HODGES, Lyle Evered
| Service Number: | 881 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 March 1915, Enlisted at Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 13 September 1892 |
| Home Town: | Fairfield, Fairfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Died of wounds - gunshot wound to the hip penetrating the spine, General Hospital, Gibraltar, 26 November 1915, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Gibraltar (North Front) Cemetery Grave E. 3194. INSCRIPTION NOT UNDERSTOOD" Chaplain A. Sackett officiated, Gibraltar (North Front) Cemetery, Gibraltar |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fairfield Uniting Church WW1 Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 881, 19th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 881, 19th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 881, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 29 Oct 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 881, 19th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Gunshot wound to the hip penetrating spine. Transferred to the HS Somali on 30 October 1915 |
Help us honour Lyle Evered Hodges's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Apprenticed to Carl Honeman of Fairfield, NSW
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was 23 and the son of Walter A. and Sophia Jane Hodges, of "Somerset," Dursley St., Fairfield, New South Wales.
Biography contributed by Anthony Vine
PRIVATE LYLE EVERARD HODGES 881 19TH BATTALION AIF
Lyle Hodges was born in Western Sydney on the 13th of September 1892, the eldest of seven children of Walter and Sophie Hodges. When he enlisted in the AIF on the 1st of March 1915, he was an apprentice blacksmith. His younger brother Ernest would join up two months later and he and Lyle trained at the Liverpool camp before embarking with the 19th Battalion on the 25th of June 1915.
The 19th Battalion landed on the Gallipoli peninsular on the 21st of August where the summer offensive that would cost so many Australian lives had begun and within days they were occupying sections of the line. They would suffer their first casualties the day after landing when two members of B Company were killed. In its first week, although in a reserve position, seven men would be killed and numerous others wounded.
A little over a month after landing on Gallipoli, on the 29th of October Lyle was shot in the hip shattering his spine. A newspaper report in Australia later reported that Ernest, who was a stretcher bearer carried his brother from the battlefield to a first aid post. He was transferred the next day to the Royal Naval Hospital Ship Somali; however it would be another week before he arrived in Gibraltar for more advanced care at the Gibraltar General Hospital. Despite the best care Lyle passed away on the 26th of November 1915.
Walter and Sophie initially did not want an epitaph on Lyle’s grave, however in 1920 they relented and requested that his epitaph be simply “Not Understood”.
Private Lyle Everard Hodges is buried in the Gibraltar North Front Cemetery.
Ernest Hodges continued to serve with the 19th Battalion and later the 20th Battalion, and was wounded number of times before he returned to Australia in 1919. On the 19th of February 1942, Walter was working in Darwin, as a civilian, and he was killed in the First Japanese raid on the city.
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