Frederic Hughes

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Hughes volunteered for overseas service and was appointed Australian Imperial Force as a colonel on 17 October 1914.[3] At this time, he assumed command of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade; he was assigned Lieutenant Colonel John Antill, a regular officer, as his brigade major.[4] Hughes came to depend heavily upon Antill,[3] although the latter was described as "well respected, if prickly".[4]

Hughes' brigade departed for Egypt in February and March 1915 where it continued training. In May, the light horse formations were dispatched to Gallipoli as reinforcements, serving in a dismounted role. The brigade arrived at Anzac Cove on 20 May 1915,[3] and was assigned as corps troops to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.[5] There were concerns about Hughes' age,[4] and the corps commander, Lieutenant General William Birdwood, had "grave doubts about Hughes' capacity".[3] Initially, Hughes held the rank of full colonel, but in July was promoted to brigadier general as all Australian brigade commanders were regraded to achieve parity with the British Army.[6]

Hughes' brigade undertook defensive duties initially, holding an area around Walker's Ridge and Russell's Top.[3][7] In an effort to break the deadlock they were committed to the August Offensive. Major General Alexander Godley, in command of the offensive, ordered Hughes to launch a dawn attack the Turkish positions at the Nek on 7 August 1915 with a bayonet charge as a diversion to support the attack on Chunuk Bair. From the outset the effort went awry. Efforts to destroy machine guns enfilading the attack failed, and the supporting artillery barrage stopped seven minutes early due to a failure to synchronise watches, which allowed the defenders were able to reoccupy their firing positions before the attack. In the desperate battle that followed, four waves of light horsemen charged the Turkish trenches, only to be cut down by unsuppressed fire from at least 30 machine guns.[8][9]

According to military historian Ross Mallett, "Hughes mismanaged the battle" and while the wider issues that led to its failure were not of his making, his decisions ultimately exacerbated the heavy casualties his brigade suffered.[3] During the battle, Hughes "left his headquarters around the time the second wave of 150 had attacked in order to try to observe the attack, thereby isolating himself from Antill and the rest of his headquarters".[3] Antill subsequently refused a request from the commander of the 10th Light Horse Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Brazier, to cancel the third wave, which was also slaughtered. Part of the fourth wave also went over the top, before Brazier and some officers from the 8th Light Horse Regiment reached Hughes in time to call off any further waves.[9] Out of around 500 men committed to the attack, more than half became casualties, with 234 being killed and 138 wounded.[10] Most of those that were killed, died within only a few metres of the Australian trench line.[8]

In the aftermath of the attack, Hughes' brigade took part in another attack, this time around Hill 60 in late August.[11] After this, the brigade's regiments returned to defensive duties.[12] Hughes' health subsequently deteriorated and on 20 September he was evacuated, suffering from typhoid.[3] Command of the brigade then passed to Antill.[7] In March 1916, Hughes embarked for Australia, due to ongoing health issues. Nevertheless, he was able to rejoin the AIF with the rank of brigadier general in July 1918,[1] taking up an appointment with the Sea Transport Service.[3] He retired in March 1920 with the rank of major general.[1]