John Blackmore, the son of honorary Nowra Rotarian Tom Blackmore, was the guest speaker at a recent Rotary Nowra dinner meeting.
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The central piece of John’s talk was the background story of an original Nowra World War One (WWI) Honour Roll.
Many of the names on this roll are replicated at the entrance of the memorial gate to the Nowra Showground.
The Honour Roll came into Cyril Hamilton Dent’s possession in 1931 after it was originally given to Cyril by John’s step-great-grandmother Hannah Price.
Cyril kept it for 68 years before it was passed on to John.
He has had it framed, had it on display, and referred to it throughout his talk.
Interwoven into John’s talk were three other stories: the sporting careers and the fate of some of those on the Honour Roll, the rugby league sporting rivalry between Gerringong and Nowra, and the beginnings of the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay, which today functions as HMAS Creswell.
Being a former representative sportsman himself, and the grandson of the legendary Artie Smith, John has become a passionate historian researching and writing many local historical articles.
These are published in the ~ABOUT~ magazine as a monthly feature, with a circulation free to 10,000 homes and businesses in the Bay and Basin area.
John’s current article called “Remember Me” focuses on the most interesting stories of local sportsmen, some of whom lost their lives in WWI, and some who survived the conflict.
People highlighted in John’s article include Syd Watt and Charles Bryce, both from big families in Tomerong, the Beattie brothers (Pyree), Lal McLean (Numbaa), and his grandfather Artie Smith. Of these men, only Artie and Charles were not killed in action.
John then talked about the historical significance of HMAS Creswell and how Vincentia was named after the Battle of St. Vincent.
Some locally built model ships are amongst the many displays now housed in the fascinating museum at Creswell.
This museum is open to the public for a limited time after some Anzac Day Dawn Services held on the base.
The facts and figures of the parallels of rugby league rivalry 100 years apart between Gerringong and Nowra were also most interesting.
Nowra Warriors won in 1913, Gerringong defeated Nowra Warriors in 1914, Gerringong won the 2013 grand final, played on the Nowra Showground, while the Nowra/Bomaderry Jets won in 2014.
Whether his audience was long-standing residents or new arrivals to the region, all were much more informed about military and sporting history of the Shoalhaven by the end of John’s talk.
Subject to his availability John is happy to be a guest speaker to organisations or groups interested in this local history and can be contacted at Blacky42@bigpond.com or 0421 790 025.