kulaluk1971's video: Captain Hugo V H Throssell VC

Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell of Northam WA was born on 26 October 1884, a son of WA;s second premier, George Throssell. George emigrated to Australia on the convict ship "Scindian" in 1851 as a ten-year-old son of a pensioner guard. Hugo attended Northam School and Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. He was a talented actor, marksman, athlete, sportsman and boxer. He tried farming with his elder brother Frank Eric Throssell at Cowcowing until both enlisted in the 10th Light Horse in WWI. Hugo embarked from Fremantle on 19 Feb 1915. After training in Egypt, he joined up with the 10th Light Horse Regiment at Gallipoli two days before the fateful charge on the Turkish trenches at the Nek at dawn on 7 August 1915. As part of the diversionary effort for the August Offensive, the 3rd Light Horse was ordered to attack the Turkish trenches at the Nek at 4.30am on 7 August to support an attack by New Zealand troops. The naval bombardment of Turkish positions missed their targets and finished 7 minutes early, while the Australians were held back until the planned time, giving the Turks time to reposition themselves. Two waves of men were mowed down by Turkish machine guns. Cancellation of the attack was proposed, but was rejected by Major John Antill. The third line of soldiers, from the 10th Light Horse, went over the top and were also shot down. Cancellation was again suggested, but before a decision was made, the right flank of the fourth line with Hugo Throssell charged. They too were mowed down by the Turkish fire. The 8th Light Horse suffered 234 casualties, 154 fatal; and the 10th, suffered 138 casualties, 80 fatal. Hugo Throssell was wounded 7 times but refused to leave his men. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at Hill 60 on 29 August 1915. In the trenches, the men used their sporting prowess to catch the enemy grenades and throw them back into the Turkish trenches. In hospital Hugo suffered a severe bout of meningitis and returned to Australia 8 months later. According to newspaper reports while back in WA he spoke at recruitment drives to encourage other young men to join up. He re-embarked in January 1917 and was again wounded at Gaza in Palestine in April in the same battle that saw the death of his brother Frank Eric Throssell on 19 April 1917. That night Hugo searched for his brother among the dead on the battlefield crying out the same signal the two very close brothers had used since childhood, to no avail. Eric is buried in Palestine. Hugo was promoted to Captain on 15 August 1917 On 9 December 1917 the 10th Light Horse Regiment with other allied troops provided a guard of Honour for General Allenby as he entered the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem after the battle for Beersheba on 31 October. On that historic occasion Hugo commanded the Australian detachment of the ceremonial guard. The Light Horsemen were first into Damascus but had to wait for Lawrence and his forces to receive the surrender of the Ottoman governor. After the war, Hugo married the communist author Katharine Susannah Prichard in Victoria on 28 January 1919. They settled at a cottage in the hills overlooking Perth, WA. While Katharine was away in the USSR, Hugo became involved in a disastrous financial enterprise. Depressed, he took out his revolver and shot himself in the head on 19 November 1933. On the back of his will he wrote “I have never recovered from the war... no one could have a truer mate”. In the note he appealed for his widow to receive the war widow's pension. At the inquest the doctor said that Hugo had never fully recovered from the meningitis attack and had trouble sleeping. On lying down the most terrible thoughts would come to his mind, Today we would call it Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery in a simple grave which was restored in 2015. A statue of Hugo has also been erected in his home town of Northam. Both monuments are shown in this video. Katharine Susannah Prichard died on 3 December 1969. She is remembered by her many novels and essays, translated into many languages. This video was made for the 100th anniversary of Hill 60 on 29 August 2015 by a great grandson of George Throssell, William (Bill) Bartlett Day of Maylands, WA.