Unidentified Australian Soldier

A striking photograph of an unidentified Australian soldier WW1 – Article by Peter Barnes

Even though the photograph of this unidentified Australian soldier of WW1 was widely used in the 100th Anniversary of WW1 (Anzac Centenary 2014 – 2018), he still remains unidentified.

It is highly likely that the photograph was taken in Australia, sometime between 1915 and 1918, before the soldier embarked overseas.

Apparently, the Australian War Memorial has had a lot of responses from people but he still remains unidentified. Extraordinary really. Such a striking photograph.

The photo of the unidentified soldier was taken at Asti Studios, which operated a commercial photographic studio at 117 King Street in Sydney. The business commenced on the 20th of October 1911. The partners were Mr Friedewald and Mr Butler. They were in business until 1929.

If anyone thinks they know who this unidentified soldier is, it would be great to know.

Lest We Forget.

Photograph above came from the Australian War Memorial. Image file number AWM P06003.001.

I have found some very interesting photographs and information.

The photograph of the unidentified soldier (as mentioned before), was taken at Asti Studios.

Trove online has collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries, and archives, and I found three photographs when I searched for ‘Asti Studios’.

The three photographs are of the unidentified WW1 soldier and two photographs of Sapper James ‘Jim’ Hogg, 4th Field Company Engineers, another WW1 soldier. Interestingly, Sapper James Hogg looks similar to the unidentified soldier. More extraordinary, my father’s name is James Hogg. Maybe we are related.

Anyway, I thought I would find out more about Sapper James Hogg because, even though he is most likely not the unidentified soldier, as his right eye is black and his left eye is grey (came from his military records), he may have known the unidentified soldier, or is related to him.  I am hoping someone who reads this article knows the Hogg family in NSW.

So, I went online and found some information about Sapper James Hogg’s family in NSW.

His mother was Jessie Grace Hogg, and she purchased No, 5 Northcote Rd (Bonnie Doon) in Glebe Point, NSW, in December 1905. Her husband, Sergeant James Hogg of the NSW Police, joined the police force in 1883, a year after arriving from Scotland.

They married in 1889, having two daughters Mary A born 1890, Jessie B born 1892, and a son James E born 1898 (Sapper James Enis Hogg).

Hogg family members owned No. 5 Northcote Rd, Glebe Point, until 1972.

Sapper James Hogg’s father, Senior Sergeant James Hogg, as he became, died in 1935, aged 78.

Sapper James Hogg’s mother, Jessie, lived at No. 5 Northcote Rd, Glebe Point until she died in January 1952, aged 92. At the time of her passing, she was living with her daughter Mary MacKenzie (nee Hogg) at Homebush.

Sapper James Enis Hogg married Wilhelmena Florence Atkin in Sydney, in 1920.

They had a daughter and son.  The son, Flight Sergeant Arthur James Hogg, sadly, was killed in action at Balakpapan on the 2nd of July 1945, aged 20 years.

If anyone knows this family in Sydney, please let me know. They just might be the people who know who the unidentified soldier is. Also, they might be directly related to me. My father, James Stanley Hogg, from Ballarat, Victoria, served in the RAAF, during WW2. His father, James Stewart Hogg, served in WW1, and was wounded on the Western Front during that war.

Lest We Forget.

Photograph below of Sapper James Hogg, came from the Australian War Memorial. Image file number AWM P11782.006.

Research for the article ‘Unidentified Australian Soldier WW1’ by Peter Barnes.

Webpage for World War 1 – Australian War Heroes