Frank Hawkins : Rugby Player

Dolphin · Nov 12, 2009

This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who served in, and survived, The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread.

Gareth

Hawkins, Frank James MC played for Wales

Internationals: 2: 1912 I- F+

Frank Hawkins was born in Wivelscombe, Somerset in 1885.

Played as a Back row Forward for: Wivelscombe Wivelscombe, Glamorgan Police, Pontypridd

Profession: Police (No 430 in the Glamorgan Constabulary) and hotel licensee in Pontypridd and Porth(Rhondda) before the Great War.

Remarks: He played for Somerset v the 1906 South African touring side (0-14). When playing for the Police he sometimes played as a back, as Police teams often had too many forwards. He was the Treasurer of Pontypridd RFC in 1911. He may have been captain of Pontypridd in 1911-1912.

War service: Second Lieutenant, 20th (Reserve) Battalion (3rd Rhondda), Welsh Regiment. He later served in the 14th (Swansea) Battalion, 114th Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division. He was wounded during the assault on Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme. Lt Hawkins was awarded the Military Cross (Gazetted 22 September 1916): “For conspicuous gallantry in action. He attacked a hostile machine gun and killed the man working it. He showed great bravery until severely wounded.”

He died in Treforest, Pontypridd, on 3 September 1920

liverpool annie · Nov 12, 2009

* Snippet .... for background information !!

Whilst the exact origins of Pontypridd R.F.C. are difficult to establish, it is generally accepted that the date of formation was 1876. The club was present at the preliminary meeting held at the Tenby Hotel in Swansea in 1880 to discuss the formation of a Welsh Rugby Union, and had a player (Edward Treharne) included in the first Welsh international team which played England at Blackheath in 1881. Another Pontypridd player, Thomas Williams, featured in the first international against Ireland in the 1882 game at Dublin. Further international honours in the early years were gained by Ernie George, who was capped three times as a forward in 1895-96, and Frank Hawkins who was also capped twice as a forward in 1912. Pontypridd R.F.C. played its initial matches at Taff Vale Park in Treforest, and then moved to the 'People's Park' alongside the Rhondda River near Mill Street School. The club took up residence at Ynysyngharad Park in 1908, and stayed there for sixty five years
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liverpool annie · Nov 12, 2009

Heres another snippet * ... just as an aside ..... Tom Jones grew up in Treforest - !!

liverpool annie · Nov 12, 2009

Thought you might like this ....

The German trenches had been dug into chalk and the dugouts were well constructed. Thick wire stretched across the whole length of the proposed area of assault. On top of this many villages had been turned into mini-fortresses and the surrounding woods had also been fortified. Still, the first day of the battle can be seen as a relative success as the village of Montauban, which was one and a half miles from the British front line, was taken as was Montauban Ridge and the village of Mametz. Boiselle was cut off and a salient was pushed forward towards Ovillers. But, the Germans stubbornly held on to the important strategic areas of Thiepval, Beaumont-Hamel, St.Pierre Divion, Serre and Gomme-Court.

On the 2nd July Fricourt was taken by the British and the front line was pushed forward towards Bottom Wood, Cliff and White Trenches. Bernafray and Caterpillar Woods were taken on the 3rd and 4th of July and La Boiselle was stormed on the 5th. On a front that stretched for six miles the British had swept past the first line of German defences and pushed the front line back for over a mile. The prisoner count at this stage of the battle was 94 German officers and 5,724 men.

As the British troops pressed on past the first line of German defences towards the second, the resistance became stiffer as the area near the German second system of trenches was heavily defended. On the southern edge of Longueval Plateau were three such areas, Trones Wood, Mametz Wood and Bailiff Wood.

The 38th Welsh Division had been brought up to the front on the 2nd July. On the 5th July it relieved the 7th Division on the front opposite Mametz Wood. Before they arrived the 7th Division had made an attempt to take the woods acting on information given by a captured German soldier who had informed them that German troops had fallen back. An initial patrol had entered the wood, killed a party of German soldiers and taken the breech blocks out of two German field guns. A two Battalion attack followed on the night of the 4th - 5th July, but heavy enemy fire and a mass of uncut wire prevented these Battalions from pushing very far into the Wood.

The 7th July therefore was the date set for an all out attack on Mametz Wood. The 38th Division were ordered to attack the wood from the east (starting from the direction of Caterpillar Wood), while the 17th Division would attack the wood from the West. Soldiers of the 16th Welch were to lead the attack on the whole front of approximately 500 yards, known as the ‘Hammer Head’. The 10th South Wales Borderers and 17th Royal Welch Fusiliers were to be held in reserve.

