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Sgt. Lionel Arthur Hobbs
British Army 1st Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
from:47 Windmill Street, Rochester, Kent
My great uncle, Lionel Arthur Hobbs was born in Brenchley in Kent on the 13th February 1886 and on the 6th May 1887 his family emigrated to Canada. However they returned to England in 1892. He enlisted as a military bandsman (flute player) at Kneller Hall, Twickenham on the 15th March 1900 at the age of 14. He served in India at Rawalpindi from 1906 until 1912. He married Alice Rachel Philpott on the 14th June 1911, and their daughter Elsie Alice Eleanor Hobbs was born in Bombay on the 8th November 1912.
At the outbreak of the Great War he was on leave in England and sent to Le Havre, France on the 14th August 1914, just 17 days after war was declared. However he was taken prisoner only 10 days later. He was a prisoner of war at Senne in France until 20th December 1917 when he was transferred to Holland, and released after the end of hostilities in 1919. His military total service amounted to 19 years and 23 days. He died in Thanet, Kent in 1954.
