Family legend holds that Fred Hawke was so eager to get into the fight, he forged his own transfer papers in order to be reassigned from secretarial pool to the artillery. A trained stenographer, Robert Frederic Hawke enlisted at Quebec on November 15, 1915. Arriving in France in 1916, he joined the 2nd Bridage, Canadian Field Artillery, 6th Battery, and saw action at several locations, including Vimy Ridge.

In the Lens area on October 19, 1917, Fred was court martialled for Disobeying a Superior Officer (Offence – AA Section 9). He was ordered to go on duty, and told the Lieutenant that he had already “done my time,” and rolled over in his bivvy and went back to sleep. He was sentenced to 42 days in confinement. As such, he missed being sent to Ypres with the rest of the Battery, and was not at Passchendaele. He returned to his unit at Lens on November 27, 1917 and remained with the army until the spring of 1919 as part of occupation force in Germany following the Armistice.

In 1926, Hawke married Fanny Clayton. The couple celebrated 62 years together, raising five children and 10 grandchildren. Hawke worked in Toronto as a draftsman. During WWII he served as Range Officer training new recruits.

Hawke was fortunate to escape the Great War without major injury. That said, he suffered lifelong sinus problems due to being kicked in the head by a horse during the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He died in 1986, at age 89.

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