In Memory of Lieutenant Colonel EDGAR ROBERTS MOBBS D S O 7th Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment who died age 37 on 31 July 1917 Son of Oliver L. and Elizabeth Anne Mobbs, of Northampton. Former England International Rugby Football player. Remembered with honour YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL MOBBS (DSO) Edgar Roberts Lieutenant Colonel, 7th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment who was killed in action in the battle of Passchendale on Tuesday, 31st July 1917 charging an enemy machine-gun post. Age 37. Born 1882. Son of Oliver L. and Elizabeth Anne Mobbs, of Northampton. Former England International Rugby Football player. Awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Commemorated on Yres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 43 and 45. Life size (three-quarter) posthumous portrait by Barbara Chamier, originally unveiled 1925 . Location: Corridor adjacent to School Entrance Foyer. BMS 1892-98 From 'The Millennium Eagle' published by BMS. IN MEMORY OF EDGAR R MOBBS DSO ERECTED BY SUBSCRIPTIONS OF ADMIRERS THE WORLD OVER TO THE MEMORY OF A GREAT AND GALLANT SOLDIER SPORTSMAN WHEN THE GREAT WAR BROKE OUT HE FOUNDED "MOBBS COMPANY" JOINED AS A PRIVATE AND ROSE TO COMMAND THE BATTALION TO WHICH IT BELONGED HE DID HIS DUTY EVEN UNTO DEATH http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/BedfordModernSchoolMemorials.html Edgar Roberts Mobbs DSO (1882 - 1917) was an English rugby union footballer who played for and captained Northampton R.F.C. and England. He played as a three quarter. After initially being turned down as too old to join the army in World War 1, Edgar raised his own "sportsmans" battalion of 250 sportsmen (also known as Mobbs' Own) for the Northamptonshire regiment. He rose to command his battalion with rank of Lt. Col. Edgar was killed in battle, in July 1917, at Zillebeke during the Third Battle of Ypres, whilst attacking a machine gun post. His body has never been found, so his name is on the Menin Gate memorial. In 1921 the first Mobb's Memorial Match was held between the East Midlands and the Barbarians at Franklin's Gardens and has continued ever since. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Northamptonshire/NorthamptonMobbs.html Also remembered on OLNEY WAR MEMORIAL http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Buckinghamshire/Olney.html
Mobbs, Edgar Robert DSO played for England Internationals: 7 : 1909 A- (1t) W- F+ (1t) I+ (1t) S- (1t) ; 1910 I= F+ Edgar Mobbs was born on 29 June 1882, in Northampton, the son of Oliver L and Elizabeth Anne Mobbs. Played as a Wing/centre for: Bedford Modern School, Olney, Northampton, East Midlands, Barbarians Profession: Worked at the Market Harborough branch of The Pytchley Motor Car Company. Remarks: He did not make his school’s First XV, preferring hockey at the time. Mobbs took up Rugby when his family moved to Olney in North Buckinghamshire. He first played for Olney in 1903 and then for the Weston Turks before moving to Northampton and playing for Northampton Harlequins. In 1905 he was invited to join Northampton RFC (‘The Saints’); after a short spell at fly-half he moved to the wing. Captained Northampton 1907-1913 (177 tries). Played for Combined Midlands and East Midlands Counties (16-5) v the 1908-1909 Wallabies – the only English provincial side to defeat the tourists. He was the first player to score a try in England v Australia internationals. Represented East Midlands on RFU. His last game for England was as Captain of the team that played v France in Paris in 1910. Played for Barbarians v Leicester in 1911 (6-13), twice v Cardiff (9-16 and 5-18) and v Swansea (8-12) in 1912, and v Cardiff (0-10) and v Newport (0-14) in 1913. He Captained the Barbarians v Leicester on 2 January (6-21) and 27 March (3-3) v Royal Army Medical Corps on 10 April (10-3) and on 17 April 1915 he played for The Barbarians v a Welsh XV at Cardiff Arms Park in what was termed a ‘Military International’ between Wales and England, designed to boost recruiting for the newly-formed