Catherine and Peter Hewitt share the story of Fred Sinton Hewitt.

Fred was born on 18 November 1893, the fourth child of Thomas Sinton Hewitt and Georgina Hewitt. He married Rita Sybil Davies on 11 November 1913, and their son, Frederick Francis Hewitt, was born the following year on 6 April 1914.

Fred enlisted on 4 January 1915 as a Private with the 8th Battalion, service number 1755. He was killed in action at the Battle of Somme on 18 August 1916. Fred is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Cemetery in France.

At 19 years of age, Rita was left a widow with a young child to rear. Fred’s mother wrote to the Department of Defence saying she was his next of kin, which may indicate she did not know of his marriage to Rita.

In 2010, Catherine and Peter found the only photo they have of Fred on the Roll of Honour, thanks to the Australian War Memorial. They wonder how things may have been if Fred had survived the war.