Herts at War - a community led project to commemorate the diverse experiences of Hertfordshire during the First World War.

Name

Frank Hobbs

Conflict

First World War

Date of Death / Age

16/11/1916
23

Rank, Service Number & Service Details

Lance Corporal
14161
Bedfordshire Regiment
7th Bn.

Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards

1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals

Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country

THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier and Face 2C
France

Headstone Inscription

Not Researched

UK & Other Memorials

Croxley Green Village Memorial, Croxley Green,
All Saints' Church Shrine, Croxley Green,
John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Croxley Mills, Croxley Green,
Rickmansworth Urban District Memorial

Pre War

Frank was born in Croxley on 19 August 1893, the son of Thomas and Martha Hobbs.

In 1911 the family lived at 86 New Road. They were a Croxley Mills family. Frank’s father, Thomas, was an engine driver at the mill and both he and his brother, Arthur, were labourers there. They were both members of the Croxley Green Church Lads who enlisted at the beginning of the war. Frank was also a chorister at All Saints’.

Recorded as enlisting in Watford.

Wartime Service

Frank Hobbs, Lance Corporal, 7th Bedfordshire Regiment. He joined his unit in France on 21 April 1915.

On the date he was killed, the battalion was at Albert engaged in repairing their communication trenches. This followed the battalion’s involvement in the attack on Thiepval at the battle of the Ancre Heights during which they captured the Schwaben Redoubt. For this action the battalion earned a number of gallantry awards including a Victoria Cross.

Additional Information

Frank is also commemorated on the family headstone in Rickmansworth (Chorley Road) Cemetery. His part of the inscription reads:

ALSO OF FRANK HOBBS,
SON OF THE ABOVE [Thomas & Martha Hobbs] KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE NOVR 27. 1916. AGED 23 YEARS.
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Acknowledgments

Malcolm Lennox, Tanya Britton, Brian Thomson, Croxley Green in the First World War Rickmansworth Historical Society 2014