Arthur Hopley

Private Arthur Hopley Regimental Number 2792

This card from Arthur Hopley caught the 8.45 pm post on 29th May 1914, a Friday evening. Perhaps he was off for some training that weekend; maybe Arthur Hopleyshooting based at the Liverpool Scottish Hut at Altcar. The Museum has access to almost complete runs of The Liverpool Scottish Gazette detailing training and social activities of the 10th (Scottish) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) and this forms a fascinating social history. The message reads 'Wishing you a very happy birthday, Yours to a cinder, Arthur'.

Just over two months later, Arthur Hopley would be pulled from the commercial world of Liverpool to be mobilised with the rest of the battalion on 4th August at the outbreak of war and by the end of that month it is likely that he would have volunteered , as did over 800 other members of The Scottish, for overseas service. Members of the Territorial Force were normally liable only for home service. Certainly, on Sunday 1st November 1914, he listed as being a 'Maidaner'. This how those members of The Liverpool Scottish who sailed in the S.S. Maidan to France at the beginning of November 1914 to join the British Expeditionary Force were known in the years to come. They were one of the first Territorial battalions to join the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders (B.E.F.) On November 3rd 1914, he was in France. Arthur Hopley survived the war.

 

 


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