A Coy, 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment
The four sons of Mr & Mrs Hughes. In the front row are Albert, on the left and Harry, on the right.
Almost 200 sets of brothers have been identified as having died on the same day whilst serving with British and Empire forces in the Great War. One of these is the Hughes brothers, from the south Gloucestershire village of Charfield.
Albert Alexander and Henry (Harry) Hughes were the sons of George and Annie, and brothers of Joe (Army Service Corps) and George (5th Gloucesters) who survived the War. They enlisted together in Bristol in January 1915 into the 2nd Gloucesters.
They landed in France on Good Friday, 2 April 1915 and were in action on 9 May* on the eastern edge of Sanctuary Wood in the Ypres Salient. In a day of fierce fighting, in the face of a determined German attack, an eye witness reported seeing ‘… the Hughes boys bowled over.’ That day the 2nd Gloucesters lost five Officers and 140 men.
Private Albert Hughes and Private Harry Hughes were reportedly buried near the place where they fell but their remains were never found. They were aged just 19 and 18 respectively. They are commemorated on the Menin Gate and on the village war memorial in Charfield.
* CWGC lists their date of death as 10 May 1915