This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who died during The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread. Gareth Larkin, Edward Rennix (‘Teddy’) played for Australia Internationals: 1 : 1903 NZ- Edward Larkin was born on 21 August 1880 in Lambton, NSW. Married May Josephine Larkin. Played as a Forward for: St Joseph’s College, Newtown, North Sydney, NSW. Played for NSW in 1903 (3 matches). He played for NSW 5 times. Profession: Police/journalist. Secretary. Labor Member of Parliament for Willoughby Remarks: Secretary of the NSW Rugby League. Performed a valuable service for the Rugby League as an MP when the League was negotiating with the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust with respect to ground use. War service: 321 Sergeant, ‘C’ Company, 1st (New South Wales) Battalion, Australian Imperial Force; he enlisted on 21 August 1914, and was promoted to Sergeant on 22 August. On 14 October 1914, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: “Sergeant Larkin, according to what one hears in talking to the men, is proving that members of Parliament can sometimes do more than talk. Over him is an officer who comes from one of the Government Departments. The member of Parliament is now taking his orders from a Civil Servant. It is one more example of topsyturveydom.” He departed from Sydney on board HMAT A19 Afric on 18 October 1914. In a letter written from Egypt, Sgt Larkin said “Suffice it to say that there would be very few here if the man were free to leave or had anticipated how they would be treated.” Also “We have been silly enough to think that the Australian Army had been democratised. There was never a greater delusion. Class is everything for advancement. There have been three glaring cases – or rather four – and you can bet that someone will get a rough time over them one of these days.” The Australian International player T J ‘Rusty’ Richards described Larkin as: “a peculiar type of person to be a Member of Parliament. His tales circled round can-can and the lewdness of Cairo in a light jocular manner. He played football the other day and boomed the miserable game in the Cairo press. I can’t see how the Australian government is going to be strengthened or even run on honest lines when this type of man can secure recognition and a seat in the House.” He was killed in action on 25 April 1915, at Gallipoli, and is commemorated on Lone Pine Memorial, Turkey [Panel 13]. He was killed in an advance from the 400 Plateau. The 1st Battalion report for the day includes: These non-commissioned officers [one of which was Sgt Larkin] behaved with conspicuous gallantry, rallying their men and leading them into the firing line. In Volume 1 of the Australian Official History, C E W Bean wrote: “Towards evening some of his fellows, returning from a later advance, found his body. It had apparently been savagely slashed. Within a few days – so swiftly does rumour fly in days such as those – everyone in the Army Corps had heard that Larkin’s body had been mutilated. It was identified during the armistice of 24th May, lying near a sector of the Australian trenches that no enemy had reached; and it was ascertained that the wounds had been caused by machine-gun bullets.”
snippets .... Ted Larkin was the first full-time official of the infant league in 1908, having been captain of Newtown Rugby Union club and representing Australia in the first rugby Test against New Zealand in 1903. He resigned as NSWRL secretary in 1913 to stand as a Labor candidate for Willoughby, the first won by Labor on the north side of the harbour. However, Larkin's term as an MLA ended with the outbreak of World War I when he enlisted. When struck by illness in Egypt, he was offered passage home but insisted on embarking with the AIF's 1st Battalion to the Dardanelles, drawing praise from Australia's official war historian Charles Bean. At dawn on April 25, 1915, the 1st Battalion landed at Gallipoli and Sergeant Larkin's platoon scaled the heights to Pine Ridge where, late in the afternoon of that historic day, his life ended in a hail of Turkish machine-gun fire. The City Cup final of 1915 was turned into a testimonial for Larkin and raised £171 and one shilling to aid his widow and two sons. http://www.rl1908.com/Rugby-League-News/anzacs.htm Larkin Street (formerly Rose Street) is believed to be named after Sergeant Edward Rennix Larkin, killed in WWI. Larkin had been a North Sydney policeman, the first Labor member of the Legislative Assembly and founder of the North Sydney Rugby League Club. http://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/resources/documents/31_wavertonwalk.pdf
From Sean Fagans excellent site ...... Sgt. Edward Larkin NSWRL Secretary Larkin was part of the AIF contingent that played rugby league in Egypt in early 1915. He was fatally wounded on April 25, 1915 at Gallipoli.
Well good ! .... I'm glad you like the photo ....... a lot of effort went into all your other men too ... but I don't think you've looked at them all yet !! Annie
