6th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (British Army)
Date Of Birth:
05/08/1889
Died:
09/08/1915 (Killed in Action)
Age:
26
Summary
Hewitt Huggard was the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Huggard and Frances Marion Huggard (nee Lloyd). Rev. Huggard was born in Dungannon. Hewitt Huggard was born on 5th August 1889 in Tuam, County Galway. The family then moved to Dublin and then back to Dungannon. Rev Huggard was the curate of St Anne’s Parish Church, Dungannon. The family moved to St John’s Vicarage, Barnsley. Hewitt took a second-class degree in History at Merton College, Oxford in 1911. He enlisted in August 1914, and served in Egypt before being sent to Gallipoli. Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard was serving with the 6th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment when he was reported wounded and missing during an attack on Tekke Tepe Ridge, at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, on 9th August 1915. He was later confirmed dead.
Further Information
Hewitt Huggard was the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Huggard and Frances Marion Huggard (nee Lloyd). Rev. Huggard was born in Dungannon.
Hewitt Huggard was born on 5th August 1889 in Tuam, County Galway.
The family then moved to Dublin and then back to Dungannon. Rev Huggard was the curate of St Anne's Parish Church, Dungannon.
Known family: Richard Huggard, Frances Marion Huggard, Hewitt Huggard (born 5th August 1889, Tuam), Irene Huggard (born 2nd October 1891, Dungannon), Anna Huggard (Born 10th January 1893, Dungannon), Lewis Dudley Richard Huggard (born 20th May 1894, Dungannon), Donagh Huggard (born 20th August 1895, Dungannon).
They are not listed on the 1901 census so it is presumed that the family had moved to St John's Vicarage, Barnsley by then.
His father Rev. Richard Huggard MBE MA was secretary of Barnsley Rugby Club. He also refereed a match between England and Ireland in 1903.
Hewitt was educated at Bromsgrove School.
Hewitt took a second-class degree in History at Merton College, Oxford in 1911. Hewitt graduated with a B.A.
He and his younger brother Lewis (who was also killed in the war) both played for Barnsley Rugby Club.
1914
He enlisted in August 1914, and served in Egypt before being sent to Gallipoli.
1915
Lieutenant Huggard arrived in Gallipoli on 15th July 1915.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 29th May 1915:
Rev Richard Huggard, formerly curate in Dungannon, enlisted in the new army, and has now the rank of captain. In the notes by ‘Ebor’ in the Yorkshire Evening Post, he writes:-
‘One sees many unfamiliar sights in these strange days, and to me one that will not readily be forgotten is the appearance of an Irish Church of England vicar clad in full military captain’s uniform, taking part in a Yorkshire Rugby Football Union meeting. Captain the Rev Richard Huggard, of Barnsley, a past president and one of the most popular of the many good sportsmen in the Yorkshire Rugby Union, has thrown so much zeal and organising ability into recruiting in the Barnsley district that 2,700 men (over two battalions) have passed through his hands and into the ranks of the Yorks and Lancasters. He has therefore, well earned his captain’s rank by his administrative work, even if the leadership of forces on the field is denied him. That he would lend to the trenches, despite archiepiscopal frowns or archidiaconal remonstrates, if the chance came his way, I have not the slightest doubt. A man from Dungannon, cleric or otherwise, could not possibly quall. The vicar of St John the Baptist, Barnsley, holds the rank of captain in the 14th Service Battalion (second Barnsley) of the York and Lancaster Regiment. He has two sons with the forces. The eldest, Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, has a commission in the 6th East Yorkshire; the younger, Second Lieutenant L D R Huggard, holds a commission in the 13th Service Battalion York and Lancashire. It is a good family record; and doubtless there are many like it in the clerical houses throughout the country.’
The following extract is taken from the book by Ray Westlake, British Regiments at Gallipoli.
”The attack on Tekke Tepe Ridge (9th).Headquarters with "D" Company advanced with little opposition at first. Remaining companies, War Diary notes, followed and due to their being in an extreme state of exhaustion and without explicit instructions, failed to keep touch with the leading wave. Various reports by officers leading A, B and C Companies, record the exhausted state of the men. Also coming under heavy fire from the side, front and rear which could not be located "D" company moved up the lower slope. The fire poured in from concealed Turkish trenches and our men were unable to hold their ground. The battalion withdrew and concentrated at The Cut on "A" Beach. Casualties Lieutenant-Colonel H G A Moore, Captain N D. Pringle, Lieutenants H. Huggard, S Jalland Second-Lieutenant J.S Newman, R P. Wilson killed; Major C L Estridge, Captains A Grant H. L Willats; Second-Lieutenants Underhill, J C Banks, wounded; Captain R D Elliot, Lieutenants R. A Rawstorne, J Still taken prisoner; 20 other ranks killed, 104 wounded, 28 wounded and missing, 183 missing. In his war history of the East Yorkshire Regiment, Everard Wyrall records how "D" Company became surrounded and cut off and were forced to surrender Colonel Moore, having sat down exhausted, was then attacked by a single Turk and bayoneted in the back He died almost instantly The same individual also fired on Captain Elliot from about 10 yards but missed. In his book 'A Prisoner in Turkey', Lieutenant John Still records the advance as being over rough ground, some of the men getting lost among the prickly scrub. The enemy's fire from the right and front, increased. 'In that hour my admiration for the splendid courage of the men rose to a pitch of exaltation. They were Yorkshire miners for the most part dogged hard men of the sturdiest breed on earth.' John Still also notes how the wounded remained where they fell, those that were able moved on their only complaint being that no enemy could be seen to fire on."
