|
11/448 Sergeant Henry DEWAR
Henry Dewar was born in Foxton in 1883, but spent most of his early years in Wellington before moving to Taranaki at the age of 27. He worked there as an Ironmoulder until World War I broke out four years later in 1914.
Known by the nickname "Norkey", Dewar was strong and ruggedly built for those years, and was an industrious forward and could play either as a hooker or in the loose. In fact, some said he could play in any position in the scrum.
His first All Black appearance was followed by selection for the tour of North America, in which he proved to be one of the most consistent performers. He appeared in 14 of the 16 matches, including the test against All-America which was won 51-3.
When war broke out, Dewar was one of the first to enlist and joined the 2nd Wellington West Coast Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifles, where he was quickly promoted to Sergeant.
He begun his service with an arduous regime of training in Egypt, however he found time to play a bit of rugby and captained the Wellington Mounted Rifles team in several matches before heading to Gallipoli. He played at 'wing forward' (flanker) and was described as playing a clever 'heady' game.
Involved in most of the early action, he was killed on 9 August, 1915, in the attack on Chunuk Bair during the August Offensive, a couple months short of his 32nd birthday. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Chunuk Bair Memorial, Turkey.
Read the full story about Sergeant Henry Dewar.
Back to top ^ |
