It has been a century since Hawthorn joined the VFL in 1925. The club’s first side to play in the nation’s premier competition included a special group – six players and their coach who enlisted in the war that was meant to end all wars, World War I.

Alex ‘Joker’ Hall was appointed Hawthorn’s coach for its first season in the Victorian Football League. A member of Essendon’s famed premiership sides of the 1890s, Hall was also known for coaching stints at Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda. In season 1925, his Mayblooms were gaining a reputation for fair play. Hall taught his players that the ball was always the first objective: ‘I’d rather lose a game … than win one and have anyone think it had been played in a dirty way.’ 

His honourable reputation was made tangible during the First World War.  A widower in his 40s with sons at the front, Hall need not have enlisted. He made several attempts to join the Army. At first, he was rejected after initial medical examinations discovered varicose veins, a physical barrier to military service at the time. His attempts finally succeeded, and he signed his enlistment papers in February 1917. They make no mention of varicose veins! 

A slip of paper sits in his file. It states that Hall had been ‘specially selected’ to join the Army Medical Corps. It also states that he was ‘basically fit’. Sent straight to the Corps’ depot at Royal Park and then to Broadmeadows, Hall saw service in Headquarters Company. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Sergeant in May 1917. He also captained the ‘Broadmeadows Recruits and Headquarters’ side that played a game against the ‘Reinforcements’ at the MCG in May 1918. His actual duties at Broadmeadows are not specified, but he served for a year and 317 days and was discharged in January 1919.

Click here to view the history of Hawthorn's War Service

Alfred Stanley Dudley McKenzie (circled above) holds a unique place in club history as the only Hawthorn player to join the Navy during the First World War. Born in Myamyn in country Victoria, he played with Collingwood (1918) and North Melbourne (1919-21) before crossing to Hawthorn during the 1921 VFA season. He had struggled to find consistent form before arriving at Glenferrie. At Hawthorn, Stan McKenzie became a lynchpin defender. He would be Hawthorn’s Most Consistent Player in 1922 and would represent Victoria on three occasions in 1925. He played in all 17 games for Hawthorn in its inaugural VFL season. It would be the only League season for McKenzie, who moved to Ballarat in 1926.

Enlisting in May 1915, when just 18 years of age, McKenzie joined the 1^st Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train. This unique and highly decorated unit was a naval engineering complement. Its job was to build and maintain piers, to provide harbour defences, boarding parties, and wireless stations, often under fire. Originally ranked as AB (able-bodied) Driver, McKenzie embarked on the troop ship ‘Port Macquarie’, which left Melbourne on June 3, 1915. They were heading for further training in England, but the ship was diverted to Egypt. 

His unit was sent to Gallipoli to be a part of the British landings at Suvla Bay on August 8, 1915. McKenzie landed under heavy fire several miles north of Anzac Cove. Ordered to install a pontoon pier, McKenzie’s unit had the pier up and running in a mere twenty minutes. Unlike other naval personnel, they remained ashore, and they were dressed in khaki with slouch hats or pith helmets. They named their camp Kangaroo Beach. The unit performed roles such as equipment repair, road building, personnel protection on the beaches and it delivered potable water. They also assisted with the evacuation from the Dardanelles in December 1915. In fact, they were the last Australians to leave the Gallipoli peninsula.

Holding the Naval rating of AB Artificer from April 1916, McKenzie would serve in Egypt, including the Suez Canal, before being returned to Australia when his unit was disbanded in May 1917.

Jim Jackson was Hawthorn’s first captain in the VFL. He, too, served his nation by enlisting in the AIF in July 1915. A leather worker and trunk maker by trade, Jackson joined the 11^th Reinforcements for the 14^th Infantry Battalion. Arriving in Egypt in March 1916, he was transferred to the 8^th Field Company of Engineers. Following two months of training, the unit embarked for France and service on the Western Front. 

Sapper Jackson remained in the lines for the next 14 months, after which he received infrequent furloughs to London or Paris. In December, Jackson became ill and spent more than a month in a hospital in Havre. His unit was in Fry, Belgium by the time he returned in February. Jackson sailed home to Australia in May 1919.

Hec Yeomans would kick Hawthorn’s first goal in league football in Round 1, 1925. Before his football career at Hawthorn (1921-1925), Yeomans served in the AIF.  Enlisting in January 1916, he joined the 12^th Reinforcements for the 23^rd Battalion as a Lewis light machine gunner. He landed in France in December 1916, just in time for one of the coldest winters in living memory. Yeomans was in hospital with ‘trench foot’ within weeks of arrival on the Western Front. His service was anything but boring, charged with gambling in the lines and docked two days’ pay in August 1917.  He was also promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1918.

