Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Arnot Irwin Hughes was born on 17 July 1894 at Timaru, the eldest son of William John and Margaret Jane (née Irwin) Hughes, who had married in 1892. Within a few months in 1899, young Arnot and his older sister and younger brother lost their parents and baby brother – William John Hughes died on 15 March; little William Harold Hughes on 7 August, aged 13 months; and Margaret Jane Hughes on 7 October. Arnot started at Timaru South School 2½ weeks after his fifth birthday, his guardian being his mother who was to die two months later. He left school at the end of 1907 for office work and the following year began his secondary education at Timaru Technical College before moving to Christchurch to take up a position as a draper for Beath and Company.

Arnot Hughes, who already belonged to A Company Infantry, enlisted on 15 December 1915 at Trentham. He was residing in Christchurch, still working as a draper for Beath and Company. Single and Methodist, he named his sister as next-of-kin – Miss Beulah Hughes, 71 Woodland Road, Timaru. Beulah was at the same address as her aunt, Mrs Ella Millar, who was later named as next-of-kin for her brother Frank. Gunner A. I. Hughes embarked with the New Zealand Field Artillery of the 11th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington on 1 April 1916 and disembarking at Suez, Egypt on 20 May.

During the German spring offensive of late March to early April, Arnot was severely wounded on 4 May 1918. His son recounts that “… he lost the muscle, nerves and blood vessels of his right thigh caused by metal fragments from the outer casing of an exploding German artillery shell while he was repairing broken telephone lines in no-man’s land with another soldier (who was killed by the explosion). As was normal, Arnot was transferred through casualty clearing stations away from the front, eventually being transferred to No.1 New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England. Classified as no longer fit for service he embarked at Southampton on 28 August 1918, he returned to New Zealand on the Hospital Ship “Maheno”. The ship was due in the Dominion in October, where Arnot was discharged on 27 October 1919, no longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in action.

Arnot’s son shared that: “Before he enlisted in the army, he played rugby for the Christchurch Football Club. As it was clearly not possible to resume this when he returned to Christchurch [due to wounds received in action], he applied his passion for sport to sports administration in rugby, athletics, surf lifesaving and lawn bowls”. After the war Arnot returned to the drapery trade, running his own men’s clothing business, which he unfortunately lost in the 1930s depression. The decade also saw Arnot marry Florence Charlotte Lloyd, (née Dumergue) in 1936.

Arnot’s son again recounts that in 1939 Arnot re-enlisted for service in World War Two, but was not fit for overseas service. At the time he had a son, and a teenaged stepdaughter, Thelma:

“Very shortly after commencement of the Second World War, my then 45 years-old father applied to re-join the New Zealand Army even though he had served in the First World War, and had been severely wounded in France. The muscles, sinews, nerves and blood vessels of his right thigh had been literally torn away by a German shrapnel-filled cannon shell during the Second Battle of The Somme in 1918 thus leaving him partially disabled for the rest of his life. Consistent with his rather quirky sense of humour, Dad would account for his disability by saying that “Fritz (a common Kiwi term then for the German enemy) tried to take my leg, but only got half of it”! Obviously, due to his wounds and also his age, he was not seen as fit for active service overseas. However, because of his extensive business experience, he was accepted by the army for clerical and stores duties at Burnham Military Camp, 28 km south of Christchurch, with the initial rank of Sergeant. Very shortly afterwards he was promoted to Sergeant Major, then Warrant Officer 2nd Class (WO2) and finally Warrant Officer 1st Class (WO1).

Soon after his enlistment in September 1939, Dad was joined at Burnham by my mother and me. We occupied an army house in what was known as the “Residential Area” (now Whites Road).” (Excerpt from, Recollections of a World War 2 Burnham Military Camp “Army Brat”. Robert N. Hughes)

Arnot was discharged on 2 November 1946, but nine days later he re-enlisted, only finally leaving the army on 22 April, 1948.

Arnot died in Christchurch on 29 March 1964, aged 69 years. A tribute in the Christchurch Press of 4 April 1964 recognised his sporting service:

“A foundation member of the New Brighton Amateur Athletic Club in 1928, Mr Arnot Irwin Hughes, died in Christchurch on Sunday. Mr Hughes was also prominent in Rugby, bowls, and surf life-saving. Mr Hughes began his sporting career with the Christchurch Rugby Club in 1911 and was club captain from 1927 to 1930. During the Second World War he was the foundation president of the Burnham Bowling Club, and for many years was a committee member of the New Brighton Surf Club. He had also been a judge and team manager for the Canterbury Athletic Centre.”

Arnot was survived by his wife, three daughters and one son. Arnot’s brother, Frank Irwin Hughes, also served in World War One.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [19 March 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [04 June 2023]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [20 March 2025]; Timaru Herald, 15 October 1918, Press, 30 & 31 March 1964, 4 April 1964 (Papers Past) [19 & 23 March 2025]; SCRoll web submission by R Highes, 28 March & 1 April 2026.

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.