33736, Private, John William HODGKINS
Aged 19
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Born in Newmarket in Q4- 1899 [Newmarket 3b:505] to John Robert and Eliza HODGKINS (née MORLEY), of 2 Nursery Cottages, Queen Street,
Newmarket.
1901 census...John [1] was at 2 Nursery Cottages, Queens Street with his father John Robert [31], a painter born Newmarket; his mother Eliza [31] born Abington, Cambs and his sisters Emily [9] and Mabel [3] and brother Albert[6] all Newmarket born. There were also 2 visitors and 3 boarders. 1911 census...John [11] was still at 2 Nursery Cottages, with his parents; brother Albert and sister Mabel. Instead of lodgers, there were now 4 more brothers, all Newmarket born, Frank [9], Fredrick [7], Walter [5] and Harry [2]. All, including younger sister Norah, except Emily (now Mrs Burgess) were living at Sheen Terrace in June 1919. |
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He enlisted in Newmarket on 27th November 1917. His address then was 7 Sheen Terrace, Queens Street, Newmarket. He was 18 years 1 month old, occupation
Plumbers Apprentice. Height 5'4"(162.6cm), chest 34" to 36" (86.4 to 91.4 cm). He requested Royal Flying Corps but was initially #129340 53rd Battalion Middlesex regiment. He
was transferred to the 1st/7th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) on 17th May
1918, 2 days after arriving in France. The Pursuit to the Selle was an advance in the Cambrai region which sustained quite heavy casualties, including "shorts" from Allied artillery. The West Riding battalions were part of 49th Division on the right flank of the Canadians. The battalion war diary has :- " Escadquires area - 11-10-18- Operations Orders received for attack. Bn moved forward 2 am to assembly positions east of NAVES and NW of RIEUX. In position 5 am. BHQ established in NAVES. Right Bn of right Bde on 2nd Bde front. Zero hour 9 am. An advance of 1,000 yards was made, the Bn passing through the Canadians, who were holding line. Towards noon the enemy counter attacked with tanks and we withdrew 500 yds to SUNKEN ROAD running thro U.14.b.; U.8.d. (sheet 51a) where enemy were held for the night. The Bn then became Bde Reserve." The history of the 1st/7th Battalion has more detail, the German tanks actually numbered eight, coming on from Avesnes-le-Sec. When the battalion eventually withdrew almost back to their start line, they became mixed up with the 6th and 4th battalion but luckily the tanks did not cross the crest of the ridge. A second advance, albeit with heavy casualties eventually took the ridge. His battalion had 59 killed that day, all bar 6 are buried in Wellington Cemetery, Rieux-en Cambresis. The total dead for all battalions of the West Riding Regiment on the 11th November was 140. The cemetery was made by the Duke of Wellington's West Riding battalions immediately afterwards, hence the name. It was enlarged later by concentrations from the area nearby, mainly south of Rieux. |
The sunken road mentioned above, and John's resting place photo: Rodney Gibson
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details