Frederick Hobson

The Victoria Cross Hero Who Held Off a German Attack with Bayonet and Rifle

With a German counterattack closing on a Canadian forward post at Hill 70, Sergeant Frederick Hobson faced a desperate problem. A shell had buried its Lewis gun and killed all but one of the crew. Hobson was not a machine gunner, but he understood what losing the position could mean. Leaving his own trench, he helped recover the weapon and bring it into action against Germans advancing through the communication trench and across the open ground. (canada.ca)

When the gun jammed, Hobson made the decision that earned him the Victoria Cross. Although wounded, he left the surviving gunner to clear the stoppage and went forward alone. Fighting with his bayonet and rifle butt, he held back the attackers until a rifle shot killed him. His resistance bought the gunner time to restore fire. Reinforcements then arrived, and the German attack was beaten off. Hobson died on 18 August 1917, aged 43, serving with the 20th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, near Lens, France. (canada.ca, veterans.gc.ca)

The experience behind that final stand began in another army and another war. Born in St. Pancras, London, on 23 September 1873, Hobson served with the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, during the South African War, reaching corporal. His service brought him the Queen’s South Africa Medal and King’s South Africa Medal. He emigrated to Canada in 1904 and raised a family of five children with Louisa Alice Esther Moses. An Ontario heritage plaque records their move to Galt, now Cambridge, in 1912. (warmuseum.ca, veterans.gc.ca)

Returning to military service when the First World War began, Hobson served with the Norfolk Rifles before enlisting in the 20th Battalion at Toronto on 10 November 1914. He was already 41, but gave his birth year as 1875 to secure acceptance. Appointed sergeant during training, he sailed for England in May 1915 and reached France that September. His wartime medals were the 1914–1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. (canada.ca, warmuseum.ca, veterans.gc.ca)

There was no homecoming for Hobson. His Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously, and his body was never recovered. His name is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial among Canadians with no known grave. In May 1918, the Governor General, the Duke of Devonshire, presented the decoration to his sister Florence in Toronto. His medals are preserved by the Canadian War Museum, while the Sergeant Frederick Hobson VC Armoury in Simcoe carries his name. His citation records precisely what his sacrifice achieved: time for another soldier to restore the gun and save the position. (warmuseum.ca, veterans.gc.ca, canada.ca)

Official Victoria Cross citation

“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.”

The London Gazette, no. 30338, 17 October 1917, as reproduced by National Defence. (canada.ca)