Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Grace Barbara and Horace Stewart Hobbs were the parents of Harold Ernest, known as Mick, born on the 11th May, 1915, in Payneham, an eastern Adelaide suburb. Mick had two older sisters, Lilias Emily and Muriel Grace and two younger sisters. He later learned that his ‘older’ brother, 6 months old Mervyn had died on January 21st the year prior to Mick’s birth. The little baby was buried in the Payneham Cemetery in a plot where his parents would eventually join him, Grace in ’72 and Horace the following year.
Mick’s father, Horace was a builder. When Mick was nine, his father was working on a house property at Upper Sturt, fixing a verandah post. A careless servant from the property negligently drove a horse attached to a scoop, colliding with the veranda post and inevitably caused Horace to fall and break his leg. Unfortunately, when the case went to Court in Adelaide, it was ruled that Horace contributed to the accident and was therefore unable to claim any damages to himself or to cover his loss of wages and expenses.
The family soon moved to Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills, near Chain of Ponds. The family was involved in local events, including the annual ball for the Cudlee creek Tennis Club. Mick had already developed a love for floriculture and immediately offered to coordinate the floral decorations in January ’39. War soon intervened and early in December the following year, 25-year-old Mick enlisted to serve in WWII. At the time, Mick was a labourer and living at St Peters. He was given the number SX10527 and in April was allocated as a reinforcement to the 2/48th Battalion. He then sailed on the ‘Ile de France’, where he was promoted to Acting Corporal for the duration of the sea trip, as part of the Southern Command Secret Memo, arriving in the Middle East in May ’41. There he spent some time in the Amiriya Staging Camp. He then reverted to being a Private but was quite rapidly promoted again to Acting Corporal. By August ’41, Mick contracted an upper respiratory tract infection, but was almost immediately returned to his battalion which was facing intense fighting. Mick was confronted with the loss of a respected leader and a young teenager who had put his age up in order to enlist, both of whom had become good mates.
Mick served with Lance Corporal George Richardson, SX7052 from Hyde Park and young Private Reg. Humphrys, SX7704 from Mannum. Tragically, in Libya on the 3rd of August ’41 both were Killed in Action, Reg by a motor bomb. The 2/48th was fighting in the Salient alongside the 2/43rd, when the 2/48th troops had come up against strong and accurate machine gun fire and were forced to withdraw. In his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’, John Glenn describes that “At this time C and D Companies were tensely waiting for the success signal and the order to move forward. Anxious eyes peered towards the posts as shells burst right around the front. The 2/48th had suffered casualties as they waited; Lance Corporal G Richardson and Private R.B. Humphrys had been killed and Private John L Duffield (Riverland) and Private L.O. Samuel had been wounded.”
Eight soldiers from the South Australian 2/43rd and three from the 2/10th were also killed that day. A tragic day for their fellow soldiers and families back home. George was 28 and Reg was just 18 years old (although his Army record state that he was 21.)
Back home, The Chronicle reported their deaths on the 21st August. Both soldirs were initially buried in the Tobruk War Cemetery but later George and Reg Humphrys were interred in the Tobruk War Cemetery, Reg in Grave 4.P.9 and George alongside in grave 4.P.10. George’s inscription now reads ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning we remember.’ Reg’s carries the words ‘Loving memories of our son Reg. Always remembered.’
Fellow soldiers continued to pay tribute to these men. They included Pte Jack Cox, Alf Ryan, Bonnie Bonython, Mick Hobbs and Ralph Adams.
Advertiser August 1943, HUMPHREYS — RICHARDSON.— In memory of our pals, Reg and George, who paid the supreme sacrifice at Tobruk, August 3. 1941.—Ever remembered by Mick Hobbs: Ralf Adams. Bonnie Bonython, AIF. ret.
As the war continued, a close friendship developed between Mick and Bryan Holmes SX8133, also in the 2/48th Battalion This friendship endured over the years of the war and continued into peacetime. Both men survived although both were wounded.
Close to the anniversary of the deaths of Reg and George the following year in August ’42, Mick was charged with ‘Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline’ receiving a quite harsh penalty of being confined to barracks for a week. The ensuing weeks saw an escalation of the conflict.
In the fierce fighting over October and November that year, Mick was wounded in action with gunshot wounds to his chest and right leg in the offensive to seize Trig 29, a critical location in the Battle of El Alamein. John Glenn in Tobruk to Tarakan painted an image of those days. ‘The troops had never been more tired. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that they had not slept for three nights, all were grimly determined to put everything they had into the fight to hold what had been won. Their spirits were high. All-round teamwork, cooperation, and an eagerness to be dug in by dawn caused every man, irrespective of rank or his particular task, to throw his whole weight behind the battalion.’ Heavy fighting helped capture this feature, but the challenge was in ‘digging in’ to the rocky ground. Glenn added ‘The 2/48th had stirred up a real hornet’s nest; from first light until nine o’clock, the enemy turned all their fury on the Trig area, with particularly heavy fire on 29 itself, hiding the position in dust and smoke.’
