BRUCE, Hugh Smith
(Service number 8/15)
| Aliases |
|
| First Rank |
Private |
Last Rank |
Private |
Birth
| Date |
25/11/1882 |
Place of Birth |
Oamaru, New Zealand |
Enlistment Information
| Date |
15 August 1914 |
Age |
31 |
| Address at Enlistment |
Humber Street, Oamaru, New Zealand |
| Occupation |
Railways engine driver |
| Previous Military Experience |
One year with Cromwell Rifles & three years with Oamaru Rifles |
| Marital Status |
Single |
| Next of Kin |
Mrs Marion Bruce (mother), Humber Street, Oamaru, New Zealand |
| Religion |
Presbyterian |
| Medical Information |
6 foot tall, weight 160 lbs, chest 36 inches, fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, good teeth |
Military Service
| Served with |
NZ Armed Forces |
Served in |
Army |
| Military District |
|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation |
Main Body |
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship |
Otago Infantry Battalion |
| Date |
16 October 1914 |
| Transport |
Ruapehu or Hawkes Bay |
| Embarked From |
Port Chalmers, New Zealand |
Destination |
Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With |
|
| Last Unit Served With |
Otago Infantry Battalion |
Military Awards
| Campaigns |
Egyptian & Gallipoli |
| Service Medals |
1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Military Awards |
|
Death
| Date |
8 May 1915 |
Age |
32 |
| Place of Death |
Gallipoli, Turkey |
| Cause |
Killed in action |
| Notices |
|
| Memorial or Cemetery |
Twelve Tree Copse (New Zealand) Memorial, Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Helles, Turkey |
| Memorial Reference |
|
| New Zealand Memorials |
On Memorial wall, Timaru; Roll of Honour, Dunedin Railway Station, Dunedin, New Zealand; Geraldine War Memorial, Name on parents grave headstone in Oamaru Cemetery |
Biographical Notes
Hugh was born at Oamaru on 25 November 1882, second son of the three children of John and Marion Anderson Bruce. Educated at the Middle School, Oamaru, he later joined the New Zealand Railways as an engine driver. At Oamaru, on 15 August 1914, Hugh enlisted for war service with the 10th Company, Otago Infantry Battalion, having had four years prior military service as a volunteer, one year with the Cromwell Rifles and three with the Oamaru Rifles. He left as part the 10th (North Otago) Regiment contingent soon after. His enlistment papers described him as being single, Presbyterian, 6 foot tall, weighing 160 lbs, chest measuring 36 inches, of fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, and having good teeth. He listed his mother, Mrs Marion Bruce of Humber Street Oamaru, as his next of kin. Hugh served in New Zealand until he embarked from Port Chalmers with the Main Body on 16 October, aboard the Ruapehu or Hawkes Bay, bound for Suez, Egypt, and arrived in Alexandria on 3 December 1914. After serving in Egypt, he embarked from Alexandria for the Dardanelles on 12 April 1915. A court of enquiry held on 22 March 1916, at Moascar Camp, Ismailia, Egypt, by the Officer Commanding the 1st Battalion Otago Infantry Regiment, found that they had reason to suppose that Private Bruce had been killed in action on 8 May 1915. There being no body ever found to bury, he is commemorated on the Twelve Tree Copse (NZ) Memorial at Twelve Tree Cemetery, Helles, Turkey. After war’s end, Hugh’s medals, the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal plus a scroll and plaque, were forwarded to his mother at Oamaru. Hugh’s elder brother, Corporal Thomas Andrew Bruce (no.39157), Otago Infantry Regiment, also served overseas in England at Sling Camp as a cook and in his trade as bootmaker.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph database (July 2015); Archives NZ (Personnel File); "Dunedin railway station war memorial" on NZ History at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/dunedin-railway-station-war-memorial; The Oamaru Mail, 10 April 1916 via http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/; The Oamaru Mail, 15 August 1914 via http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/; North Otago Timaes, 11 July 1916 via http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/; NZSG Index v5; NZBDM Historical Records; ancestry.com.au
External Links
Related Documents
Researched and Written by
Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum); Ted Hansen, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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