Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

HUGHES Richard Douglas      # 6028  9th Battalion
 
It is difficult to determine from the available records the reason for Richard Hughes’ name appearing on the Gracemere Memorial. When he enlisted in Rockhampton on 8th February 1916, he stated he had been born in Mount Morgan but gave his address as Finch Hatton near Mackay. There is no discernible link to the Gracemere district.
 
Richard was 19 at the time of enlistment. In such circumstances a person would need to furnish permission from his parents as he was under the age of 21. Richard named his brother, George Bertie Hughes of Tanalla siding near Mackay as his next of kin and a letter from George indicated that both parents were deceased and George was Richard’s only living relative. This information would give rise to the question of who had Richard’s name added to the Roll of Honour at Gracemere.
 
Richard travelled to Enoggera Camp in Brisbane two weeks after enlisting where he was placed in the 11thDepot Battalion but was transferred to Chermside Camp in April. He had been allocated as a reinforcement for the 9th Battalion.
 
Richard embarked on the “Itonus” in Brisbane on 8th August 1916 for overseas. By the time the “Itonus” sailed, the huge Australian Camps in Egypt had been closed down and all recruits were taken directly to England. Richard arrived in Plymouth on 18th October and went into Camp with the 3rd Training Battalion at Codford. Richard would spend almost four months in England before being posted to France. He joined the 9th Battalion on 22nd February 1917.
 
The 9th Battalion was part of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division AIF. Since the battles of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in July and August the previous year, the 1st Division had been wintering on the Somme. In the spring of 1917, the German’s staged a strategic withdrawal back to the heavily defended Hindenburg Line. The Australian and British Divisions followed the retreat to keep in touch with the enemy. In April, the 1st Division had reached the village of Bapaume.
 
During an attack on Bapaume, Richard received a gunshot wound to his right wrist on 27th April. He was treated initially as walking wounded at a casualty clearing station but was transferred by ambulance train to the 3rd Stationary Hospital at Rouen on the French Coast. From Rouen Richard crossed the channel in a hospital ship to be admitted to a general hospital at Eastleigh outside of Southampton. Brother George was advised by telegram of his brother’s wounding.
 
After discharge from Eastleigh, Richard was granted a 14 day furlough during which he probably played the tourist in London, albeit with his arm in a sling. When the furlough was up, Richard reported to Harefield Military Hospital where he was classed as fit to return to duty. He re-crossed the channel from Folkstone and was taken on strength by his battalion on 18th August. The 1st Division was still on the Somme but the rest of the AIF had shifted north to Belgian Flanders where the British planned their offensive for 1917.
 
The campaign in Flanders began on the 7th June with the firing of 19 huge mines under the German positions on the Messines Ridge. Having gained the high ground south of Ypres and securing his right flank, General Plumer planned a series of actions using a bite and hold strategy which would eventuate with the taking of Passchendaele. These actions began with the Battle of Menin Road in September of 1917.
 
The 1st Division was called north to the Ypres sector in the middle of September and went into the line on the northern side of the Menin Road which ran Southwest from Ypres. Richard’s file records that he was killed in action (probably by artillery shell) on 20th September 1917. His file bears an entry: buried, followed by a map reference. The 9th had 40 men killed at Menin Road.
 
Richard’s brother was informed of his death and at the end of the war received his medals, memorial plaque and scroll.
 
When the graves registration units began to consolidate lone burials on the battlefields of Flanders, all trace of Richard Hughes’ grave was lost. In 1927, General Plumer dedicated a memorial to those killed in Flanders with no known grave. The Menin Gate memorial bears the names of 55,000 British and Dominion men who lie forever in Flanders’ fields. Among the names are 6,000 Australians. Each evening at the Menin Gate, the inhabitants of Ypres (now Iper) conduct a ceremony to honour the missing, including the playing of the last post.