I had a great-great-uncle named Hugh Baxter.

Hugh was born in 1872, one of eight children of Hugh and Sarah Baxter. The family lived in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. I knew he had been killed during the First World War and had assumed that he was serving with a British regiment. His name appears on the war memorial in Rothesay and in a stained glass window in the church there. It wasn’t until I discovered the British War and Star medals in my mother’s house last year that I uncovered the whole story.

In 1909, Hugh set sail for Wellington, New Zealand where he lived for a few years.

He then moved to Mildura, Victoria. He enlisted in the 14th Battalion 2nd Reinforcements, Australian Imperial Forces on 29th December 1914, aged 42 years and 3 months. After his initial training Hugh sailed on HMAT Clan McGillivray on the 2nd of February, 1915, firstly to Alexandria and then on to Gallipoli. On the 8th of April in that same year, he was reported as having been wounded. Subsequent to that he was reported as missing and then finally in April 1916, he was listed as having been killed in action. His mother then received a war pension of two pounds per fortnight.

Hugh doesn’t have a grave, but his name appears on a panel at Lone Pine cemetery in Gallipoli.

His name also appears on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. After further investigation, I discovered that as well as the three previously mentioned memorials, Hugh Baxter is listed on the First World War Memorial in Mildura.

As a Gallipoli veteran, Hugh was entitled to an Anzac medal. As the history of his service in the Australian army had not been passed down to future generations, a medal had not been applied for.

I applied for and am now the proud possessor of Hughs’ Anzac medal.

Photos are courtesy of Rosemary Tait.