Welsh Guards and to raise money. Wales fielded a near International team with only one uncapped player (Dan Callan of the Royal Munster Fusiliers). The Barbarian side had 12 Englishmen, 2 Irishmen and 1 Welshman (South African International Joseph Partridge). The match, won by the Barbarians 26-10, raised £200. In addition, while convalescing from a wound, he played in a fund-raising England v Scotland exhibition match in Northampton. He served on the RFU and Barbarians Committees. Also played for Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club. War service: Lieutenant Colonel, 7th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, 73rd Brigade, 24th Division. He was refused a commission in 1914 due to his age of 32, and enlisted as a Private on 15 September 1914. Raised his own unit of 264 men as “D” Company, 7th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment; included many Rugby players, including E R Butcher, captain of Devon, and H Willett, captain of Bedford. Over 400 volunteers served in “Mobb’s Army”, only 85 of them survived the War. Mobbs arrived in France in September 1915, and took part in the Battle of Loos. In March 1916 he was promoted to Major, and took over command of the 7th Northants in April 1916, later being promoted to Lt. Col. He was wounded by shrapnel in August 1916 while taking part in an attack on Guillemont, during the Battle of the Somme. After two Mentions in Despatches in 1916, Mobbs was awarded a DSO in December 1916 (Gazetted 1 January 1917) for his work as a Battalion Commander. The 7th Northants suffered severe casualties during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. He was wounded in the neck at Messines on 7 June 1917, but returned to the Battalion on 26 June. On 29 July 1917, while in his headquarters in Canada Street tunnels, near Zillebeke, he heard of the loss of officers from the walking wounded, and decided to lead the battalion from the front, and moved to Shrewsbury Forest. He was killed in action while attempting to bomb a machine gun at Lower Star Post that had trapped a detachment of his Battalion, and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium [Panel 43 and 45]. Before dying he wrote a note of instructions and sent it back with his runner. The battalion history says ‘The fact that his body could not be recovered and buried, as all ranks would have wished, was perhaps a good thing, as it helped keep alive his memory in the battalion, and inspired in everyone the resolve to avenge his death and to end the war that had already caused so much misery and suffering.’ The first Mobbs Memorial match, East Midlands v Barbarians, was played on 10 February 1921; it has been an annual fixture since 1924. In July 1921 a bust of Edgar Mobbs was unveiled in his memory in at the north end of Northampton’s Market Square. The monument, by Alfred Turner, carries reliefs of ‘Sport’ and ‘War’ and is surmounted by a heroic female figure. It was moved in the 1930s to near the town war memorial in Abington Square. The bust is wreathed after the Mobbs Memorial Match. Northampton’s bus fleet is named after local people and places, and a double decker is named Lt Col Edgar Mobbs DSO.
Portrait in the Regt museum... One face of the memorial... Another... And the entire thing, in frankly its pants, and rather unkempt location...
And somewhere I have a pre war pic of ER and the local VC winner, Rhodes Morehouse together with an early aeroplane...
I have some more detailed accounts of his death and will post tomos... Also the Mobbs Memorial Match is no longer played at Franklins Gardens....It has become a rather subdued affair at Bedford School last I heard...It was once a highlight of the rugby calendar, attracting huge numbers of fans. Usually played in March...
I read a terrific story today on another site - titled Mobbs Battalion ..... written by the Grandson of George Henry Percival who played for Northampton Saints and wanted to join Mobbs !! .... I sent him a PM in the hopes he'll repeat it here !! EDIT ... I should have known he doesn't have enough posts yet !!
