Frederic Hughes Major General Frederic Godfrey Hughes CB ( 26 January 1858 – 23 August 1944 ) was an Australian Army Major General in World War I . Early life and career . Frederic Godfrey Hughes was born on 26 January 1858 in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor , the son of a grazier . He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and became a clerk for a land valuer . Later he set up his own land valuation business . Hughes became involved in local politics and in 1898 Hughes was elected a St Kilda City Councillor . He served for 24 years and was Mayor of St Kilda from 1901 to 1902 and again from 1911 to 1912 . He had various business interests , including directorships of Dunlop Rubber and South Broken Hill . Hughes joined the St Kilda Artillery Battery as a driver in 1875 . He became a sergeant in 1883 and was commissioned in 1885 . On 20 August 1888 he was promoted to captain and took command of the Victorian Nordenfeldt Battery . Hughes was promoted to major in 1891 . His battery was disbanded on 30 June 1897 and Hughes was transferred to the field artillery and became at staff officer at Headquarters in Melbourne . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1900 . In 1903 , he was given command of the 11th Light Horse Regiment . On 6 December 1907 he was promoted to colonel and took command of the 4th Light Horse Brigade , which was renamed the 7th Light Horse Brigade in 1912 . In 1909 , Hughes became an aide de camp to the Governor General . World War I . Hughes was appointed to the First Australian Imperial Force as a colonel on 17 October 1914 and given command of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade . Like most militia brigadiers , Hughes was given a regular officer as a brigade major , in his case , Lieutenant Colonel Antill . Although not an easy man to get along with , Hughes relied heavily on Antill . The brigade departed for Egypt in February 1915 where it trained until alerted for dismounted action at Gallipoli in May . It arrived on 20 May 1915 and became part of Major General Alexander Godley ' s New Zealand and Australian Division . The ANZAC commander , Lieutenant General Birdwood , had grave doubts about Hughes capacity . Godley ordered Hughes to attack the Turkish positions at the Nek at 0430 on 7 August 1915 with a bayonet charge in support of the New Zealand attack on Chunuk Bair . The attack stalled from the very beginning , when the artillery lifted some seven minutes early according to watches on Russell ' s Top . Then wave after wave of light horsemen charged the Turkish trenches at the Nek , only to be cut down . Hughes mismanaged the battle . He left his headquarters around the time the second wave of 150 had attacked in order to try to observe the attack , thereby isolating himself from Antill and the rest of his headquarters . After the third wave had been slaughtered , Hughes gave orders for the attack to be discontinued , but not in time to save the fourth wave . He seems to have become completely rattled . Hughes was evacuated from Gallipoli on 20 September 1915 with typhoid . He was evacuated to Australia in March 1916 suffering from typhoid and pneumonia . In July 1918 , he was reappointed to the AIF and served with the Sea Transport Service . He retired in March 1920 with the rank of major general . Post war . Hughes died in St Kilda on 23 August 1944 at age 86 . See also . List of Australian Generals