SAPPER VICTOR HUGO
1418 – 2nd Tunnelling Company
A medical examination at the Town Hall Recruiting Depot, Sydney on 8 February 1916 recorded that Victor was 35 years and 1 month of age. He was 5ft 7ins tall and weighed 141 pounds. He had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and black hair. He was of the Church of England faith. He was considered to be ‘fit for active service’.
He signed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 10 February 1916. He stated he was born at Tumut, Canterbury, New Zealand; that he was an Engineer by trade and that he had been apprenticed to his father at Tumut. He recorded previous service with the Rimingtons Guides and JM Rifles in South Africa.
He signed the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ on the same day at Casula, NSW.
He named as his Next-of-Kin his wife Mrs. Marion Hugo of Ultimo Street, Sydney and allotted four-fifths of his pay for the support of his wife and children.
His training began at “A” Company, Depot Battalion on 10 February and on 13 February he was appointed to the 1st Reinforcements, 1st Mining Corps with the rank of Sapper and was allocated the service number 1418.
Victor embarked at Sydney on board Ulysses.
At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground. Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds. The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.
Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses.
The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements.
Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses. Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces.
Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked. The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured. The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’. The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted. After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916.
The ship arrived at Suez, Egypt on 22 April, departing for Port Said the next day, then on to Alexandria.
The Captain of the shipwas reluctantto take Ulysses out of the Suez Canal because he felt the weight of the ship made it impossible to manoeuvre in the situation of a submarine attack. The Mining Corps was transhipped to B1 Ansonia for the final legs to Marseilles, France via Valetta, Malta. Arriving at Marseilles on 5 May, most of the men entrained for Hazebrouck where they arrived to set up their first camp on 8 May 1916.
A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’.
On 1 May 1916, while still at sea, Victor had been charged with ‘Being in possession of a bottle of beer knowing the same to being stolen’ and on 3 May he was awarded 21 days Field Punishment No.1.
On 19 May at Hazebrouck he was charged with ‘Breaking away from detention while under sentence of 21 days Field Punishment No.1’. He was awarded a further 7 days Field Punishment No.1 on completion of his present sentence.
On 2 June he was temporarily detached for duty with the Grenade School.
He reported sick on 10 June, rejoining his unit from hospital on 17 June.
No.2 Company of the Mining Corps became the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company (2ATC) and Victor was attached for duty on 25 June and taken on strength of the new unit on 1 July 1916.
2ATC relieved the 172nd Tunnelling Company, R.E. in May 1916 in the Neuville St Vaast/Vimyarea. They supported the Australian 5th Division at Fromelles in July 1916.
Victor reported sick on 6 August 1916 and was admitted to the 14th Field Ambulance with dementia. He was transferred to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station the same day and then to No.35 General Hospital at Calais on 9 August diagnosed with ‘melancholia’.
He was transferred by Ambulance Train to No.8 Stationary Hospital, Wimereux, ‘Melancholia’ on 17 August and embarked at Boulogne for England on board Hospital Ship Cambria on the same day. He was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley on 18 August.
On 30 August a Medical Board was held at Harefield which recorded:
The Board recommended that Victor was ‘Temporarily unfit for general service for six months and unfit for home service.’
Victor was taken on strength of No.2 Command Depot on 2 September 1916. On 9 September Victor embarked for Australia on board Hospital Ship Kanowna ‘Melancholia and Dementia’.
Disembarking in Sydney on 28 October 1916, he was given a leave pass until 11 November when he was to report to No.4 Australian General Hospital, Randwick.
By November 1916 Next-of-Kin address changed to Faith Street, off Strath Street, Brisbane, Queensland.
On 24 November he was transferred to Broughton Hall, suffering from Shell Shock. He was examined at No.13 Australian Auxiliary Hospital on 25 November and diagnosed with Neurasthenia. It was recorded: “Incapacity has now disappeared but symptoms may return in the event of his drinking.”
Discharge was recommended.
Victor was Discharged from the A.I.F. in Sydney on 19 February 1917, having served 1 year and 9 days, 254 of those days abroad. He was issued the Returned Soldiers’ Badge the same day. His discharge paper records ‘Shrapnel wound. Right Shin’, which may refer to his hospitalisation on 10 June 1916. He was entitled to wear the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
His intended place of residence was Post Office, Adelaide, S.A.
