Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Hugh Ward Anderson b. 1897
Posted 27 Oct 2011 by barbaralangdon70
Hugh was born in Manchester , England in 1897. At the age of 3 he emigrated with his parents to Australia. His father Henry Anderson was a doctor and academic; he spoke many languages: ancient and modern Greek, Latin, French, German,Spanish, English and Esperanto. He took up a medical practice in Proserpine, N. Queensland. Life must have been extremely tough and lonely for Hugh's Mother , Mary who had left a large family behind in England, especially as her only child, Hugh was sent to boarding school at Brisbane Grammar School when he was 12 years old. Apparently he loved his time at school being an athletic and academic student. On leaving school he went to Sydney University to study medicine.Whilst at university he continued to excel as an athlete. Hugh met his future wife, Marian Zeller in the Royal Brisbane Hospital where she worked as a nurse. They married in February 1928 and moved to Boonah where the their first child Marian was born. Soon after this they returned to N. Queensland where Hugh worked as a General Practicioner in Herberton. In 1932 the twins, Penelope and Jill were born. 4 years later, in 1936 daughter (4) Jennifer arrived. Two years after this the family travelled by sea to London where Hugh was to complete his FRCS. Unfortunately the 2nd World War intervened and the family decided to return to the relative safety of North Queenland. In September 1938, a son Hugh was born. In 1941, the family moved to Brisbane and into 38, Bayview Terrace at Clayfield, where they were to stay for the next 50 years. Hugh (senior) had joined the armed forces ( AAMC2ndAIF ) as a doctor and was sent to the Middle East for the next 4 years. These must have been very difficult times, both for him and the family he left behind. He rose to the Rank of Major. He was a "Rat of Tobruk" , but on his return, he said very little about his wartime experiences and a period of readjustment was needed. He threw himself into his work as a GP. In 1946 another son, John was born. In 1964 Hugh was invited to take up the Presidency of the Queensland branch of the AMA, which he accepted. Hugh worked as a GP until his death at the age of 80. His wife Marian outlived him by twenty years. She died at the age of 95 in 1997.
Courtesy of Marie Anderson.