Fred House (rower)

House enlisted in the AIF aged 25 in January 1915. He joined the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade and embarked from Melbourne on HMAT A54 Runic in February 1915.^[4] He saw action in Gallipoli and on the Western Front at Pozieres.^[5] In 1917 in Belgium he was gassed and admitted to hospital before returning to his unit.^[5] He was promoted from Gunner to Sergeant and then in late 1918 was commissioned a Lieutenant.^[4]

At war's end House rowed in the two seat of the AIF #1 eight at the 1919 Peace Regatta at Henley-on-Thames, the crew which won the King's Cup which in time, became the trophy for the men's eight event contested annually at the Australian Interstate Regatta.^[6] House had stroked the AIF#1 crew in the early days of their training period in 1919 before moving to two to make way for Clive Disher. Later in that month of July 1919 he again raced in the Australian AIF eight when they competed at the Inter-Allied Regatta on the Seine in Paris.^[5]

Before repatriation, House stayed on in London till December 1919 to study motor engineering.^[5] House returned to Australia and married Ruby Miller in May 1920 and they had two sons. He ran a car hire business in Hobart. He donated the commemorative oar he had won at the Peace Regatta to the Australian War Memorial. He died at the Repatriation General Hospital in Hobart on 21 September 1973.^[5]