Thomas George Hughes was born (we believe) in 1886 in Mold. The census of 1911 lists him living at 3 Riverbank Mold, with his family. He was 25 and a Coal miner Fitter. His wife of 6 years, Maggie was 24 and she had been born in Leigh, Lancashire. She had given birth to three children, all of whom were alive. William James was 7, Amelia was 2 and Ada Margaret was 3 months old. Presumably at some point after this, the family moved to Denton in Lancashire.

Thomas George Hughes’s  Flintshire Roll of Honour card provides us with his regiment and number, which then enabled us to search military records.

UK Soldiers Who Died in The Great War 1914-19 accessible on www.ancestry.co.uk confirms his military details as above. It adds that he resided in Denton, Manchester but enlisted in Flint. It says he died ‘at home’ which meant he didn’t die abroad.

His medal card, also on Ancestry lists his three medals and adds that his first Theatre of War was The Balkans (Gallipoli) and he entered it on the 8th August 1915.

The Register of Soldiers’ Effects also on Ancestry in which the army calculated what monies were owed to deceased soldiers, includes an entry for Thomas George Hughes. It confirms his regimental details (although this source says he was in the 2nd Bttn of the RWF) and adds that he died in a Military Hospital in Blackpool of pneumonia. A total of £12..19sh..9d was paid to his widow Maggie.

The Flintshire Roll of Honour Card in the County Record Office in Hawarden states graphically that ‘ he died from wounds received in the Dardanelles July 1916. Served 1 yr 10 months. Frost bitten feet turned septic poisoning which caused his death in Blackpool hospital’. The card was signed by a  Walter Hughes.

Thomas’s Commonwealth War Grave Certificate tells us that he was buried in Denton, where Maggie lived at 151 Huaghton Green Road.