Lieutenant Colonel Norman John Hopkins, R.E.

[sapper5]

I am researching the life and military service of Lt. Col. Hopkins.  I am stuck on his Great War service.  I know that he was the O.C. of the 56th Field Company at the start of the war and that he was in France and Flanders from 16 August to 2 September 1914 before being evacuated wounded.  His service between that time and 1920 remains a mystery to me.  I do know that he served as the Chief Engineer in Malta in 1921 and that he retired in 1923.  His medals include the 1914 Star and bar, British War Medal, Victory Medal with MID, Defence Medal and French Legion of Honour, 5th Class.  I have not been able to verify his MID.  His service during WW2 also will be difficult to run down.  I have a wonderful photograph of him from the Imperial War Museum.

 

Any help with his Great War service and MID will be greatly appreciated.

[Colin W Taylor]

sapper5,

 

A search of the London Gazette throws out a few milestones of his career:

 

Appointed temporary Lt Col - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29405/page/12566

 

Promoted to Lt Col - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30111/supplement/5467

 

Legion D'Honneur, Croix de Chevalier - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13306/page/2905

 

His service records may still be with the MoD so you may need to apply for a copy for £30. This might give an idea of his services.

 

It might be a logical step that instead of returning to a field company in France he might have been employed with a field company in a New Army Division and later served as a CRE in late 1915. Or he may have held staff roles which may be harder to trace.

 

I hope this helps

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

Edited 14 October , 2019 by Colin W Taylor

[sapper5]

Dear Colin,

Many thanks for your reply.  The Edinburgh Gazette entry for his Legion of Honour eluded me.  As many times as I tried searching for it I could not get a hit.  Many thanks for that.  I did have the other two London Gazette entries.

 

He was 44 years old when he went to France with the BEF.  As you see, he only was there for 2 weeks when he was wounded.  I do not know the nature of his wound, but he was not present for duty for 81 days after returning home so it is difficult to say just how serious the wound was.  The unit war diary indicates that he was wounded on 26 August. 

 

I found an early Statement of Services for him in WO25 on the internet (see attached file).  It gives the dates and locations of his postings but does not provide any details of his specific postings from 1914 to 1918.  Based on his age and his wound it is doubtful that he was posted to another field company.  A CRE posting or some staff jobs were probably what he got, and as you say they are difficult to trace without his service papers. 

 

I am presently researching a WW2 RE officer and I am awaiting his papers.  Once I complete that project I will go after Hopkin's papers.

 

Thanks again,

Ed

 

PS:  Colin, note that the entries at the bottom of the form dealing with service in India and East Africa and his death in 1924 are erroneous.  Must pertain to another Hopkins, as my man did not serve in either place and he died in 1954.

 

 

Edited 15 October , 2019 by sapper5
Additional information

[HarryBrook]

From the Army List 1919 October to December, promotions, etc. during the Great War -

 

Temp Lt.-Col. 26 October 1915 to 5 April 1918.

To be Brevet Lt.-Col. for valuable services etc., King's birthday honours list, June 1917 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30111/supplement/5467 

Temp Brigadier -General 8 April 1918 to 2 February 1919.

Lt.-Col. 1 September 1918.

Chief Engineer, 4th Army Corps, British Armies in France 8 April 1918 to 2 February 1919.

 

There is no listing of N. J. Hopkins in Michael Maton's 3 volume set of "Honour Those Mentioned in The Great War - Mentions in Despatches 1914 - 1922". A listing of all mentions in despatches published in the London Gazette. There is no note of him being issued with the emblem for being mentioned in despatches on his medal index card, only for the clasp and roses for being under fire between 5 August and 22 November 1914. 

[HarryBrook]

After the Great War Lt.-Col. Hopkins was placed on the half pay list on 4 July 1922 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32726/page/5033

He retired on 4 January 1923 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32785/page/219

and was placed on the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, Regimental List on the same date https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32804/page/1913 heading on page 1912

He ceased to belong the Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 2 November 1925 having attained the age limit for recall https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33103/page/7511

 

He was born on 20 November 1870 so would have been 68 years of age at the outbreak of WW2. He died on 31 October 1954 at the Old Parsonage, Crondall, Hants. 

[sapper5]

Dear Harry,

 

Thank you for this great reply!  I have most of the information that you cited except for the following:

 

Temp Brigadier -General 8 April 1918 to 2 February 1919, and

 

Chief Engineer, 4th Army Corps, British Armies in France 8 April 1918 to 2 February 1919.

 

Can you let me know the source(s) of these two items?

 

I was discouraged to read about the lack of verification for his MID.  I was afraid that would be the case but I am somewhat perplexed by the fact that the oak leaf was on his VM.  This guy was Regular Army through and through and it is difficult to believe that he added the oak leaf himself.  A previous owner (collector or dealer) of the medals may have done it, but I will never know for certain who that might be.  I have attached an outline of my research which shows what I have to date.  The dates you gave me for his promotions differ somewhat from the dates that I have found, but that is not unusual in many cases.  The sources of the two items above would be very much appreciated as they add considerably to his story.

 

Best regards,

 

Ed

Outline.pdf

[DavidOwen]

A small snippet indicating he may have been at Aldershot in 1915.

 

Image courtesy FMP.

 

 

The link to the names of those tested is here

[sapper5]

Dear David,

 

Great information!  He arrived at Aldershot on 20 Nov 1914, but now based on this snippet, I know that he was the Commander of the R.E. T & C.  Now I need to find out precisely what that was. 

 

Regards,

 

Ed

[DavidOwen]

According to the Long Long Trail the only Training Establlshment in Aldershot for the RE was the Mounted Training Depot, which fits with the shoeing test above.

[sapper5]

Makes sense.

 

Thanks.

[travers61]

Noticed this sentence at the bottom of the front of his MIC. Does this refer to his MID ? 

image from ancestry

Edited 15 October , 2019 by travers61
image not credited

[HarryBrook]

Sincere apologies for stating that he was temp. Brig.-Gen. 8 April 1918 to 2 Feb. 1919 and C.R.E. 4th Army Corps.; this is incorrect. He did not rise above the rank of Lt.-Col.

As the image of the Army List appears on screen in the source I was using the lines of text are vertical, and in enlarging the image to be able to read it clearly, I strayed onto the wrong line and the above is actually attributed to another officer. Again my humble apologies for misleading you.  

[sapper5]

4 hours ago, travers61 said:

Noticed this sentence at the bottom of the front of his MIC. Does this refer to his MID ? 

image from ancestry

I don't know.  It is rather a cryptic comment, isn't it, but thanks for pointing it out.

4 hours ago, HarryBrook said:

Sincere apologies for stating that he was temp. Brig.-Gen. 8 April 1918 to 2 Feb. 1919 and C.R.E. 4th Army Corps.; this is incorrect. He did not rise above the rank of Lt.-Col.

As the image of the Army List appears on screen in the source I was using the lines of text are vertical, and in enlarging the image to be able to read it clearly, I strayed onto the wrong line and the above is actually attributed to another officer. Again my humble apologies for misleading you.  

Thanks, Harry.  Too bad.  I bet he could have used the increase in pay.