1545 Private E (or J) Hobby, 2nd Battalion the (King's) Shropshire Light Infantry. The battalion deployed to South Africa for the Second Anglo Boer War on 7 Nov 1899. After their arrival they were employed for two months on the lines of communication in Western Cape Colony. They were then put into the 19th Brigade under Major General Smith-Dorrien and were part of the main army advance from the Modder River to Bloemfontein and Pretoria. They fought in the Battle of Paardeberg (18-27 Feb 1900). After Pretoria had been occupied the Brigade guarded the railway for some distance south of the capital, the headquarters of the Shropshire Light Infantry being at Rhenoster, in Orange River Colony. On 30 Jul 1900 Private Hobby was travelling on a military train loaded with supplies and military personal travelling towards Frederikstad, a hamlet 23 km north of Potchefstroom, when it was derailed due to sabotage on one of the curves going down hill. The engine driver and 13 soldiers were killed, and forty-one injured. Private Hobby was one of those killed in the derailment. He was buried at Frederikstad. His remains were later reinterred at Potchefstroom. He is commemorated on the Boer War Wall of Remembrance in Alexander Park (Olien Park) Cemetery, Potchefstroom (see: https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=266753). He is also commemorated on the King's Shropshire Light Infantry Boer War memorial in St Chad's Terrace, The Quarry, Shrewsbury, England (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/165927).
1545 Private E (or J) Hobby, 2nd Battalion the (King's) Shropshire Light Infantry. The battalion deployed to South Africa for the Second Anglo Boer War on 7 Nov 1899. After their arrival they were employed for two months on the lines of communication in Western Cape Colony. They were then put into the 19th Brigade under Major General Smith-Dorrien and were part of the main army advance from the Modder River to Bloemfontein and Pretoria. They fought in the Battle of Paardeberg (18-27 Feb 1900). After Pretoria had been occupied the Brigade guarded the railway for some distance south of the capital, the headquarters of the Shropshire Light Infantry being at Rhenoster, in Orange River Colony. On 30 Jul 1900 Private Hobby was travelling on a military train loaded with supplies and military personal travelling towards Frederikstad, a hamlet 23 km north of Potchefstroom, when it was derailed due to sabotage on one of the curves going down hill. The engine driver and 13 soldiers were killed, and forty-one injured. Private Hobby was one of those killed in the derailment. He was buried at Frederikstad. His remains were later reinterred at Potchefstroom. He is commemorated on the Boer War Wall of Remembrance in Alexander Park (Olien Park) Cemetery, Potchefstroom (see: https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=266753). He is also commemorated on the King's Shropshire Light Infantry Boer War memorial in St Chad's Terrace, The Quarry, Shrewsbury, England (see: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/165927).
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
