COULTER, Hugh
| Service Number: | 3030 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kilnhurst, York, England, 1868 |
| Home Town: | Brunswick, Moreland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Contractor |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 23 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, Warloy-Baillon, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3030, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3030, 2nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Sydney | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 3030, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3030 awm_unit: 2 Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-07-23 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Allen Hancock
Hugh Coulter was born in Kilnhurst, York, England, in 1868, the son of Hugh Coulter and Mary Laing. The family was recorded in the 1871 and 1881 Censuses as living in Chesterfield Derbyshire at the Red Lion Inn where his father was the licenced victualler.
His parents separated around 1882 and his father emigrated to Australia aboard the Chimborazo, arriving in Melbourne in August 1882 with his five children aged 8-16. Hugh worked in a painting business with his brother George. Hugh married Helena Frances Weber on 6 February 1888 in Melbourne and the couple had three children. Hugh Arthur Coulter (known as Arthur), Ella Louisa Adelaide (Coulter) Ferguson and George Frederick Hugh Coulter. His eldest son, Arthur enlisted in the AIF on 29 October 1914.
In 1915 Hugh took a job working as a building contractor in Sydney when he learned that the maximum age for enlistment in the AIF had been increased from 38 to 45 years. At that time Arthur was serving in Gallipoli and in what must have been a spur of the moment decision Hugh enlisted in the AIF on 30 June. Hugh’s enlistment documents show him as being 43 when he had in fact just turned 48.
Hugh was allocated as a reinforcement for the 2nd Infantry Battalion then at Gallipoli. He embarked for overseas from Sydney on 8 October 1915 on the troopship ‘Warilda’ arriving at Suez on 5 November where he joined his unit in training at Tel-el-Kabir. It is not known if Hugh caught up with his son before he embarked for France on 22 March 1916 aboard the troopship ‘Invernia’.
The 2nd Battalion spent the first months in France in what was known as the ‘Nursery Sector’ near Armentieres before being moved to the Somme. On 22 July 1916, the 2nd Battalion commenced its first major action against the German Army at Pozieres where Hugh Coulter was wounded in his right ankle. He died the following day and was buried at the Warloy-Baillon Military Cemetery.