| Code | DS/UK/70 |
| Dates | 1889-1958 |
| Person Name | Hughes; Cyril Emerson (1889-1958); Colonel; surveyor, civil engineer, soldier, Inspector of Works for Gallipoli, Deputy Controller and Chief Administrative Officer for Eastern District, Australian Trade Commissioner in Egypt |
| Surname | Hughes |
| Forenames | Cyril Emerson |
| Title | Colonel |
| Epithet | surveyor, civil engineer, soldier, Inspector of Works for Gallipoli, Deputy Controller and Chief Administrative Officer for Eastern District, Australian Trade Commissioner in Egypt |
| Source | CWGC Archive, CM 3/1/80, COMMISSION MEETING NO.412, 20/3/1958 - 20/3/1958; CWGC Archive, IWGC Staff Card Index; Cyril Emerson Hughes
in the Australia, WWI Service Records, 1914-1920. Accessed via Ancestry UK website. |
| Biographical Note | Colonel Cyril Emerson Hughes CBE was the Imperial War Graves Commission's Inspector of Works for Gallipoli and then Deputy Controller and Chief Administrative Officer, Eastern District (1925-1937).
Cyril Emerson Hughes was born on 6 September 1889 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He worked as a surveyor and civil engineer and served for three years in the 12th Australian Light Horse.
During the First World War, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant (later Captain) with the 1st Australian Light Horse in 1915. He served in Gallipoli and was admitted to hospital in August 1915 before rejoining his unit. Hughes transferred to 4th Field Engineers, 2nd Division in October 1915.
In 1919, Cyril Hughes joined the Commission’s staff as Inspector of Works at Gallipoli and, in 1924, he was awarded the status of Companion of the British Empire for his work in the region. From 1925, Hughes served at the Headquarters of Eastern District, first as Deputy Controller and later as Chief Administrative Officer. He resigned in 1937 to become Australian Trade Commissioner in Egypt but retained an interest in the Commission's work, continuing to support Commission officials in Egypt until his retirement.
Colonel Cyril Hughes CBE died on 2 March 1958, aged 68, after a long illness. Major-General J.F.D. Steedman, CBE, MC, then Director of Works, represented the Commission at Colonel Hughes’s funeral on 6 March 1958. |