How Captain Hunt died and his medals

Sergeant George Fairclough of the 4th Hussars kept a diary during the first few months of World War One in which he mentions Captain Hunt twice:

Monday October 19th to Friday October 24th – “I went out with Captain Hunt and three men to burn two farms in front of the trenches. We were afraid of the enemy getting hold of them. It was distasteful work, everything looked so neat and comfortable – good furniture etc. I went upstairs while Captain Hunt and men kept watch. I poured kerosene over the floor and set it alight. The place was burning all night long, by morning nothing remained but ruins was left. There must have been five or six hundred pounds of stuff including barn, hay etc”.

Friday October 30th – “We had a terrible time and had to retire to the second line of trenches behind the canal – the enemy brought up a dozen heavy guns and blew what was left of Hollebeke to an atom. The church was knocked to the ground and they then commenced to shell the trenches and we had to crawl away. One shell hit the machine gun trench killing Lt. North. Captain Hunt went in and brought him out, then went back in to fetch the gun. The enemy put five shells into the trenches blowing both Captain Hunt and the gun to pieces. I had to go in after and cover him up.

It is not known what exactly happened to Captain Hunt’s remains after this but it is thought they might have been repatriated to India as he was still down in the War Office records as being with the 19th Lancers. Certainly his remains did not come back to this country and this is the reason why his family erected the original Memorial.