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HUGH COLBORNE GRAHAM

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Rank
2nd Lieutenant
Regiment
YORKSHIRE REGIMENT 9TH BATTALION
Military Number
1608, 390187
Address
31 Pendrill Street
Kingston upon Hull HU3 1UU
Background

BORN SCULCOATES, HULL 7/8/1888. YOUNGER SON OF CHRISTOPHER COLBORNE GRAHAM (1857-1943) & MARY JOHNSTONE BREMNER (1862-1910) OF 165, BEVERLEY ROAD, HULL & ORIEL HOUSE, SCARBOROUGH. HIS FATHER WAS A RETIRED ANALYTICAL CHEMIST AND MAYOR OF SCARBOROUGH. HE HAD ONE BROTHER CHRISTOPHER COLBORNE GRAHAM AND ONE SISTER, MARY BREMNER GRAHAM. HE WAS EDUCATED AT WINCHESTER COLLEGE AND GIGGLESWICK SCHOOL, SCARBOROUGH. ATTENDED LEEDS UNIVERSITY WHERE HE OBTAINED AN BSc DEGREE AND DESCRIBED AS AN "ARDENT SOCIALIST". HE WORKED IN SCARBOROUGH AS A TECHNOLOGICAL CHEMIST. HE WAS LIVING IN HULL WHEN WAR BEGAN

HE ATTEMPTED TO JOIN THE HULL PALS, BUT WAS REJECTED DUE TO POOR EYESIGHT. HE ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE, IN THE LOCAL RAMAC AND WAS ATTACHED TO THE NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS FOR TWO YEARS. POSTED TO FRANCE ON 20 APRIL 1915. AT THE END ON 1916, HE VOLUNTEERED TO BE AN INFANTRY OFFICER AND TRAINED AT BRISTOL UNIVERSITY. HE WAS COMMISSIONED AS SECOND LIEUTENANT, 9TH YORKSHIRE REGIMENT (GREEN HOWARDS). KILLED IN ACTION, ON 01/10/1917, AGED 29. COMMEMORATED ON THE TYNE COT MEMORIAL, BELGIUM.

HE LEFT £3,775 IN HIS WILL TO CHRISTOPHER COLBOURNE GRAHAM, COMPANY DIRECTOR, AT 31, PENDRILL STREET, HULL (PROBATE ADDRESS). HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE RAMC MEMORIAL BOARD, WENLOCK BARRACKES, HULL.

Hugh Graham was born in the Sculcoates area of Hull on the 7th August 1888 the second child of Christopher and Mary Graham. In about 1899 the family moved to Ilkley where they lived at Highmoor on Hangingstone Road.
Sent away to school at an early age Hugh was first educated at a small prep school in Scarborough called Bamcote and then, in 1902, he was sent to the famous public school, Winchester College, in Hampshire. However, he only stayed for a year at Winchester before moving back to Yorkshire as a boarder at Giggleswick School near Settle. His schooling finished in 1906 when he went on to Leeds University to take a degree in science, graduating in 1910.
At about this time Hugh's mother died and has father moved to Scarborough where he would eventually serve for six years as the town's mayor. At the outbreak of war in 1914 Hugh was living in Hull where he had started a business. Hoping to enlist he attempted to join one of the 'Pals' battalions being formed in the town, but was rejected because of poor eyesight. Instead he was accepted into the Royal Army Medical Corps as a private, arriving in France on 20th April 1915 and was attached to a battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
The Somme battles of 1916 had seriously depleted officer numbers and Hugh took the opportunity to apply for a commission. Despite his poor eyesight he was successful and in January 1917 he was Gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.
In June 1917 after officer training Hugh arrived back in France and was posted to his battalion. On 1st October the battalion was in the Sanctuary Wood area near to the village of Hooge when at 4.30 in the morning it came under sustained German attack which inflicted many casualties including Hugh, who was killed.
2nd Lieutenant Hugh Graham was buried near to where he fell but the grave was lost during subsequent battles and today he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot memorial to the missing. He is also remembered on the war memorials at Winchester College and Giggleswick School as well as in Scarborough and Ilkley.
Date Died
01/10/1917
Died
Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Age
29
Memorial
Vijfwegestraat
Zonnebeke 8980

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