The Hobden brothers

During the First World War, John Oldaker, the headmaster of the village school in Newick, Sussex, kept notes of old pupils who were serving in the armed forces. He also sent word to them that he would like a photograph of them in uniform.

Earlier this week, Simon Stevens of Sussex, sent me photographs of a number of men from John Oldaker's collection. Newick neighbours Chailey and so it is not at all surprising that a number of the Chailey men went to school there. Nevertheless I am indebted to Simon for taking the trouble to take time out from his own Newick research. I have uploaded some of John Oldaker's photos to the website and more will follow.

The WW1 biographies of William Ellis, Owen Hobden, Frederick Smith and his brother George Smith now all have photos and it's great to see their faces for the first time. Sadly, only William Ellis survived the war. The other three men were all killed in action.

Below, I attach photographs, from top to bottom, of Alfred, George, Owen and Richard Hobden. Alfred, George and Richard do not feature much on the website although I do refer to them on Owen's page. Interesting features to note below are Alfred's Good Conduct chevron and two vertical wound stripes below that, George's Good Conduct chevron, and Richard's skill-at-arms signalling badge on his lower left arm.