The Story of Robert Hubberstey

Robert Hubberstey at the age of 26 with his younger brother James aged just 17 joined up on the same day in 1914 as part of the "first hundred thousand" volunteers after the start of the war. By this time both their parents were dead, their father in 1900 and their mother in 1909.

Interestingly, although their family had lived in Lancashire for centuries, both he and his brother enlisted in the East Kent Regiment. We don’t know what they did. He enlisted into the 7th Battalion - the Buffs, part of 18th "Eastern" Division under Gen Ivor Maxse. (There is a book about this regiment but it is very rare - one copy at Sandhurst library.)

His first theatre of war was in France in autumn 1915 to do duty in the trenches at Ypres – a relatively quiet period, he may have been a Corporal by then.

His first big battle was on the Somme in 1916 “1 July to September” when he was wounded at Thiepval sometime in the following months and sent back home to recover. He got “Mentioned in Despatches” at the Somme (Mention-in - Despatches - not a medal but a laurel leaf added to the campaign medal - at least nowadays).

He returned to his unit (still 7th Buffs) in 1917 as a Sergeant or Colour Sergeant - Company Quartermaster Sgt or CQMS for short. This time he took part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele. He may have won his Military Medal in this time, and was wounded again and also gassed - he was sent on convalescence again in late summer 1917.

We understand that he won his medal for keeping his supply dump open under constant shellfire during the 3rd Ypres. He was injured three times: in the face at Thiepval, on the buttocks (whilst on a horse so probably when he was CQMS) and then gassed.

After that, I understand that he spent some time training with the Royal Flying Corps (after recovery probably) before being selected for a commission in 1918 – It's not known if he actually flew in action.

He was commissioned into the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry about August 1918, but he did not return to France. Rather he went straight to Ireland and was demobbed from there.

He was at this point offered a commission in the Indian Cavalry after the war, but his private means were by then insufficient and he declined.

He returned home to Blackpool in Lancashire and married Margaret Waterhouse in 1923 and had one son.

As told by Andrew Hubberstey, grandson of Robert and Ancestry.co.uk member

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