Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

GENERAL HOBBS.
A Fine Citizen Soldier.
BY F.M.C.

The death of Lieutenant-General Sir Talbot Hobbs removes the senior surviving officer of the A.I.F. and a citizen soldier who was regarded with esteem and affection throughout the force. His slight, seemingly delicate figure was animated with a  wonderful vitality, and he brought to his command in war a cultured mind, the gentlest humane heart, and an enthusiasm for efficiency, which never left him at a loss in emergency. Like General Monash, he devoted all his leisure in peace time, long  before the war, to volunteer soldiering. He received his first commission in 1889, and studied especially the artillery and engineering arms of the service. When the war broke out he was promptly appointed to the command of the First Division Artillery, and in that office served through the Gallipoli campaign. In France at the end of 1916 he succeeded General McCay as Major-General commanding the 5th Australian Division, and with that division he made his name in the A.I.F. The senior British  Officers in the 4th Army, from General Rawlinson downward, had the highest opinion of General Hobbs's qualities. At the end of the war he was made a Knight Commander of the Bath, and shortly after the Armistice, when Sir John Monash left for England to control demobilisation of the A.I.F., he was promoted Lieutenant-General to command the Australian Corps.

WITH 5th DIVISION.
It was with the 5th Division that General Hobbs did his outstanding work during the war, and in that association he will be best remembered. Throughout that division the men regarded him with almost paternal affection, a sentiment which he  wholeheartedly reciprocated. Most divisional commanders fought for the well-being of their men in and out of the line, in everything that the army organisation could offer for compensation and relief in the line or at rest; but none more energetically than General Hobbs. Of the men he commanded in war he has written, "Words fail me in expressing my admiration and pride in the regimental officers and men of the division who served with me during the two most momentous, wonderful years of my life. Nothing I can say, nothing any man can say is sufficient to do them justice. . . . . It was the regimental officer, especially the platoon company and battery officers, and the rank and file, that won this war by their indomitable gallantry and incomparable devotion and self-sacrifice. No honour, no gratitude we can offer is too great for these splendid men." Captain A. D. Ellis, M.C., who wrote "The Story of the Fifth Australian Division," has composed perhaps the most intimate study of General Hobbs and with the best of opportunities for doing so. 

ALMOST FRAIL. "Slight built, he walked with a stride of a man more used to the saddle than the footpath. From the distance there was nothing imposing in the almost frail figure. It was when one's eyes rested on his face that one felt the strength and fineness of the personality behind it—the face of a man who had worked at high pressure for many years. Long hours of hard thinking and intense concentration had left their noble lines upon it; the mouth was determined and judicial, obviously not the mouth of a man who would shrink from a decision or equivocate with what conscience or duty dictated. "The eyes were clear, quick, and penetrating, yet immediately responsive to humour or to compassion. The brow above them was broad and finely proportioned. . . . It crowned the face with dignity and intellectuality, and made it at once impressive and unforgettable. "A quick almost nervous manner betokened latent springs of energy that soon showed themselves to be almost inexhaustible. . . .
The Division became the ruling passion of his life. Every ounce of his strength, ability, and energy, and every moment of his time, were directed to the one supreme end, the efficiency of his command and the welfare of his troops."
General Hobbs had a deep love for his adopted country (for he came to Australia as a young man from London and Merton). He never ceased to impress upon his fellow citizens his conviction of their responsibilities as patriots, and, to use his own  words, "the paramount necessity, since we are unable to change human nature, of sound military training for our officers and men, and complete preparation for war."