Hobson, Frederick

Sergeant Frederick John Hobson was born in St. Pancras, a district of London, England, on 23 September 1873. He was the oldest of three children born to John Philip and Sarah (Wallace) Hobson. He served with the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, British Army during the Second Boer War of 1899-1902, attaining the rank of Corporal. He immigrated to Canada in 1904 with his common-law wife Louisa Alice Esther Moses and settled in Galt, Ontario (now part of the city of Cambridge). The couple would go on to have five children together – four sons and one daughter – between 1905 and 1915. At the outbreak of the First World War, he was an active member of the Canadian Militia, serving with the 39th Regiment Norfolk Rifles.

A storekeeper, Hobson enlisted in the 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion in Toronto, Ontario on 10 November 1914. After initial training in Canada, he and his unit sailed from Montreal aboard the SS Megantic on 15 May 1915, arriving in England on 24 May. While in training in Canada, he was appointed to the rank of Sergeant on 1 January 1915, a rank that was substantiated in England on 1 July. He arrived with his unit in Boulogne, France on 14 September 1915. A little more than a year later, he sustained a shrapnel wound to the right hip on 16 September 1916 and was admitted to the No. 4 Canadian Field Ambulance before rejoining the 20th Battalion three days later. From 16 October to 4 December 1916, Hobson was attached to the 255th Tunneling Company. He was later attached to a reserve company and the 2 Divisional Training Company between December 1916 and June 1917 before eventually rejoining his unit on 24 July 1917.

On 18 August 1917, Hobson was serving with the 20th Battalion, which was engaged in the Battle of Hill 70 near Lens, France. After a German counterattack on the Canadian forces buried a Lewis light machine gun and killed all but one of the gun crew, Hobson rushed forward to unbury the gun and get it operating again. When the gun later jammed, he rushed forward to face the advancing Germans on his own. He held them at bay until he was killed by a rifle shot, but he had provided enough time for the gun to resume firing and for reinforcements to arrive and defeat the counterattack. His body was never recovered. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France, as well as on page 257 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.

Hobson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of Hill 70. His Victoria Cross was presented to his sister Florence Hobson by the Governor General, the Duke of Devonshire, during a visit to Toronto in May 1918. In total, six men were awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during the Battle of Hill 70, with three awarded posthumously (Hobson, Private Harry W. Brown, and Acting Major Okill Massey Learmonth) and three awarded to men who survived the war (Lieutenant Robert Hill Hanna, Corporal Filip Konowal, and Private Michael O’Rourke).

Victoria Cross

“During a strong enemy counter-attack, a Lewis gun in a forward post in a communication trench leading to the enemy lines, was buried by a shell, and the crew, with the exception of one man, killed. Sjt. Hobson, though not a gunner, grasping the great importance of the post, rushed from his trench, dug out the gun, and got it into action against the enemy who were now advancing down the trench and across the open. A jam caused the gun to stop firing. Though wounded, he left the gunner to correct the stoppage, rushed forward at the advancing enemy and, with bayonet and clubbed rifle, single handed, held them back until he himself was killed by a rifle shot. By this time however, the Lewis gun was again in action and reinforcements shortly afterwards arriving, the enemy were beaten off. The valour and devotion to duty displayed by this non-commissioned Officer gave the gunner the time required to again get the gun into action and saved a most serious situation.”

- London Gazette, 16 October 1917, Supplement 30338