ABLE SEAMAN J HOBBS COLLINGWOOD BATTALION R N D

[sommewalker]

It is with great pride and Humility,
I add the name and medals to the roll of honour,
to this groups pages and add it to the ,
illustrious list ,
John H Hobbs was ...born on the 8th of October 1891
in Bristol
and lived at 37 Barton Hill Road Bristol
photo 3
son of George Hobbs and late Pricilla Hobbs
of number 6 mounton road Bristol
photo 4
he was a cleaner in civilian life,
and aged 23 he joined the R N D on the 19.08.1914
on the 29.08.1914 he was drafted to Collingwood battalion ,
and went to Belgium with them in late September -October 1914
after the retreat from Antwerp,
he was one of the 1500 that commodore William Henderson,
saved the lives of when he decided that the lesser of 3 evils
was to march into Holland to be interned,
now there was an agreement that members were allowed home leave for genuine hardship cases to sort out family problems etc,
and from the 20-12-1916 he was on home leave,
until the 17-1-1917,
this was usual if not unorthodox for that time, as internment was a different form of prison type incarceration ,
in June 1918 he was admitted to R N Hospital Haslar Gosport Hampshire suffering from Tuberculosis of the lungs ,
which he contracted in Groningen Holland
this disease was rife in those days,
and it was quite a common occurrence , for internees and sometimes POWs to be repatriated home in certain circumstances ,
he succumbed to the disease on Wednesday the 20th 1920,
aged 28,
and is buried in Chepstow cemetery Monmouthshire
Row H Grave number 40,
as a foot note ,
when the men from Holland came home after the war,
quite often there was bad feeling as some of the population,
considered ,
that they had it soft in Holland,
what they didn't know was all the profits from the items the lads made,
that were sold in England went to charity's at home ,
for the widows and orphans on naval personnel killed in action,
this was a sad state of affairs , to modern thinking,
but what they failed to realise was, these men came home,
after the war, that's nearly 1500, family's that got their men back,
that weren't killed ,

these medals are quite common,

normally speaking,

as a lot were issued,

which doesn't diminish their importance in any way,

"NONE WHAT SO EVER!"

what is special about these is the fact the owner was one ,

of the initial 1500 R N D that were interned in Groningen,

other wise known as H M S TIMBERTOWN,

pic numbers 5 and 8 show him (Jack Hobbs)

I cant and wont put a 21st century moral view on a historical fact,
but think on, instead. of what might have been , if these men were killed instead

ive added 1 more photo showing the plaque in place and a close up as well......................................

P.S

after the retreat from Antwerp in October 1914

when only 20 from Collingwood division made it home to blighty,

and most of the remaining 700 were either captured or interned in Holland ,

Collingwood battalion were reformed ,

and went to Gallipoli where they were decimated,

and consequently disbanded ,

like benbow battalion ,

the remaining members were absorbed into other battalions,

the last photo shows a Collingwood battalion shoulder title from that period,

Now I know there are fakes about,

but this isn't one of them,

this came from a respected dealer with a long history in the field of metal badges and insignia,

where doubts about respective badges go !,

I would offer this advice to the unwary!

only buy from a recognised dealer,

with the knowledge and expertise to back up their claims,

and ask someone else who knows and make your own decision.

 

 

 

[Kenny Andrew]

It's very sad how many soldiers died from disease after surviving the first world war, death from disease accounted for one third of total military deaths during the First World War. On top of that the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 killed even more people than in the war itself killing between 20 to 40 million people , a fact that very few people today will even be aware of.