Reginald Francis Arthur Hobbs


Brig.-Gen. Reginald Francis Arthur Hobbs was a British Army officer who was Brigadier in charge of Administration, Western Command.

Early life and education

Hobbs was born in Tyldesley, Lancashire, to Capt. Simpson Hackett Hobbs of the 89th Foot, a wire manufacturer, and Sarah Bayley. His elder brother, Lt. Colonel Charles James Willoughby Hobbs, died of wounds in the First World War. He was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Career

Hobbs was gazetted to the Royal Engineers in 1898. He served in the Boer War, the Somaliland campaign in 1903 and in the Gold Coast in 1904–05. From 1907–11, he was technical supervisor at the School of Musketry. He returned to the field in the First World War, serving as Assistant Adjutant and Quarter Master General in France and Italy until February 1918.
Following the war, he served as Brigadier in charge of Administration, Western Command, until his retirement in 1931.
He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in 1901, a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1915 Birthday Honours and a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1931 New Year Honours.

Personal life

Hobbs married Frances Graham Stirling, daughter of Sir William Stirling. They had three sons, two of whom were killed in action in North Africa: Maj.-Gen. Reginald Hobbs, Major Peter Graham Hobbs of the Royal Artillery, killed in action in Libya, and Lt Col William Paul Hobbs, killed in action in Tunisia.
He died at his home in Sutton Veny, near Warminster, Wiltshire, aged 75.