Hughes Veterans Memorial

Richard Barrett – artist and sculptor

Made at the Hughes Community Shed

This sculpture honours the service of local Australian Defence Force service men and women from the Hughes and Canberra community. It depicts the three badges of the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force.

The twelve panels are inscribed with Morse Code. The Morse Code spells out the names HUGHES, as well as the 23 streets named after military personnel in the Hughes suburb.

Funded with the support of the ACT Government Office of Seniors and Veterans.

Thanks to the following for their support: Innovate Metalworx and ACT Powder Coating Service.

What is Morse Code?
Morse Code is a system for representing letters of the alphabet, numerals, and punctuation marks by an arrangement of dots, dashes, and spaces.1
It was invented by Samuel F.B. Morse during the 1830s as a form of  telecommunication.

HUGHES …. ..- –. …. . …
William Morris Hughes was Australia’s 7th Prime Minister. He is most famous for being Australia’s Prime Minister during the First World War, where he was given the nickname ‘The Little Digger’. He served in a number of appointments in government and opposition, and a range of political parties. He served for 58 continuous years in state and federal politics, which remains the record.2

Feature Name: HUGHES PLACE
Commemorated Name: HUGHES
Given Names: WILLIAM MORRIS (BILLY)
Title: MR
Alias: None
Qualification: CH
Birth Year: 1862
Death Year: 1952
Gender: Male
Biography: Prime Minister, 1915-23; MLA, New South Wales from 1894 to 1901; MHR from 1901-52; served continuously for fifty-eight years in Parliament including as Member of the Advisory War Council, 1940-45. William Hughes’ role as Prime Minister during World War I earned him the nickname of `The Little Digger’.3

Find out more information about the sculpture, morse code and the streets featured.

Research resources
• ACT Maps
• Australian War Memorial search
• National Museum of Australia