Hobbs, Herbert Evelyn
6401 Private Herbert Evelyn Hobbs - 16th Company Australian Army Service Corps and AAMC
Herbert Evelyn Hobbs was born at Newcastle Upon Tyne in Northumberland England in 1893 to Mary and Philip Hobbs, being one of nine siblings.
He was educated in Newcastle upon Tyne and after leaving school he took up work as a farm hand. The family was living in Woodford Essex in 1901 and then in 1912 he travelled to Australia where he took up residence in Howard Street Fremantle.
On the 20th April 1915 Herbert enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 142lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-34 inches;
Complexion - Medium to Dark;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair - Dark Brown.
After his successful enlistment, Herbert was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 16th Australian Army Service Corps as a Driver. The WA men who had been assigned to the AASC were then sent to Sydney for further training.
Herbert was then attached to the 1st Reinforcements to the 16th AASC which departed from Sydney Harbour aboard the transport ship HMAT Ceramic on the 25th June 1915. The ship set sail for Egypt, arriving there in August 1915.
It doesn't appear that Herbert served at Gallipoli but as the early records are sparse on details it is a possibility. The 16th AASC was attached to the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Australian Division who were at Gallipoli from August 1915 to December 1915.
Henry was hospitalised with jaundice in Egypt in January 1916 which was an ailment suffered by those who had served at Gallipoli. He was not in hospital for long and then was assigned to the 2nd Division Train, where he worked as a driver. On the 20th March 1916, Herbert and his group proceeded across to France, arriving at Marseilles on the 28th March 1916.
The men were then entrained north for the Armentieres sector. The Australian would spend the next few months in this sector gaining experience of the Western Front. As a Driver for the AASC, Herbert would have been transporting supplies across the rear areas.
On the 10th July 1916 Herbert was detached for duty with the 23rd Battalion transport section. He spent ten days with them but then returned to the 2nd Division Train on the 20th July 1916. He then served with his unit for the Somme campaign.
On the 18th September 1916 he was given ten days leave to the UK and upon his return was once again detached for duty with the 23rd Battalion. Herbert rejoined his unit on the 25th October 1916.
On the 5th December while at Buire, Herbert suffered severe burns to his leg and thigh and was evacuated to the 5th Field Ambulance and from there evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station and then the 20th General Hospital at Camiers. He had ten days at hospital here and was then shipped to England. On the 24th December 1916 Herbert was hospitalised in Brighton. He had the next few months in Brighton, then on the 27th March 1917 was sent to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford.
On the 14th April 1917 Herbert was sent to No.3 Command Depot Camp at Hurdcott. He would remain in England for the next several months while he regained his fitness. He would be working as a Driver for the 3rd Command Depot Camp. He was still assigned to the AASC while at Hurdcott but in June 1918, Herbert was now attached to the Australian Army Medical Corps. However this work for the AAMC would be entirely in England.
For the remainder of the war Herbert would be transporting AAMC supplies and patients between No.3 Command Depot Camp at Hurdcott and No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth.
On the 11th February 1919, Herbert was granted a months leave, which he spent catching up with family and friends in Newcastle.
On the 31st March 1919 Herbert left England on the transport ship Wandilla. The ship then set sail for Australia, arriving at Fremantle on the 9th May 1919.
Herbert was discharged from the AIF on the 19th August 1919.
In 1920 in Claremont Herbert married May Elizabeth Mathews and a daughter Betty would be born in 1921, followed by Philip in 1922 and Dorothy in 1925.
The family lived in Claremont in the Mundaring in the early 1920's where he worked as an Orchardist but then moved to Dunabr Road in Claremont in 1925, with Herbert working as a Commercial Traveller, before moving to 65 East Street East Fremantle in 1928. He was now employed by the Tramways. In 1931 the family then moved to 449 High Street.
In the late 1930's they moved to 67 Oakover Street East Fremantle and they were here through to the 1950's.
Herbert died on the 19th January 1963 aged 69 in East Fremantle. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican MON A6 0172.