Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur Hugh Coulter was born Hugh Arthur Coulter in Brunswick, Victoria on 31 October 1888, the son of Hugh Coulter and Helene (Ella) Frances Weber. On 1 May 1900 Arthur’s uncle, Frederick Coulter embarked with the 4th South Australian Imperial Bushmen on the troopship ‘Manhattan’ for South Africa. In a tough tour of duty lasting more than a year the contingent lost 13 men dead to enemy action, disease and accident. The contingent sailed for home on 7 July 1901.

At the time of his enlistment in the AIF on 29 October 1914, Arthur was employed as a painter and his mother was living at 68 Tivoli Road, South Yarra.

He embarked as a member of the 4th Australian Field Ambulance on 22 December 1914 on board the troopship ‘Berrima’.

The convoy reached Suez on 28 January 1915, eventually disembarking at Alexandria where Arthur’s unit set up camp at Heliopolis northeast of Cairo as part of the New Zealand and Australian Division. On 11 April 1915, the unit broke camp and travelled by train to Alexandria where the Division embarked for the island of Lemnos in preparation for the landing at Gallipoli. Arthur remained on Lemnos and eventually left for Gallipoli on 6 May 1915.

On 1 August 1915 Arthur was evacuated from Gallipoli on board the hospital ship ‘Itonus’ and was admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis suffering from Rheumatism. He was transferred to the depot at Ras-El-Tin in Alexandria on 4 October for convalescence.

On 31 March 1916 Arthur was discharged from convalescence and attached as a member of the staff of the depot as a lance corporal. He remained at Ras-El-Tin until he embarked for England on 15 September 1916 on the troopship ‘Herefordshire’.

Arthur’s father, Hugh Coulter, at the age of 43, enlisted in the AIF in Liverpool NSW on 30 June 1915 as a member of the 2nd Infantry Battalion. He embarked for overseas from Sydney on 8 October 1915 on the troopship ‘Warilda’ arriving at Suez on 5 November where he joined his unit in training at Tel-el-Kabir. It is not known if Hugh caught up with his son before he embarked for France on 22 March 1916 aboard the troopship ‘Invernia’. On 22 July 1916, the 2nd Battalion commenced its first major action against the German Army at Pozieres where Hugh Coulter was wounded in his right ankle. He died the following day and was buried at the Warloy-Baillon Military Cemetery.

In England, Arthur was transferred to the Australian Army Postal Corps which had been formed in July 1916. Arthur worked at the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery camp at Heytesbury, one of several Australian camps on the Salisbury Plain, until his return to Australia. On 16 September 1918, Arthur Coulter married Sarah Cecelia West a 25-year-old English war widow who was then living at ‘The Vicarage’, Chippenham.

Arthur embarked at Devonport on 20 October 1918 aboard the troopship ‘Borda’ to return to Australia. Sarah followed him to Australia aboard the ‘SS Somali’ departing from Avonmouth on 21 December 1918 and arriving in Sydney on 8 February 1919 where the couple made their home.

On 11 March 1940 Arthur re-enlisted for service during WWII and was taken on strength with the Australian Army Pay Corps at the rank of Corporal. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 1 May and then to Staff Sergeant on 1 June. On 4 September 1941, he was detached for duty to Dubbo and promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2. He was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 on 3 December. On 1 March 1941, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the role of Chief Paymaster. Arthur retired from military service in October 1943 and held the licence for the Hotel Dubbo from 1943 to 1945 before returning to Sydney.

Sarah Coulter died in Sydney on 8 Jan 1947 and in 1949 Arthur married Cecily Nina Buckingham. Arthur died on 7 January 1972 in Newtown, New South Wales and is buried in Rookwood Cemetery.