Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Private H. Hobday, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, killed in action at Zonnebeke, 21 October 1914

1914 Star (1970 Pte. W. [sic] Hobday. R. War: R.); British War and Victory Medals (1970 Pte. H. Hobday. R. War. R.); Memorial Plaque (Harry Hobday), the last housed in a circular oak frame with stand, note different initial on 1914 Star, scratches to initial on BWM and VM, the memorial plaque heavily polished and the name only faintly visible, the medals very fine (4) £200-240

Harry Hobday was born in Walton, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1893, the son of George and Jane Hobday, of Fosse Cottages, Walton, Wellesborough, Warwick. He worked as a motor cleaner for the millionaire, Bernard Puckle Steinman at Moreton Hall, Moreton Morrell, and enlisted in Warwick on 11 January 1912. He served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front from 4 October 1914 and was killed in action on 21 October 1914. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium. He was the first casualty of the war from the village of Walton and is also commemorated on the family memorial in St. James’s Churchyard, the Combrook School Roll of Honour, the Walton Memorial and St James's Church, Walton, Roll of Honour.

The 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment arrived in Zeebrugge on 6 October 1914. They were at Zonnebeke after clearing Krezeberg, advancing towards Klethoek and retiring the day before, when the enemy attacked on 21 October 1914 at daybreak, causing a great many casualties with the use of high explosive shells (‘Black Marias’). Heavy fighting throughout the month of October 1914 left the battalion decimated, with a strength of approximately 100 on 31 October 1914, with servants, cooks, &c., put into the line.