July 26 (a month later) he was killed in action at Pozieres.

Even though 100 years has passed, the interest in remembering those who went to war continues to grow. It may be short notice, but it would be a fitting tribute if we could gather details of any memorials, such as Honour Rolls, rowing clubs have. If you know of such a memorial, can you please send a photo with any details as a text document so that we can share them on Remembrance Day this year. Hopefully we can have a complete biography of all the rowers from NSW that went to war. A more complete collection can be shared in the near future.

Louis Petrin
Drummoyne Rowing Club
lucky_louis@hotmail.com