Memories of young soldier William Hawkins live on in his proud descendants
THE South Bruny Lighthouse was a playground for World War I soldier William Cuthbert Hawkins when growing up.
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THE South Bruny Lighthouse was a playground for William Cuthbert Hawkins when growing up. It was a place he associated with his paternal grandfather, Captain Hawkins, who for 37 years was its superintendent.
The firstborn of Robert and Violet Hawkins of Bruny Island’s Lunawanna, William, pictured, grew up at the family homestead “Blink Bonnie” where he attended nearby Daniels Bay State School.
His enrolment form shows that on July 2, 1906, (aged 9) there were only four students enrolled at the newly-opened school and three of them were Hawkins. The others were his younger brothers.
Eight months after World War 1 started in 1914, William volunteered for enlistment, giving his age as 18 years and two months, although he was still only 17. His listed occupation was as a wood turner.
William joined the D Company of the 26th Infantry Battalion, which was comprised of Tasmanians and Queenslanders.
He left Hobart for Brisbane on June 20, 1915, on-board HMAT Ascanius. Soon after arriving in the Middle East, William landed at Anzac Cove.
A notice in the Mercury on September 13, 1916, mentions that he had spent the Christmas of 1915 on the Greek island of Lemnos, a large island in the Aegean.
In January 1916, following the evacuation at Gallipoli, his service record shows that he returned to Alexandria, Egypt.
In March that year, William left the Middle East and headed for the Western Front, arriving at Marseilles, France. He was to be involved in a major offensive by the Australian forces at Pozieres, which was part of a larger campaign known as the Battle of the Somme.
His service record shows that he was killed in the initial phase of the action on July 29, 1916, only 15 months after enlisting. Private William Cuthbert Hawkins was just 19 when he died.
His great-nephew, Mick Hawkins, said researching his relative’s story has humanised what was once only a name on an honour board and memorial.
“A lot of people in the family have kept mementos connected to him. There’s lots of little mementos that people have kept in his memory, so he’s not forgotten,” Mr Hawkins said.
Private Hawkins is remembered at tree 469 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue in Hobart and on the honour board at the Hobart Town Hall. He is also commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial at the Somme in France.
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