Walter Henry Hobbs
Memorial: Kingswood High Street Boys School
Regiment: Mercantile Marine
Medals: British War Medal, Mercantile Marine War Medal (1914-1918), Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921
Rank and number: Scullion
Parents: Henry and Emily Hobbs (nee Adams)
Marital status: Single
Home address: Home Address: Chapel Road, Warmley, Bristol. Lived: Ashlands, Bath Road, Warmley, Bristol (1911 Census) and the family were living in Pucklechurch on the 1901 Census.
Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker / Finisher
Date of birth: 1892
Place of birth: Rudgeway, Bristol
Date of death: 13/08/1915
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea. Commemorated at Tower Hill Memorial, London and Kingswood Boys School Memorial.
Age: 23
Further information:
Walter was born in Rudgeway, the son of a coachman and eldest of three children with a younger sister and brother.
The rank of Scullion was a lowly rank usually referring to a kitchen assistant i.e. washing up and cleaning etc.
The SS Royal Edward was a troop ship that left Avonmouth for Gallipoli on 28 July 1915. On the day of his death Walter’s ship was on route from Alexandria bound for the Dardanelles and carrying approximately 1,500 troops. 6 nautical miles off the Greek Island of Kandeloussa, she was spotted by U-boat UB-14 who launched two torpedoes. Both were direct hits and caused the ship to sink by the stern in 6 minutes. Of the men on board, around 600 were rescued by other ships, but around 900 including Walter, were lost.
On the Commonwealth War Graves records, Walter is noted as being born in Alveston, but the 1911 Census states Rudgeway. At the time of the 1891 Census, his newly married parents lived at Frenchay Common.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?21090
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 and 1911 Census etc), Researcher John Davis.