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard was serving with the 6th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment when he was reported wounded and missing during an attack on Tekke Tepe Ridge, at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, on 9th August 1915. He was later confirmed dead. He was 26 years old.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 1st September 1915: Lieutenant H Huggard Missing
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, who is reported as missing at the Dardanelles, is the eldest son of Captain the Rev. Richard Huggard, M.A., vicar of Barnsley, and formerly curate of St Anne's Parish Church, Dungannon, of which town he is a native. Mr Huggard was at one time curate in Tuam, and St Michael's, Galway, and on leaving Dungannon accepted a living in Yorkshire. He was one of the most enthusiastic rugby officials in Ulster, and was president of the Northern Branch of the Union in 1897-98 being subsequently being appointed a vice-president of the Yorkshire Union. Mr Huggard has heartily thrown himself into the work of recruiting in Barnsley, upwards of 2,700 men have passed through his hands for the York and Lancaster Regiment, in the 14th Service Battalion of which he holds a commission as captain, and his second son, Mr L D R Huggard, is a second lieutenant in the 13th Battalion. The engagement in which Lieutenant H Huggard was reported missing was a severe one, two of his brother officers being killed, two wounded and five reported wounded.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 4th September 1915: Dungannon Officer Missing
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, who is reported as missing in the Gallipoli Peninsula during the recent operations (in which two of his brother officers were killed, two were wounded and five, including his colonel, returned as missing), is the eldest son of Captain the Rev Richard Huggard, M.A., formerly curate of St Anne’s Parish Church, Dungannon, and was born in that town. Rev R Huggard, who is now rector of Barnsley, Yorkshire, was prior to his ministry in Dungannon, curate of Tuam and of St Michael’s, Galway. He was an enthusiastic and typical Irish sportsman and his work on behalf of Irish Rugby Football was universally recognised. In the land of the Saxon his Irish zeal was even more evident and he became a past president of the Yorkshire Rugby Union. He enlisted in the new army and threw so much zeal into recruiting in the Barnsley district that 2,700 men, over two battalions, have passed through his hands into the ranks of the York and Lancasters. He therefore well earned his present rank of Captain in the 14th Service Battalion York and Lancasters by his administrative work, even if the leadership of forces in the field is denied him. In addition to the missing officer, another son holds a commission in the 13th Service Battalion York and Lancasters, so that clerical house possesses a good family record.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 9th September 1915:
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, whose name appears in the official list of missing from the Dardanelles, is the eldest son of Captain the Rev Richard Huggard M.A., vicar of Barnsley, and former curate of St Anne's Parish Church, Dungannon, of which town he is a native.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 20th September 1915: Lieutenant H Huggard Killed
Rev. Richard Huggard, M.A., surrogate vicar of St John's, Barnsley, and formerly of Dungannon, who is well known in connection with Yorkshire and Ulster Rugby football, has received news that his eldest son, Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, has been killed in action at the Dardanelles, and not wounded and taken prisoner as previously reported. The deceased was a native of Dungannon.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 30th September 1915:
Rev. Richard Huggard, M.A., Surrogate, vicar of St John’s, Barnsley, and formerly of Dungannon, has received news that his eldest son, Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard, 6th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, has been killed in action at the Dardanelles. Formerly his name appeared in the official list of missing from the Dardanelles. The deceased was a native of Dungannon. Mr Huggard was one time curate in Tuam, and St Michael’s, Galway, and on leaving Dungannon accepted a living in Yorkshire. He was one of the most enthusiastic Rugby officials in Ulster, and was president of the Northern Branch of the Union in 1897-98, being subsequently appointed a vice-president of the Yorkshire Union. Mr Huggard has heartily thrown himself into the work of recruiting in Barnsley, upwards of 2,700 men have passed through his hands for the York and Lancaster Regiment, in the 14th Service Battalion of which he holds a commission as captain, and his second son, Mr L D R Huggard, is a second lieutenant in the 13th Battalion.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 7th October 1915: Dungannon Ladies’ Generosity
Mrs Hale, Fairview, Dungannon, has presented a wheeled ambulance stretcher of a new pattern to the 6th East Yorkshire Regiment, now at the Dardanelles, in memory of the late Lieutenant H Huggard, of that Battalion, who was a native of Dungannon, and the eldest son of Rev R Huggard, M.A., formerly of Dungannon, and now rector of St John’s, Barnsley. Miss Hale has presented a similar to the 2nd Inniskilling Fusiliers, now operating in Flanders, to help alleviate the suffering of the wounded of the Tyrone Regiment. Both the stretchers were obtained from, and despatched by the St John Ambulance Association.
Hewitt's brother, Captain Lewis Dudley Richard Huggard, also died in the War in 1917.
Their mother, Mrs Huggard, died in Barnsley on 28th February 1919.
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard is commemorated locally on Dungannon War Memorial.
Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard is also listed on the Roll of Honour in the East Yorkshire Regimental Chapel, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
The CWGC record Lieutenant Hewitt Huggard as the son of Richard and Frances Marion Huggard, of John's Vicarage, Barnsley. B.A. (Oxon.).
