Granville Rechabites
NSW

Roy Lennox

Enlistment Date
17/07/1918
Age At Enlistment
19
Rank On Enlistment
Private
Regimental No.
66742
Battalion
NSW Reinforcement 22
Fate
Discharged
Fate Date
05/01/1919
Occupation
Engineer’s Apprentice
Place of Birth
Sydney, NSW
Religion
Baptist
Marital Status
Single
Embarkation Details
Embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board SS Wyreema on 14 October 1918

The second of three sons born to Jessie and Alfred Lennox, both immigrants, Arthur from England and Jessie from Auckland in New Zealand, Roy was another of the Granville Rechabites players who enlisted.

A big lad at 6 feet, 1 inch, Roy was only 19 when signing up on 17 July, 1918 and was one of the ones for whom the war was officially over before even setting foot on foreign soil. Embarking on the SS Wyreema on 14 October, just three weeks into the voyage the armistice had been declared and the ship turned around. Roy had not even been assigned a unit, he was just a member of the 22nd NSW Reinforcements, one of those lucky enough to not experience the horror that was the ‘Great War’ up close.

Little is known of Roy’s life upon returning. We know he married Gladys in 1926 and had a son, Arthur. Whether he returned to his life as an engineer’s apprentice is unknown, but as a player we know that his name no longer appeared on team lists – as a footballer his career reached no great heights.

His lasting memory is as one of the 43 Rechabites players who went to war and who appears on the club’s honour roll, and given his age at enlistment he probably only played the game as a juvenile.