Yeomans had already displayed ‘conspicuous gallantry’ at Mont St Quentin. His machine gun team had been knocked out by German artillery. Yeomans crawled forward to find another Lewis machine gun.  He covered his unit’s advance alone by pushing forward ‘in the face of enemy opposition,’ allowing the establishment of new front lines.  He was awarded the Military Medal for this action. 

Fred ‘Snowy’ Finch was recruited from Burwood before the 1922 season. Known for his dedication to training and for his blonde locks, Finch formed part of the famed Hawthorn centreline with Jim McCashney and Jack Gill. His efforts would win him the Best All-Rounder (Best & Fairest) Award for the 1925 season. His VFL career would not last.  Finch played his last senior game in Rd 14, 1927 but would continue to play in the Reserves until 1929.

Fred Finch enlisted as a 19-year-old in August 1914.  He embarked for Egypt with the first Australian contingent in October of that year. Private Finch was assigned to Headquarters for the 1^st Australian Division at Alexandria. He was sent to France in March 1916 and was transferred to the 3^rd Division Train in 1918. He returned to Australia via Italy in October 1918.

Albert Edward ‘Bert’ Officer enlisted at the Melbourne Town Hall in February 1918, a few months past his 18^th birthday. So young that he required permission from a senior officer to serve in the Field Artillery. He joined the other gunners of the 35^th artillery reinforcements and embarked for Sydney and England on the troop ship, ‘Port Darwin’. It would be a miserable journey for the extremely seasick soldier.

Disembarking at Southampton in late July 1918, Officer spent the next few months in and out of hospitals and training bases in England. In October, he was sent to France, where he became a gunner in the 14^th Field Artillery Brigade, a part of the Australian 5^th Division. Officer joined his unit in the field on November 4, 1918, just one week before the Armistice that would end the War. His battery returned to England in April 1919 and made the trip home to Australia aboard the ‘Aneas’ on November 22, 1919. 

The museum has stepped into today’s world. Come visit and share your Hawks Museum memories! Snap a photo while visiting and tell us what you loved on our new webpage which can be found via this link - https://campaign.hawthornfc.com.au/tb_app/519133. We can’t wait to see what you enjoyed. 

Bert Officer joined Hawthorn from St Kilda in 1924. He was full forward in the Round 1, 1925 side. Officer would play 22 senior games for Hawthorn. He was also the leading goalkicker for the Hawthorn Reserves in 1926.

Ernest ‘Tich’ Utting enlisted in July 1915, three months before his 18^th birthday. Listed as being 5ft 3^1/2 inches tall, Private Utting was posted to the 8^th Battalion, serving as a batman. He embarked for Egypt in November 1915. Not always the model soldier, Utting was once charged with drunkenness and with refusing to obey an order from an NCO following an altercation with another Digger at the Australian depot at Tel-el-Kabir, Egypt in March 1916. 

Transferred as a gunner to the 47^th Field Artillery battery in April, Utting would not stay long. He suffered a recurrence of a childhood heart condition, myocardial degeneration, which caused him shortness of breath and swollen legs. He was sent to the 3^rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Cairo and then home to Melbourne. His military service was over.

Utting’s heart condition did not appear to slow his football career. Following stints with Collingwood (1919-20, 1922) and Preston (1917, 1923), he joined Hawthorn during the 1923 season. He soon became a vital cog in the side, playing mostly in the back pocket. The winner of the club’s Best & Fairest award in 1929, Utting became a Life Member in 1933. That year, as the Reserves’ playing coach, he won the Gardiner Medal for best player in the competition. He also coached Hawthorn’s 3^rd18 side to its first premiership in 1941. He continued to assist the club in training and recruiting up to his early death in 1948. 

These men all gave notable service to the Hawthorn Football Club. Before running out in the Brown & Gold, they served in khaki or blue. This Anzac Day, in a year we celebrate the centenary of Hawthorn’s first game in the League, we should also remember those of the club who served their nation.

Lest We Forget.

The Hawks Museum is open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday visits can be arranged by appointment. Please find the contact details below. 

Contact
03 9535 3075 or email hawksmuseum@hawthornfc.com.au

Admission
Glenferrie Gold and Friends of the Hawks Museum are free (please wear current badge).
General entry by gold coin donation, cashless payment also available.

Location
Bunjil Bagora, Waverley Park 
Stadium Circuit
Mount Waverley

More information
https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/club/history/hawks-museum