Hobbins, William
No.3824 – Private William Hobbins – 11th Battalion AIF
William Hobbins was born in Perth WA in 1887 to Henry and Anne Hobbins. He was educated at the local State School and after leaving took up work as a Hairdresser and later as a Mill hand. He lived with his family in East Fremantle prior to enlisting in the AIF.
On the 10th August 1915 he went to the Perth Drill Hall and was accepted for service with the AIF. He was found to be 5 feet 4 inches tall; weight of 124 lbs; chest measurement of 33-35 inches; fair complexion; brown eyes and fair hair. His Religious denomination was Church of England.
William spent over two months at No.22 Depot Company but on the 16th October 1915 he was allotted to the 12th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for just over a month when their orders to embark came through. So on the 22nd November 1915 William and his group boarded the R.M.S. “Mongolia” in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for overseas.
After the long sea voyage they arrived in Egypt in late December and after disembarking were sent to the AIF Infantry depot camp. By the time William and his group arrived, the Australian troops were coming back from Gallipoli as the Dardanelles campaign had just finished with the evacuation of the peninsula. William remained in the depot camp until the end of February 1916. On the 2nd March 1916 he was taken on strength of the 11th Battalion and joined “A” Company. He only trained with them in Egypt until the end of the month as orders came through for them to go to France. On the 29th March 1916, William and his Battalion boarded the H.M.T. “Corsican” and set sail for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 5th April 1916.
After being disembarked the men were put on to trains and sent to the north of France where they arrived in the vicinity of Armentieres. However William went absent without leave for three days and was awarded 14 days of Field Punishment No.1 as a result and also had to forfeit 4 days pay. The 11th Battalion continued to hold the line at Bois Greiner and Sailly-sur-Lys through April, May & June 1916. On the 12th June William was awarded 7 days of Field Punishment No.2 for being late on parade.
In late June the 11th Battalion left their sector and began to move towards the Somme. The Somme offensive started on July 1st 1916 but the Australians weren’t involved till the 21st July. However on their journey to the Somme William fractured his ankle and was sent to the 3rd Field Ambulance then No.1 New Zealand General Hospital. On the 22nd July William was transferred to the 18th General Hospital at Camiers. He spent a few weeks here, then on the 8th August 1916 was transferred to England. On arrival he was admitted to a Military Hospital at Eastbourne and remained there until the 15th September when he was transferred to Harefield Park and subsequently to the 3rd Training Battalion. William remained in England until the 15th December 1916.
William was then returned to France, joining the 11th Battalion near Flers on the 20th December 1916. He remained in this area through the French winter of 1916/17 and subsequently fought with the 11th at Lagnicourt in April 1917 and Bullecourt May 1917. At Bullecourt he was wounded and was evacuated to the 1st Canadian Hospital and then the 40th Stationary Hospital at Etaples. On the 25th June 1917 he was transferred to the 4th Convalescent Depot where he remained until the 9th July and was sent on to the 1st Australian Division Base Depot. He rejoined the 11th Battalion on the 29th July 1917. A few days after rejoining his unit, he was ‘crimed’ for having a dirty rifle and was given 5 days of Field Punishment No.2
The 11th Battalion was out of the line until August 1917 when they began to move to Belgium to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres. William took part in the engagements here through September/October 1917 and came through unscathed. He remained with the 11th Battalion through the winter of 1917/18 as they held the line in the vicinity of Messines.
On the 24th March 1918 William was sent to a school of Instruction, where he remained until the 3rd April 1918. When he arrived back at the 11th Battalion they were heading towards Amiens to join the other Australian Divisions. However when the Germans broke the line in the north, they were quickly sent back up there to help the battered British units repel the assault. They arrived in the vicinity of Hazebrouck and held the line in the coming weeks near Meteren and Merris and repelled all the German attacks.
On April 21st 1918 the 11th Battalion sent a patrol towards the Germans on the right of Meteren. The patrol was uneventful but as they were returning to their own lines a Sentry challenged the approaching men as they came individually. It seems William didn’t hear or chose to ignore the warning and the sentry fired, mortally wounding him. William was put on to a stretcher but died before he reached the dressing station. He was given a battlefield burial and later and after the war was moved to Meteren Military Cemetery in plot I.A.41.
His brother Samuel Hobbins served with the 28th Battalion and his father Henry with the 48th Battalion and both returned home safely.