HOPPER, Joseph Stewart
| Service Number: | 1019 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 14th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Bell, Western Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Newtown State School, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer and Grazier |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 6 August 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, Vlamertinghe, Flanders, Belgium Personal Inscription - A LOVING DUTIFUL SON IN ALL THINGS FAITHFUL |
| Memorials: | Bell War Memorial, Cooranga North Memorial Hall Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 1019, 5th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jun 1915: | Involvement 1019, 5th Light Horse Regiment, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Karoola embarkation_ship_number: A63 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Jun 1915: | Embarked 1019, 5th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Karoola, Brisbane | |
| 6 Aug 1917: | Involvement Lieutenant, 14th Field Artillery Brigade , Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 14 Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1917-08-06 |
Death & Burial
Lt. Hopper died on 06 AUG 1917 at the 55th Battery position off Menin Road, Ypres, Belgium & was buried on 07 AUG 1917 in the Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery in position VIII. D. 3. Service conducted by Chaplain Reverend P.S. Moore
Submitted 14 October 2019 by Sue Slater
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
# 1019 HOPPER Joseph (Joe) Stewart 5th Light Horse / 14th Field Artillery Brigade
Joe Hopper was born in Ipswich to parents David and Sarah Hopper. He attended school at Newtown State School and was in the cadet unit at Rosewood before the family moved to the Bell district to take up a selection at Cooranga North.
When Joe attended the recruiting office at Dalby on 19th January 1915, he was the first of four brothers who would enlist. At the time, Joe was under 21 years old and he had a note signed by his father giving his permission for Joe to enlist. Joe informed the recruiters he was a farmer and gave his age as 20. Joe was allocated to the Light Horse and made his way to the Light Horse training camp at Chermside where he was placed in the 6th reinforcements for the 5th Light Horse. There was not a great need for reinforcements while the AIF was in camp in Egypt and Joe and the rest of the 6th reinforcements remained at Chermside until 12th June 1915 when they embarked on the “Karoola” in Brisbane for the voyage to Egypt.
The reinforcements went into camp at Moascar before embarking at Alexandria in September for the voyage to Mudros and ultimately the Anzac beachhead at Gallipoli on 25th September. The 5th Light Horse were occupying the trenches at Quinn’s Post when Joe arrived at Anzac and the Regimental War Diary records almost daily casualties from sniping during September and October. However, it was not a Turkish bullet that laid Joe low but typhoid.
Joe was evacuated sick from the Anzac beach to a hospital ship which transferred him to a hospital in Malta where he was diagnosed with enteric fever (typhoid). Without recourse to antibiotics, recovery from typhoid was often slow. Joe was transferred to the 3rd Stationary General Hospital in Oxford, England for further treatment and did not return to Egypt for several months.
Joe arrived in Egypt on 1st March 1916 and was placed in the 2nd Light Horse remounts (a depot battalion). There was already an excess of troopers within the Light Horse but with the expansion of the AIF which was destined for service on the Western Front, there was a demand for men with horse experience, particularly in the expanded artillery brigades. On 26th March, Joe was posted to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade and was soon promoted to corporal. The 14th FAB crossed the Mediterranean on 20th June and proceeded to the large British base at Etaples where they took possession of new 18 pounder field guns and accompanying limbers. Joe was reassigned to the 25th Field Artillery on 8th July, just as the great Somme offensive of 1916 got underway. By the end of July, the 25th FAB were in the gun lines near Fleurbaix, where troops of the 5thDivision AIF suffered horrendous casualties at Fromelles. The gunners of the 25th remained in the Fleurbaix region for most of July and August. Joe was promoted to the rank of sergeant while at Fleurbaix.
On 10th August, Joe was posted to the Officers school of instruction and ten days later was appointed a second lieutenant. He was then posted to an artillery school before returning to the 25th FAB where he was promoted to Lieutenant on 9th December 1916. In the new year, Joe was granted a period of leave in England and upon his return was posted to the artillery school, possibly as an instructor.
Joe returned to his original unit, the 14th FAB in July 1917 and may have met up briefly with his brother, David, who was a sergeant in the brigade. David was seriously wounded soon after and never returned to the front. The war diary of the 14th FAB records that on 6th August, the 54th Battery of the 14th FAB was firing from the gun lines just to the west of Ypres when counterbattery fire blew up a dugout containing three of the battery’s officers. Two captains were wounded but Lieutenant Joseph Hopper was killed outright.
Joe was buried in the Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery. His parents received a leather valise which contained much of Joe’s personal effects and clothing. In due course, the family received Joe’s war medals; the 1914/15 Star, Empire Medal and Victory Medal. His father chose the following inscription for his son’s headstone: A LOVING AND DUTIFUL SON IN ALL THINGS FAITHFUL.