More to the details of the death of Mobbs On 17th July the bn left Bayenham and marched to Renescure, a distance of 15 mile, and were billeted overnight. The weather was very hot , and the mens packs were moved by motor lorry to the new billets. The next day the bn continued to La Kreule, a further 9 miles, where they were accommodated in tents. A further 5 miles in very hot sun bought the bn to Eecke. This was carried out in full marching order and steel helmets. On the 21st the bn marched 9 miles to a staging area outside Reninghelst, where all ranks bivouacked (sic) in an open field. The 6th Northamptons were camped nearby. The bn cricket team played a match against the 6th bn, and a football match was also played.. Then the 7th bn moved up to Micmac Camp, and liaison betwixt the x2 Northampton bns was lost. The bde operational orders for the bn were received on the 28th, and the next evening the bn less A coy moved up into the line in front of Hill 60. The next day final preparations were made , and on the 30th A coy were moved up. The trenches had become waterlogged, and it was impossible for troops to occupy them.. The spell of fine weather had broken and rain had been falling almost continuously for the last few days, and the line having been hammered by shell resembled a bog father than a trench system. The attack was to take place in Shrewsbury Forest and the bn was to attack with the 2nd Leinsters on the left and 1st Staffords on the right. The final objective for the 24th Div was Tower Hamlets Ridge. The intervening ground was featureless and it was realised that the troops would have difficulty in keeping their direction, and also to be able to recognise their position. The Germans were awaiting an attack in the area, and of course recognised that it would be at dawn. The best hope of securing a surprise, would be a very early start, ergo zero hour was fixed at 0350hrs on the 31st. The 9th R Sussex had been asked to place a row of stakes in the ground so as to ease a parallel start to the objective, as the current positions were not, and the bde Int Officer 2Lt Berridge (7th Northamptons) joined up the posts with tape. The coys took up their positions just after midnight, A and C coys were to form the first wave, with D coy in support and B coy in reserve. D coy were in a large dug out known as Canada Street Tunnels, the entrance of which was continually shelled, and the y had extreme difficulty in extracting themselves. and getting into position. Only one exit could be used, and the men were pulled out individually by Lt Passmore and the CSM. On the way to the front the bn found x3 Germans in a shell hole behind the front lines. Virtually as soon as the assaulting Coys had taken up position, the barrage began and the troops moved off. The German reply came down less than 3 mins past zero, from 5-100yds in front of the forming up line. It was very heavy and caused a number of casualties, including x3 plt cmdrs and soon direction was lost. The main German position on the 73 bde front was Lower Star Post, and it lay on the left of the bns first objective, and was allotted to the 2nd Leinsters. It had been underestimated as a position, and both bns unconsciously shied away from this centre of resistance, and the result was that the first objective was reported as captured, when the pivotal point was still held by the enemy. The creeping barrage, had moved forward as per its programme, and had left behind the troops on the ground. The bn was out of touch with its left flank, and was on its own.
At this point Mobbs, hearing from the returning wounded that most of the officers had become casualties, and that the second objective had been taken left bn HQ in Canada St with Lt Berridge and moved up to the front line. He soon discovered that the position was not quite as the reports from the wounded and that the bn was being held up by a German machine gun. He decided to make an attack at once, and with Lt Berridge and a handful of men to work around the flank, he with his runner, worked the other.. It was not long before he was shot through the neck, and fell into a shell hole. He had already located the exact position of the gun, and hastily wrote a note to bn HQ. The note was taken by the runner, who never made it to bn HQ though. It was seen by one of the coy cmdrs. When Berridge arrived at the shell hole Mobbs was dead. Finding that all officers of the bn had become casualties, he along with CSM Afford, and Sgt Twentyman organised the line, and sent back owrd to Capt Jackson at bn HQ. The reserve and support coys had already been sent up by Mobbs earlier in the action and D coy 13th Middx were now sent up in support. They themselves suffered heavy casulaties on the way up and dug in on a line behind the 7th, believing that that they were the leading troops. Lower Star Post was still held by the Germans, and the remains of the 7th were being heavily machine gunned from it. It was decided to withdraw, and Lt Berridge gain went forward to effect this and consolidate along Illusive Avenue. Capt Jackson had been ordered by bde HQ not to leave his post and this young Lt was indeed commanding the bn on the ground along with Lt Passmore. The troops by now included elements of 2nd Leinsters, 13th Middx and 1st Staffords. A carrying party was organised, with wire sandbags, water and rations being bought up, along with a party of reserve stretcher bearers, and the greater part of the field was cleared by nightfall. Four officers were killed or missing.. Lt Col Mobbs 2Lt Litchfield 2LT Halliday 2Lt Ward Eight officers were casevaced. Amongst the ORs.. 37 Killed 162 Wounded 47 Missing The loss of Mobbs was a heavy blow to the bn. He had appeared to have a charmed life. He had been the life and soul of the bn since Sept 1914, and having taken command in early 1916 he was seen to have done more than any man could have done to promote the confidence of the troops and increase the bns efficiency. The fact that his body was not recovered as all ranks wished was seen at the time, and for some time afterwards as a good thing as "it helped to keep alive his memory and inspired in everyone to avenge his death and to end the war that had caused so much misery and suffering" Taken from bn War dairies, Regt Histories and the history of the 7th (S) bn by Capt HB KING MC (1919)
No probs mate...I know it repeated some of your stuff, but I thought the full story would be interesting....
