About this record

This is a letter to the next of kin of Second Lieutenant Hugo Throssell informing them that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was for ‘most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty’ during operations on Hill 60 at Gallipoli.

Hugo Throssell and the battle for Hill 60

Hugo Throssell enlisted in the 10th Light Horse Regiment with his brother Frank Eric (‘Ric’) in 1914. In August 1915, he fought in the battle for Hill 60 on Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula. Hill 60 linked the British positions at Suvla with those at Anzac. It was the scene of several Allied attacks and heavy loss of life. The 10th Light Horse attack captured some of the Turkish lines but, in the end, the enemy still held much of the hill.

In a dramatic, night-long fight, Lieutenant Throssell and his men took a trench near the summit and held it. They threw back hundreds of Turkish bombs and suffered heavy casualties from multiple counterattacks.

During the battle, Throssell demonstrated great personal courage and was severely wounded. He was evacuated to Britain, where he underwent 4 months of treatment. After developing meningitis, he was repatriated to Western Australia.

Throssell returned to the front in 1917 and was wounded in Gaza, Palestine, where his brother was killed. He again recovered and continued to serve until February 1919.

After the war, Throssell became involved with pacifism, socialism and workers’ rights, speaking publicly on the futility of war. He committed suicide in 1933.