Stuart Crosby Walch 21 September 2011

On 21 September 2011, as the Australian Representative of the Battle of Britain Historical Society, I attended a presentation of a Memorial School Plaque at The Hutchins School Hobart, Tasmania in memory of Stuart Crosby Walch.

 

 

Stuart was a second generation Hutchins boy, enrolling in 1927 when he was 10, He left in 1934 after achieving sound results in his final exams and a fine reputation as an oarsman and footballer.

In 1939 a new racing four was ordered but was not delivered until 1949. When it came to name the boat it was decided to name the boat after Stuart, as ‘no one was more deserving of this tribute’. The boat was used by the school’s oarsmen and Stuart’s story was perpetuated. In 1967, however, the boat shed was burned down but somehow the Stuart C. Walch escaped destruction. Its remains were salvaged and restored. It is now mounted in school’s museum so a new generation can reflect on Stuart’s achievements and sacrifice.

 

Stuart is further remembered in one of its inaugural exhibits. Located almost in the centre of the room Museum, the Battle of Britain display features photos of Stuart and his 1934 Head of the River rowing trophy. 

 

 

 

In a departure from previous school plaques, Stuart’s had some unique and very personal features. The school motto was included in the text and the plaque itself was mounted on Tasmanian Blackwood, linking it physically to the small Blackwood plaque that accompanies the Stuart C. Walch in the school’s museum. In addition the Blackwood symbolises Stuart’s unique status as the only Tasmanian on the Battle of Britain Honour Roll in Westminster Abbey.

 

 

It was a moving ceremony and many fine words were spoken about Stuart. Perhaps the most poignant were from Air Vice Marshal Skidmore who noted that Stuart had been marked for greater things in the Royal Air Force but that promise was unfulfilled. He flew just over 50 operational sorties from 2 July, when his squadron was declared operational, until his last on 11 August 1940. He simply sketched Stuart’s final moments: how he did not baulk at the overwhelming enemy numbers; how he led his flight into the onslaught of enemy aircraft; and how he and three of his charges were attacked; and how they all plummeted into the sea below. He told of how two of Stuart’s pilots returned and from them we gather Stuart and his much less experienced charges ‘put up a really good show’. Such a modest, unassuming accolade, reflected AVM Skidmore, but very telling in the respect felt for Stuart and, indeed all men who continued to fight to their utmost even at the cost of their lives.

 

 

Stuart’s was the first school plaque to be presented in Australia. It was a great honour and privilege for me to help bring it about.

Stuart’s is one of the stories that appears in my Australian Eagles, available in early December 2012.

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