Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Second World War C.I.E., O.B.E. group of eleven awarded to Hon. Colonel H. L. Hopkins, Royal Engineers, late West Yorkshire Regiment, a Great War veteran who distinguished himself in France in 1940 and Greece in 1941, prior to taking up appointment as Deputy Director of Transportation in India

The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s 3rd type neck badge, gold and enamel, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt, in its Royal Mint case of issue; 1914-15 Star (2284 Pte. H. L. Hopkins, W. York. R.); British War and Victory Medals (2284 C. Sjt. H. L. Hopkins, W. York. R.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, M.I.D. oak leaf, these five in their addressed card forwarding box; Army Emergency Reserve Decoration, E.II.R., with 2 Bars, the reverses of the Decoration and Bars officially dated ‘1953’, in its Royal Mint case of issue, together with a set of related miniature dress medals (excluding the C.I.E. and A.E.R. Decoration), and a British Transport Commission (British Railways) silver pass, named and numbered ‘243’, this worn but the remainder good very fine and better (21) £1400-1800

C.I.E. London Gazette 13 June 1946.

O.B.E. London Gazette 30 December 1941. The original recommendation states:

‘As Assistant Deputy General (Transport) in ‘W’ Force, he was responsible for the transportation arrangements in connection with the reception, movement and subsequent maintenance of the Force. It was largely due to his zeal, initiative and resource that discharge of military stores and vehicles was carried out so smoothly and expeditiously in spite of many difficulties.

Later he organised parties for reconnaissance of all the ports and beaches in Southern Greece and prepared summaries of available facilities which were of great value to the Evacuation Staff on their arrival.’

Harold Leslie Hopkins, who was born in York in March 1897, enlisted in the West Yorkshire Regiment soon after the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 and was embarked for France in April 1915, where he quickly endured his first enemy bombardment. The following extract is taken from one of his letters home:

‘The trench work was as uneventful as any, except for Thursday afternoon, when the Germans sent a few shells over. It was an experience I did not like. After the first three they came three at a time, and we cleared into the dug-outs. The suspense between hearing the shell coming and hearing it burst is not at all nice. Your hear the shells whistling, then get down as close to the ground as possible and wait for the shell to burst; most of them burst just behind us and threw heaps of ‘muck’ up. It lasted for about two hours using about 40 shells, but all the damage done was to one or two of the dug-outs and part of the parapet. No one was hurt luckily. This was really our first experience of being under shell fire and I cannot say it is pleasant. We laughed afterwards when we surveyed the small damage done by all those shells. That morning our artillery had sent three shells over and each one found its mark right in their parapet, knocking three great holes in it. One of these holes gave me my first glimpse of a German. Behind the breach in the parapet, I spotted two Huns digging, evidently filling sandbags. Several of us had a look at them through field-glasses. We let them have a few rounds from our rifles and they cleared off ... ’

Hopkins went on to gain promotion to Company Sergeant and, shortly before his demobilisation in February 1919, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant.

After the War Hopkins was employed by North Eastern Railways and, having served his traffic apprenticeship, was appointed to the port of Hull.

In July 1927 he was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Engineers (Transportation) on the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, as a consequence of which he found himself quickly recalled on the renewal of hostilities in September 1939.

Initially employed as a Docks Superintendent at Nantes before the evacuation of the B.E.F., he was mentioned in despatches ‘for gallant and distinguished services in connection with operations in the Field, in the period March-June 1940’ (London Gazette 20 December 1940, refers).

Subsequently embarked for the Middle East, where he was employed as Deputy Director of Docks, he quickly saw further action on being ordered to Greece in April 1941. As described in the following extract taken from an accompanying typescript, he was lucky to escape the ensuing German onslaught:

‘And so to sea again, full speed ahead to take up station as escort to the small convoy of three. I rather lost count of time, but as far as I remember it was between 8.30 a.m. and 9.00 a.m. when we had our first heavy raid. Much as I dislike the idea of being bombed at sea - it savours too much of a rat in a trap - there was something exhilarating in being in a destroyer going full speed, turning and twisting, literally to dodge the bombs as they came down.

Every turn and twist sent the ship heeling hard over, first to starboard then to port, and over all the incessant chatter of every light gun mounted in the destroyer and the more intermittent but regular bark of the heavier stuff. We had only one casualty - a Sergeant killed by a bomb splinter. There were three more raids during the morning without further casualty beyond one Australian officer who, unprepared for one of the violent swerves to starboard was shot across the deck and only just managed to save himself by hanging on to the wire bulwarks, dragging his lower half in the water.

About one o’clock we passed Crete. I was O.C. ship, and by that time I had managed to count the troops left on board. There were 252 of us and I, along with the remaining 251, breathed a sigh of relief; we had no inclination to land in Crete with the prospect of doing another evacuation at an early date. Our sigh of relief was premature. At three o’clock, down they came again, and this time knocked out the Costa Rica with a near miss. Her engines had gone and she was taking water fast, so Defender and another destroyer pulled alongside and the whole ship’s complement of the Costa Rica - crew and soldiers - jumped for it. I can still hear the bump, bump, bump, as hob-nailed boots landed on the steel decks of the destroyer. We took off 1,700 and, of course, went back to Crete, landing there about 6.30 p.m.’

Immediately after his safe evacuation from Crete by flying boat, Hopkins undertook a survey of Turkish ports. He was awarded the O.B.E.

Next embarked for India, he served as Deputy Director of Transportation and was loaned to the Bombay Port Trust as General Manager of Docks and Railways from 1944. He was demobilised in 1946, the same year in which he was advanced to Hon. Colonel and appointed C.I.E., to which distinction he subsequently added his Army Emergency Reserve Decoration, with 2 Bars (London Gazette 3 November 1953, refers).

Appointed Portmaster, Grimsby and Immingham in 1947, Hopkins was likewise employed at Hull from the mid-1950s, in which period he oversaw two royal visits. Following his retirement, the Colonel settled in Scarborough, where he died in January 1981, aged 83 years.

Sold with a large quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s C.I.E. and O.B.E. warrants, and Army Medal Office forwarding letter for the recipient’s A.E.R. Decoration and 2 Bars, dated 15 October 1954; his commission warrants for 2nd Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment (1919) and Royal Engineers (Reserve) (1927); his discharge certificate, dated 3 February 1919, and related War Office communication; a selection of Military Identity Cards or Passes (7), 1939-45 War period, most of them with portrait photographs; hand written extracts taken from the recipient’s letters home in the period April-June 1915, 9pp.; typescripts of his accounts of his experiences in Greece and Turkey in 1941, both with related photographs; War Office retirement letter, dated 14 November 1946; photograph albums commemorating the visits of H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. The Princess Royal to Hull in May 1957 and May 1959, together with further loose leaf ‘career’ photographs (approximately 30), ranging from the Great War to his employment at Hull in the 1950s.