The Chronicle at a similar time painted a raw image of the extensive effects on the 2/48th Battalion. Killed in action were SX8468 Pte. Patrick H. Hoare, North Broken Hill (NSW); SX13570 Pte. Charles Holman, Broken Hill; SX7771 Pte. Henry O. Lohmann, Murray Bridge; SX6848 Cpt. Alfred F. Meyer. Renmark: SX3149 Col. Arthur H. Peters, Macclesfield; . SX11768 Pte. John R. Smith, Wardang Island; SX13535 Pte. Allan L. Thessinger, Jamestown. Died Of Wounds SX7917 Pte. Leslie A. King, Adelaide. Wounded In Action.— SX7830 Cpl. Kingsley G. Albrecht, Kingston-on-Murray: SX10571 Pte. William G. F. Barnett, Reedy Creek : SX8128 Pte.- Ivan G. Braidwood, Adelaide; SX8749 Pte. K. W. Dack, Med., Clare; SX7559 Pte, Maxwell. C. Fuss, Kimba; SX13602 Pte. George H. G. Gallagher. Paulco Station; SX12854 Pte. Sydney V. Goodes. Curramulka; SX8483 Pte. William T. Harris, Caltowie; SX10527 A-Cpl. Harold E. Hobbs, St. Peter; SX8497 Pte. Charles H. Lawrie, Naracoorte; SX7959 Pte. Edward Lehmann, Lameroo; SX7028 Pte. Murray V. McFarlane, Cobdogla; SX7721 A-Cpl. Hedley H. Pratt, Korunye; SX7244 Pte. Richard Ramsdale, Meadows; SX11154 Pte. R. F. Reed, Cummins; SX11152 Pte William Reed, Cummins; SX8366 S-Sgt. William W. Statton, Alberton; SX7933 Cpl. Walter H. Stewien, Verdun; SX8576 Pte Arnold R. Thomas, Campbelltown; SX11289 Pte. Keith W. Tilmouth, Cleve; SX7278 pte. Robert Tipper, Berri; SX13755 Pte. Eric M. Waye, Victor Harbor; SX7212 Pte. T. L. Woodall Exeter; SX10514 Pte. Allan. W. Wylie Sefton Park.
Back home, the November issue of the Advertiser reported that ‘Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs, of Cudlee Creek, have been notified that their only son. A'Cpl. H. E. Hobbs. has been wounded in action in Egypt. He served in Libya and Tobruk.’ He was fortunate to survive. However, soon after being wounded, in the desert conditions, Mick contracted a stomach infection in December ’42.
Over the ensuing months, Mick spent time being treated before finally being able to rejoin his battalion just prior to the 2/48th returning to Australia via Melbourne at the start of February ‘43. He had brief leave back in South Australia before training in Queensland followed as the battalion prepared to face a very different enemy in tropical conditions. Mick left Cairns and arrived in Milne Bay early in August ’43. By October he was officially promoted to Corporal. Inevitably, the following year he contracted malaria and an influenza infection, then called coryza which, within a fortnight developed into an extremely high temperature called Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (PUO) treated by field ambulance. By April ’44 Mick returned to Australia via Brisbane, but was still not back to full health as he developed an infection in his right leg, the same which had sustained the gunshot wound in the Middle East.
The following year Mick again left Cairns, returning to Morotai and thence to Tarakan. Finally in December that year he was able to return home to Australia via Sydney and thence to Adelaide where he was discharged on the 20th from Hampstead. He created a variety of incredible stories about how he developed his unique gait and the signature ‘rasp’ of his voice. Not one of these suggested they were after effects of him being wounded.
As one of the ‘fortunate’ in the 2/48th to return home, Mick not infrequently recalled the conditions under which he fought and the exceptional men with whom he served, including so many of those who had not survived. Building new homes post war was lengthy and slow. My parents stayed at Byethorne Cottage in Stirling, with my grandparents for several years. Mick visited and was extremely distressed. He and Bryan spent considerable time sitting under the huge oak tree, both quietly talking and sharing silence. Neither found it easy to attend Remembrance Days, preferring to be with their own thoughts and memories. They had seen too much and lost too many good mates.
Mick had a glorious, rich laugh and the gravelly voice of one who has enjoyed too many cigarettes. Even as a child, to me he was always ‘Mick’, never the polite ‘Mister’ or ‘Uncle’ which were traditional terms for older family friends. Generous to a fault, being the first in my family to marry in the early ‘70’s, Mick gave us 20 pounds. Even today, his laugh at the reception and his bonhomie are fresh and precious memories. He always enjoyed a chat, was invariably interested in events and had a quick repartee, coloured by his infectious laugh.
Once retired from work as a chef, Mick grew and nurtured cymbidium orchids, taking pride in the multiple stems of variously coloured flower spikes, which he would generously share, giving these and new bulbs away.
Aged 70, Mick died on the 22nd April 1986. He was interred at the Enfield Memorial Park in the Eastern Niche Wall Number 2. The simple inscription ‘Fondly Remembered’ is an understatement of the joy he brought and the sensitive man behind the rich laugh.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.