Edward William HUGHES

Lieutenant Edward Hughes MRCVS was born in Liverpool, England, in 1889.

He obtained his commission in January 1917, having passed his veterinary examination in the previous year and duly qualified. While completing his degree, he worked for E. Wood, a veterinarian in Chester.

Before joining the Veterinary Corps, he suffered a bicycle accident, which resulted in injuries to his thigh and head injuries.

On January 16th, 1917, Lieutenant Hughes was sent to France and returned on leave to England in the months of June and November 1917. It was reported that his health at these periods was very indifferent.

In December 1917, he was sent to Italy; however, in January 1918, he returned to England as a hospital patient, having met with a severe fall while riding horseback. This aggravated his old trouble, and he complained to the doctor of his thigh and pains in the head.

On Monday, the 28th of January, he became a patient of the Second Western General Hospital Manchester. He reported there in the morning but failed to return after being allowed to go for a walk.

Lieutenant Hughes’s body was found on the grounds of an unoccupied house on the 30th of January 1918. He had been shot through the temple. There was a revolver in his right hand, and a bottle presumed to contain poison was found close by. From the appearance of the body, it is evident that the death probably occurred two- or three days prior.

A coroner’s inquest into the death found that the officer had committed suicide during temporary insanity.

Captain Hughes’s death was reported in the Veterinary Record on 9 February 1918.