Hann, Hugh Nalder
1856 Company Quarter Master Sergeant Hugh Nalder Hann - 31st Battalion AIF
Hugh Nalder Hann was born in Portsmouth Hampshire England on the 11th December 1890 to Hugh and Annie Hann. He had a brother Robert in 1895 and George in 1899.
In 1901 the family were living in Wales and on his enlistment in the Great War, Hugh reported that he had seen service in the South Wales Borderers in the 1900's. He left the service of the South Wales Borderers and came to WA with the prospect of taking up farming.
In 1911 his father took up the position of Superintendent of Fremantle Prison. The family lived at 10 The Terrace Fremantle.
Hugh had been working as an orchardist and in 1913 was working at Tambellup as a labourer. However he also resided with his father in Fremantle.
On the 16th March 1915 Hugh enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 6 inches;
Weight - 131lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Sallow;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair - Dark;
Distinctive Mark - Birthmark on right thigh.
Upon his successful enlistment Hugh was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to "A" Company of the 28th battalion with the regimental number 863. The 28th Battalion trained in WA until they embarked from Fremantle Harbour aboard the transport ship HMAT “Ascanius” on the 29th June 1915. After their arrival in Egypt in July 1915 they were given further training and were soon told to prepare to head for Gallipoli.
However Hugh did not go with them. He had been evacuated to hospital with venereal disease. Early in the war, men in the AIF who had contracted venereal disease were returned to Australia. On the 25th September 1915 he boarded the transport ship Ceramic in Egypt and returned to Australia.
Hugh was taken to Melbourne but then went to Queensland where he re-enlisted into the AIF. He was assigned to the 2nd Reinforcements to the 31st Battalion which left Brisbane on the transport ship HMAT Kyarra on the 3rd January 1916. The ship then set sail for Egypt and arrived there in February 1916.
It does not appear that Hugh joined the 31st Battalion in Egypt. Ill health kept him in the hospital and base camps on Egypt till August 1916. The hospital ship Kanowna then took him to England. He was initially sent to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs but was then transferred for duty to the 8th Training Battalion.
For a few months Hugh had been in the role of Acting Company Sergeant Major but in March 1917 reverted to the rank of Private.
On the 3rd May 1917 Hugh left England and went to France and was taken on strength of the 31st battalion on the 8th May 1917. He then served with his unit at the Second Battle of Bullecourt. He survived this action safely but on the 28th May 1917 he was evacuated ill with trench fever. He was taken to the 8th Field Ambulance where he rested up for a few weeks. On the 14th June 1917 Hugh was then sent to the 5th Division Wing reinforcement camp. He would remain here till August 1917. During this time the 31st battalion were on a three month break out of the front line.
On the 21st August 1917 Hugh rejoined the 31st Battalion AIF. He was now promoted to the rank of Temporary Corporal.
In September 1917 the 31st battalion was sent to Belgium to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres. Hugh saw action at Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele through September, October and November 1917.
Hugh had come through the Third Battle of Ypres safely and from December 1917 to March 1918 the 31st Battalion would hold the front line south east of Ypres from between Hollebeke and Messines. On the 23rd January 1918 he was promoted to Quarter Master Sergeant.
It appears Hugh was now officially on strength of the 5th Australian Division Reinforcement Wing and would be attached to this unit through 1918. The 5th Australian Division Reinforcement Wing was an administrative holding unit of the Australian Imperial Force. Formed in France/Belgium during the later years of the Western Front campaign (active through 1917–1919), it temporarily housed, organized, and retrained incoming replacements before they joined front-line battalions. Hugh would have helped manage the intake of fresh drafts and convalescent soldiers returning from wounds or sickness, preparing them for combat tasks specific to their Division
In October 1918 Hugh fell ill with influenza and was sent to the 6th General Hospital at Rouen. Fortunately it was not a severe illness and he was back with his unit on the 21st October 1918. A week later Hugh was granted a fortnight's leave to England and he was there when the Armistice was announced.
Hugh returned to France on the 16th November 1918 and served with his unit for the next few months. In April 1919 his unit was demobilised and he returned to the 31st battalion for a few weeks before they were also demobilised. Hugh then returned to England on the 12th May 1919 and was sent to Weymouth where he would wait to be assigned a berth on a transport ship home.
On the 21st June 1919 Hugh left England aboard the transport ship Kongin Louise, with the ship arriving at Fremantle on the 2nd August 1919.
Hugh was discharged from the AIF on the 6th October 1919.
Hugh lived with his father at The Terrace for a short period of time but then returned to England.
In 1921 Hugh was living at East Ham Essex England, working as a cycle, gramophone and pram repairer.
He was married in West Ham in 1923 to Rachael K Phillips.
His father died in 1925 in Busselton WA but it does not appear that Hugh returned to Australia. The South Western News on the 11th December 1925 reported on Hugh Hann (snr's) death;
By the Second World War in 1939 Hugh was still living in Essex England.
He died on the 23rd August 1973 in Norton Somerset England.