Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Hugh Rutherford Liston was born on 26th May 1915 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the second eldest of 3 sons born to his parents William and Annie Liston.  His siblings were John and William.  He migrated to Australia around the age of 7 and received his education at Abbotsford Primary School VIC.  Hugh was a member of the Plymouth Brethren Assemblies and was undertaking biblical studies at the Melbourne Bible Institute when WW1 broke out.  He was living in Prahran, Victoria, at the time.

Hugh enlisted with the 2nd AIF Special Forces on 8th July 1940 at Camp Pell, Royal Park VIC aged 25.  He’s described as being 5ft 8ins tall with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair.  His service number was VX36534 and his rank Private.  He proceeded 4 days later he to the 12th Infantry Training Depot at Balcombe Camp, Mount Martha VIC.  On 1st September 1940 Hugh transferred to the 2nd/6th Training Battalion at Darley Camp VIC then in mid-September he transferred to the 7th Australian General Hospital (7AGH) at Seymour Camp VIC.  This unit was part of the 19th Brigade of the 6th Division.  In October 1940 the unit moved to Puckapunyal Camp VIC where they remained until embarking for the Middle East on 4th February 1941 on RMS Aquitania, part of the US9 Convoy.  The convoy consisted of 3 other ships…the Queen Mary, Nieuw Amsterdam and Maurentania, which joined the convoy offshore from Melbourne.  The convoy was escorted by HMAS Hobart to Fremantle WA and when it left there on 12th February it was escorted by HMAS Canberra.  The Queen Mary left the Convoy on 16th February carrying the 8th Division to Singapore.  On 20th February HMAS Canberra left the convoy and it was replaced by HMS Leander which escorted them to Bombay where they arrived on 22nd February.  The troops transferred to 6 other vessels and embarked from Bombay on 26th February and disembarked at Suez, Egypt, on 25th March 1941.  Hugh with his unit proceeded to Amiriya south of Alexandria then in April the unit moved to Rehovot in Palestine.  In mid-May Hugh was admitted to the 7AGH with sandfly fever and discharged for duty 5 days later. 

On 27th June 1941 Hugh transferred to the 2//7th Field Ambulance, part of the 19th Brigade, 6th Division and he was graded as a Group 3 Nursing Orderly.  The unit was based at Khassa Camp in Palestine and remained there until being withdrawn back to Australia, as part of the 6th Division, to meet the threat posed by the Japanese advances in the Pacific.  Hugh embarked from the Middle East on 16th February 1942 on the ship Empire Pintail and disembarked at Adelaide SA on 22nd March 1942. 

In early May Hugh relinquished his Group 3 Nursley Orderly, was appointed as Acting Corporal and detached to the AIF Staging Camp located on the Adelaide Oval.  The 2/7th Field Ambulance was then assigned to the Northern Territory Force (NTF).  This force was formed from the Headquarters of the 6th and 7th Divisions.  They entrained from Mile End Station Adelaide on 6th June 1942 and disembarked at Terowie where the tracks changed to narrow gauge.  They continued on by train to Alice Springs and from there they were transported by trucks and arrived at Darwin NT on 10th June.  Shortly after they moved south to 65 Mile, also known as Ngukurr. 

Hugh was appointed as Acting Sergeant on 28th July 1942 then the next day reverted to Acting Corporal before being appointed as Lance Sergeant that same day.  A month later he was detached to attend a Field Works Course at the NTF School.  He was promoted to Corporal on 6th September and re-joined his unit a week later from the school having achieved an 86% pass.  In early January 1943 he was appointed as Acting Sergeant and detached to the NTF School as an Instructor.  He reverted to Acting Lance Sergeant and rejoined his unit in mid-January then a month later was detached to the NTF School again as Instructor for the No. 10 Stretcher Bearers Course.  In late May 1943 he was detached again to the school as Instructor of the No. 13 Stretcher Bearers Course.  He rejoined his unit in early June then 2 weeks later entrained for Victoria for leave then onward movement to join his unit at Wondecla in Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands.  In December he was detached for duty for 2 days to the 104th  Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) and rejoined his unit just before Christmas. 