Victor completed the ‘Attestation Form for Persons Voluntarily Enlisted in the Citizens Forces’ on 10 November 1917 at No.2 District Guard, Addison Road Camp, Sydney. He recorded previous service of 2 years with the Rimington Guides and the JM Rifles during the Boer War and 365 days as a Sapper with the 1st Mining Corps, A.I.F. 14-18.
He gave his age as 38 years and 5 months and his date of birth as 27 June 1879 at Tumut, Canterbury, New Zealand. He stated he was single and did not record a Next-of-Kin. He listed his address as the Soldiers Club, George Street, Sydney. He again took the Oath to ‘well and truly serve’ on 16 November and was allocated the service number 822.
On 22 November he was charged with being absent without leave from 11.30 pm on 22 November until 2.30 pm on 24 November. He was admonished and forfeited 2 days pay.
On 7 December he was charged with being drunk and fined 5 shillings.
Notes in file:
A Medical Board was convened on 16 January 1918 at No.4 Australian General Hospital, Randwick which recorded “he states he is in Mental Hospital and that he is very worried”. It recorded that his condition was ‘apparently’ due to his service and that his disability was permanent as far as Military service and his previous occupation was regarded and that his incapacitaty to earn a livelihood in the general labour market was total. Discharge from the A.I.F. was recommended.
He was discharged as ‘Medically Unfit, Not due to misconduct’, on 31 January 1918.
Victor married Olive Eather in 1920 at Sydney, NSW. Olive was born at Narrabri in 1890, the daughter of Henry Charles Eather & Lucina Sarah J Ridge.
The 1930 Electoral Roll records Victor and Olive Hugo living at Yowie Bay, Sutherland, Miranda.
Victor’s medical and service records were provided to the Repatriation Commission, Sydney in March 1931.
Between 1931 and 1937 Victor worked as an Engineer while the couple moved around living at Toongabbie, Merrylands, Miranda and Sylvania before settling at 158 Barber Street, Gunnedah by 1943.
NSW BDM records Victor Hugo died in 1949 at Baulkham Hills, District of Parramatta, NSW age 76.
Victor’s military documents record his death on 26 April 1949 and notes he was added to the Imperial War Grave List on 20 October 1949.
The Repatriation Department records Olive Hugo was the beneficiary of the Will of 1418 Victor Hugo.
In 1972 Olive Hugo is living at 6/17 Sturt Street, Dundas. In 1977 her address is 454 Old Northern Road, Dural.
NSW BDM records Olive Hugo, daughter of Charles and Lucina Sarah Eather, died on 25 September 1978 at Glenhaven, NSW.
© Donna Baldey 2015
with the assistance of Victor Hugo, grandson of Victor Hugo.
ADDENDUM:
On his 10 February 1916 Attestation form, Victor records previous service with Sth African Rifles - Transport Sgt (unclear)
On his10 November 1917 Attestation form,Victor records previous service as 2 years with Rimington’s Guides and JM Rifles – Boer War.
There is no reason to think Victor was fibbing about any of the above - maybe from August 1916 on he was confused about which units he was with, but service during the Boer War in some form is accepted.
On 30 August 1916 a Medical Board regarding Victor was held at Harefield which recorded:
Why would anyone invent service in the Cuban War?
Boer War:
Rimingtons Guides wasraised in South Africa at the beginning of the war 1899 - 1901
There is a Nominal Roll available on – line. The name Victor Hugo does not appear, however information on Rimington’s Guides is provided below.
JM Rifles - Can find nothing to take research further.
Victors’ family believe he may have served in South Africa with the Prince of Wales Light Horse (POWLH), which was raised in Cape Town in early 1901.
A Roll Book of the POWLH records:
27048 Hugo, Victor – Trooper, 16/01/1901, discharged 25/07/1901
The POWLH ‘Roll of Individuals entitled to the South Africa Medal and Clasps’ records:
27048 Corpl.Hugo, Victor – Cape Colony and Orange Free State.
There appears to be issue numbers and dates beside the entry indicating, possibly, that the medals were provided to Victor.