Hughes, JH

2nd Lieutenant John Henry Hughes

Born on February 6th 1886, John was the second son of solicitor Henry Hughes and his wife, Frances. He came to Dulwich in September 1900, by which point his elder brother William was already an OA, and they would later be joined as Alleynians by their younger brother, Harold. John’s time at the College lasted three years, leaving in the summer of 1903. From Dulwich he went on to spend four years working for a surveying firm in Croydon, named Hooker & Webb. In 1907 he gained a Diploma from the Surveyors’ Institute, and that same year went into partnership in his own firm, Hughes & Spencer, based in Ilford. He had also spent several years as a reservist in the London Rifle Brigade, resigning in 1910.
When war was declared in September 1914 John at first tried to rejoin his old regiment but was instead assigned to the Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, before, shortly afterwards, being given a commission in the West Kent Regiment. He spent time as an instructor in the Middlesex Regiment, but it May 1916 was reunited with the West Kents, with whom he went out to the front shortly afterwards. On July 3rd he was killed in action near Ovillers, on the Somme, whilst leading his platoon in an assault. His elder brother, William, also an OA, would also die in the war, as a result of wounds received at Ovillers two years later.