First World WAr

The First World War saw InterVarsity and intra-club hockey suspended (1915-1918), as many men joined the war effort. From MUHC, 24 of the 32 men who had to that point played InterVarsity joined up. Records are scarcer beyond that, but at least three other men, and two women from the club (then only in its eighth year) also served. Given their education, many served in various medical or engineering capacities. Some were officers, others Privates & NCOs.

Of those we know of, six gave their lives, and at least nine were wounded.

A brief overview of the service history of these MUHC men & women can be found here. Some notable individuals include:

  • Thomas Borwick, who landed with the second wave at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, and commanded the 6th Battalion during the evacuation from Gallipoli. He ended the war as a Lt-Col, and was awarded the DSO and Croix de Guerre. Later knighted.

  • Rachel Champion and Vera Scantlebury, who were amongst the earliest female graduates from the University's Medical School, and travelled to London to work at the Endell Street Military Hospital.

  • Geoffrey Deans, who joined the nascent Australian Flying Corps.

  • Norman Greig, who died with 'exceptional gallantry' covering the retreat of his men, during an attack on the German Officers Trench at Gallipoli. At the suggestion of CEW Bean, his death was the subject of a painting.

  • Keith Levi, a doctor, killed at Cape Helles (Gallipoli) while attending to the wounded. The MDHS faculty's 'Keith Levi Prize' is named in his honour.

  • Alan Newton and his younger brother Bill: our first two men's captains, both became exceptional doctors and medical administrators, and were knighted in later life.

  • Arthur Rossiter, who became an anti-gas specialist, was gassed twice himself, and served as the AIF representative on the Imperial Chemical Warfare Committee at the end of the war.

  • John Tovell, killed in action during the Anzac landings on 25 April 1915.

Roll of Honour

  • GREGORY, Charles Clapham (KIA 19 July 1916, at Fleurbaix, France)

  • GREIG, Norman James (KIA 12 July 1915, German Officers Trench, Gallipoli)

  • LEVI, Keith Maurice (KIA 7 August 1915, Cape Helles, Gallipoli)

  • MOULE, Humphrey Osborne (KIA 7 August 1915, Anazc Cove, Gallipoli)

  • OLIVE, William Major (KIA 23 April 1916, Armentieres, France)

  • TOVELL, John Francis Huon (KIA 25 April 1915, Anazc Cove, Gallipoli)

Returned Servicemen & Women

  • BORWICK, Thomas Faulkner

  • BURY, George Chadwell

  • BUTLER, Harry Nairn

  • CHAMPION, Rachel C.

  • COLES, Alfred Dudley

  • DEANS, Geoffrey Matthews

  • DOWNER, Harold George

  • FENTON, Geoffrey

  • FENTON, John Wentworth

  • FINCH, Valentine

  • HANSFORD, Gilbert Eric

  • LANG, Alexander Allison

  • MAIR, Francis Herbert Stewart

  • MELDRUM, Frank

  • NEWTON, Hibbert Alan Stephen

  • NEWTON, Wilberforce Stephen

  • ROSSITER, Arthur Lyle

  • SCANTLEBURY, Vera

  • THWAITES, James Alexander

  • TREGONNING, Donald Rupert Charles

  • UPTON, Thomas Haynes

  • WHEATLAND, Frank Travis

  • WILKINSON, William Stanley