HUGHES, George Thomas
| Service Number: | 862 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 August 1914, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia, 21 March 1887 |
| Home Town: | Corrimal, Wollongong, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Mt Keira Public School |
| Occupation: | Railway porter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 7 August 1915, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Haymarket Railways Traffic Branch Roll of Honour, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 862, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 862, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 862, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Sydney | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 862, 2nd Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 7 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 862, 2nd Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli |
George Thomas Hughes
George Thomas Hughes was born in 1887 in Gosford, and grew up in Wollongong NSW. He was a Railway Porter before he enlisted on 26 Aug 1914 and was allocated to the 2nd Battalion. After initial training, George embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Suffolk on 18 Oct 1914. The 2nd battalion took part in the ANZAC landing on 25 Apr 1915 as part of the second and third waves ashore. On 6 Aug 15, the 1st Brigade including the 2nd Battalion led the charge at Lone Pine on Gallipoli. The fighting was "some of the fiercest" the Australians experienced during the campaign to that point. The ground captured during the battle amounted to a total of about 150 metres (160 yd) across a 300-metre (330 yd) front. Though a tactical victory for the Australians in terms of the fact that they took the ground, Australian losses during the battle amounted to 2,277 men killed or wounded, out of the total 4,600 men committed to the fighting. These represent some of the highest casualties of the Gallipoli campaign. Pte George Hughes was killed sometime between the 7th and the 14th Aug 15 during the battle. His death is officially recorded as the 7th August. George's body was never identified and he is honoured on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, and the NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board.
Submitted 3 December 2021 by Gary Ewart
George Hughes Biography
George Thomas Hughes was born in 1888 in Gosford, New South Wales, to Elizabeth Hughes, age 42, and Joseph Trevor Hughes, age 48.
His father Joseph Trevor passed away on 30 August 1909 in Wollongong, New South Wales, at the age of 69. His mother Elizabeth Hughes (nee Chicken) passed away on 3 Apr 1928 in Wollongong.
George lived in Wollongong, New South Wales, in 1913.
Submitted 17 June 2018 by Gary Ewart
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Joseph and Elizabeth HUGHES, railway Street, Corrimal, New South Wales
Biography contributed by John Oakes
George Thomas HUGHES (Service Number 862) was born on 21st March 1887 at Woy Woy. He first worked for the NSW Goverment Railways as a temporary porter at Darling Harbour from 19th November 1913 and became permanent in that role in January 1914. Soon after the outbreak of the war in August 1914 he was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces.
He enlisted a Randwick on 26th August and,being unmarried, gave his mother then living in Corrimal as his net of kin. He was allotted to the 2nd Battalion. He left Australia from Sydney aboard HMAT ‘Suffolk’ on 18th October.
He was killed in action at Gallipoli between 7th and 14th August 1915 at the Battle of Lone Pine. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial high above the beach at Gallipoli.
His widowed mother was granted a pension of £2 per fortnight in recognition of his service.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Board and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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