At 5:30 a.m. on the 7th July the eastern edge of Mametz Wood was bombarded with French gas shells. This was supposed to be followed by the laying down of smoke to mask the troops advance, but owing to the strength of the wind and the direction in which it was blowing, this could not be done. The soldiers had to therefore advance across 300-400 yards of open ground in open view of the German machine guns which were lined up along the edge of the woods. The 16th Welch (on the right flank) and 11th South Wales Borderers (the left flank) advanced at 8:30 a.m., and, as the Divisions documents from the time state, “had the honour” of leading the first assault to be made by the 38th Division. They were “eager to show the mettle of the Welshman.” The two battalions had been hidden by the slope of the hill opposite Mametz Wood, but they now had to advance down that slope and into a small valley, before making their way up another slope that led to the front of the woods.

German machine-guns raked the soldiers “hip and thigh” as they advanced. The 16th Welch suffered appalling casualties, but both Battalions reached a line of shell holes, about 200 yards from the woods edge. Here, they were pinned down. Artillery again bombarded the woods at 11:15 a.m. and the two Battalions once more moved forward. The 10th South Wales Borderers were brought up from reserve after a further artillery bombardment that took place at about 3:15 p.m.

German machine-gun fire continued to decimate the soldiers of the 38th Division and so it was decided that no further progress could be made. At 4:30 p.m. after yet another bombardment of the wood, all survivors were withdrawn, while the 17th Royal Welch Fusiliers were brought up to hold the original starting line.

The weather on the 8th July was much clearer than the previous day and patrols were sent forward to gather information upon enemy positions within the wood. The report that came back, not surprisingly, was that the wood was strongly defended. It was decided therefore that the wood would be attacked frontally using the whole of the 38th Division. This would take place on the 10th July – starting at 4:15 a.m.

Due to the failure to take Mametz Wood on the 7th July Major-General H.E. Watts, commanding 7th Division, relieved Major-General Ivor Phillips, commanding the 38th Division, at Divisional Headquarters on the 9th July. Brigadier Generals were eventually summoned to discuss the proposed assault on Mametz Wood with Major-General Watts, but not until the afternoon of the 9th July. Orders did not reach some parts of the line therefore until about midnight.

All Battalions managed to get into position by 3:00 a.m. on the 10th July. The soldiers of the 13th and 14th Welch were behind a bank opposite the wood and the 10th Welch behind the centre of the attack. Machine guns had been placed to sweep the ground ahead of the troops as they advanced. At 4:15 a.m. the 13th and 14th Welch advanced steadily and the 14th quickly entered and cleared their part of the wood. Lieutenant Hawkins, a Welsh International Rugby Player, charged down and captured two separate machine guns and during the advance the 14th Welch also captured a German Howitzer. The 13th Welsh encountered stiffer resistance and advanced with disastrous results into their own artillery barrage. Shortly before 7:00 a.m. they had to call for reinforcements. The 15th Welch was sent to aid the 13th and eventually they reached their objective, even though in places the undergrowth was so thick the advance had to be made in single file.

To consolidate the ground gained during the advance it was decided that a ‘jumping-off’ trench was to be dug 300 yards into the wood. At about 9:00 p.m. however, a German counter attack, accompanied by shelling, panicked some men who fell back to the southern outskirts of the wood. This in turn caused the British artillery to open up on the northern part of Mametz Wood where the ‘jumping-off’ trench had been dug. This caused terrible injuries to the Welsh soldiers who had remained in the region. Sporadic shelling and gun-fire continued throughout the remainder of the evening and night.

On the 11th July the 13th and 14th Welch was withdrawn into reserve and the 16th Welch took the 13th’s place. The 15th Welch was relived by the 11th South Wales Borderers. Half of the 19th Welch and 100 men of the 14th Royal Welch Fusiliers were placed in reserve. The northern edge of the wood was, it was observed, still strongly held by the Germans. An attack was launched by the 11th South Wales Borderers, 16th Welch and 17th Royal Welch Fusiliers at 3:30 p.m. The 10th and 15th Welch and the 16th Royal Welch Fusiliers were brought up in support at 6:30 p.m. All Battalions were forced to withdraw after reaching to within 60 yards of the German line at 2:30 a.m. on the 12th July due to an intense bombardment and enemy machine-gun fire. The line, 300 yards within the wood, was however reinforced and held. The exhausted Welsh Battalions were relieved at dawn by the 62nd Brigade of the 21st Division.
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Dolphin · Nov 12, 2009

Many thanks

Gareth

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