The Prime Minister has laid a wreath to honour his wife Lucy’s great uncle, who was killed fighting in France during World War I.

Captain Roger Forrest Hughes was a member of the 1st Australian Field ambulance medical corps and deployed to Europe in December 1916.

Malcolm Turnbull and Lucy Turnbull were joined by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and other dignitaries for the Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ahead of Tuesday’s resumption of Parliament.

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Under a grey Canberra sky, Mr Turnbull laid a wreath alongside Mr Shorten, while Ms Turnbull and her father Thomas also laid wreaths.

Before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force, Captain Hughes worked as a medical practitioner at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital.

Just days after arriving in France, Hughes was wounded in action by shell fire on December 11, 1916 at Guedecourt, Somme.

Captain Hughes died later that day at the age of 26.

-ABC