HUGHES, Francis Henry
| Service Number: | 9719 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1915, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Liverpool, England, 2 July 1882 |
| Home Town: | Redfern, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 12 October 1917, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Tyne Cot Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Sydney United Grand Lodge Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 9719, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 9719, 1st Stationary Hospital (AIF), Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 9719, 1st Stationary Hospital (AIF), HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 9719, 9th Field Ambulance, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 9719 awm_unit: 9th Australian Field Ambulance awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-12 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Francis Henry HUGHES (Serial Member 9719) was born on 2nd July 1882 in Liverpool, England. He commenced working for the NSW Tramways as a boy labourer with the steam trams at Randwick in September 1901. Six months later he had progressed to cleaner. He was on the career path to steam tram driver. However, as the system was at that time was being rapidly changed to electric traction, in November he transferred to become an electric motor cleaner at Waverley Depot and then Newtown Depot. In October 1903 he became a tram conductor and then an electric tram driver in June 1908. It was from this position that he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 20th August 1915, having enlisted at Warwick Farm three days earlier. Although he was relatively old at 33, he was not married and gave his father, Henry, then living in Darlington as his next of kin.
Hughes left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Orsova’ on 11th March 1916. He was allotted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital. He reached Egypt in April 1916 and remained there for five months undergoing further training before proceeding to England where he served in hospitals at Parkhouse and Bulford.
In June 1917 he proceeded overseas to France and was taken on the strength of the 9th Field Ambulance. In July he became a patient rather than a carer and progressed through a series of ambulance and casualty units and then to the 20th General Hospital and then a convalescent unit. He re-joined the 9th Field Ambulance on 1st September.
He was was killed in action in Belgium on 12th October 1917.
Ater the war his remains were exhumed and re-interred in the Tyne Cot British Cemetery, 5¼ miles East North East of Ypres.
A pension of 30/- per fortnight was awarded to Hughes’ father, Henry Ellis Hughes, from 10th January 1918. His father had died by 1922.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.