In March 1944 Hugh was detached for duty to the 6th Division Rest Camp for 2 weeks then in early April was detached for duty to the 2/4th Infantry Battalion for 2 days before rejoining his unit.  On 19th November the unit proceeded to Townsville where it embarked for New Guinea on SS Bontekoe and disembarked at Aitape a week later on the 26th to take part in the Aitape - Wewak Campaign.  In December the unit moved to Babiang, to Ulau in January 1945, Suain in February and finally to Matapau in March. 

On 25th March 1945 Hugh transferred to the 2/9th Cavalry Commando Squadron who were resting at Aitape at the time.  This Squadron was part of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment attached to the 6th Division.  In early April Hugh reverted to the rank of Corporal.  The 2/9th Squadron, as part of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment, was set apart from other regiments by way of its distinctive headdress as it was issued with the black armoured corps beret, and was the only unit to wear the large Rising Sun hat badge, marking them as the senior Regiment of the 2nd AIF.  Its unit colour patch consisted of the same colours of the Royal Tank Corps - brown, red and green - which it wore in that order, in contrast to other armoured units which displayed the green followed by red and brown. 

The 2/9th Squadron undertook numerous long-range patrols across the Torricelli Ranges, as well as being utilised as normal line infantry when required.  In this role they were utilised in May 1945 in an amphibious landing at Dove Bay, east of Wewak, as part of Farida Force.  This force consisted 623 men of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment drawn from the 2/9th and 2/10th Cavalry Commando Squadrons.  The force was transported to offshore at Dove Bay in 3 vessels…HMAS Swan, HMAS Dubbo and HMAS Colac then the troops were transferred into landing craft.  The first wave went ashore at 8.34am followed soon after by the 2nd wave.  They encountered very little resistance and by 10.30am the beach-head had been established.  Over the next week and a half the force began patrol operations in the surrounding area. 

Later in May and into June 1945, the 2/9th were attached to the 19th Brigade and were given responsibility for defending the Brandi Plantation and the vital crossroads at Mandi.  In late June, the infiltration of Japanese troops around Boiken threatened the security of the Australian positions and 2/9th along with the rest of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment were engaged in operations to deal with these threats.  In early July 1945 Hugh was admitted to the 104th CCS with diarrhoea and discharged 5 days later.  The Squadron continued with the raids through July and into August, before hostilities finally came to an end on 15th August 1945.  Demobilisation began almost immediately but a shortage of shipping kept the 19th Brigade overseas for several months after the end of hostilities.  In early December 1945 Hugh was detached to the 2/1st Infantry Battalion before embarking from Wewak on HMS Implacable on 13th December having served 13 months in New Guinea.  He disembarked at Sydney NSW on 19th December and was home in time for Christmas.  He was discharged from the service on 16th January 1946 having served a total of 2,020 days…978 days in Australia and 809 days overseas.  He received the Returned from Active Service Badge. 

Hugh married Ruth Penfold in 1946 at the Burwood Gospel Hall NSW.  They welcomed 4 children…Bill, Annie, Dave and Jim.  Hugh completed his biblical studies and achieved his certificate to preach as an elder in the Plymouth Brethren Assemblies.  He was the Sunday School Superintendent and he worked as a painter, his occupation prior to taking up biblical studies before the war.  Hugh and Ruth remained living in NSW until the early 1980s when they moved to Tasmania to live with their daughter Annie. 

Hugh, aged 88, passed away on 16th February 2003 at Launceston TAS, exactly 61 years to the day from when he embarked for the Middle East in 1942.  He was buried at Carr Villa Memorial Park in Tasmania with Ruth who had pre-deceased him in 2000. 

Hugh Rutherford Liston was awarded for service in WW2 the 1939-1945 Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945, Australia Service Medal.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 20th November 2023

Sources

https://www.commando.org.au/commando-history

https://www.26cavcommando.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2764

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2/6th_Cavalry_Commando_Regiment_(Australia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farida_Force