HRC War Memorial

HRC pays respect each year to those members who served in WWI or WWII on the Sunday closest to Anzac Day, and to acknowledge the sacrifice of member’s lives during WWI and WWII. There is an obelisk situated in the gardens adjacent to the Bridge Road bridge which displays the names of eight members who lost their lives in WWI (from 43 who enlisted) and of three members in WWII (from 48 who enlisted).

This memorial has important significance for members as it was provided by the family of Lt. H. C (Claude) Guy in his memory and is referred to in the Minutes of the club as being unveiled on Opening Day 12th October 1918.

All of the eight names listed for WWI were of persons in the A. I. F. while the three for WWII were each in the R.A.A.F. There is no record of the circumstances or areas of Europe where members met their fate in 1914 – 1918 but we do know that the three members killed in the 1939 – 1945 war, all died on Australian soil. Two were killed running for their aircraft in Darwin during a Japanese air-raid and one was lost in an aircraft crash near Bairnsdale in Victoria.

Our records also indicate that there was an Honour Board produced in 1918 for those who have joined the Expeditionary Forces, to be placed in the Clubhouse with the names to be suitably inscribed in gold writing on a blackwood board.” This honour board was apparently lost during the 1934 flood when the clubhouse was washed away, as it has never been sighted in our present building.

The annual ceremony held on the Sunday nearest to Anzac Day, has been held each year since 2000, after the names of the 1939 – 1945 lost members were inscribed on the obelisk with the support of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

All are welcome to attend the annual ceremony.

The site of the memorial was moved from close to the car park, to a more prominent and higher site in the parkland around Hawthorn Rowing Club in 2007.