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Alfred Kemp Hawkins

Private, City Imperial Volunteers – Anglo Boer War
Colour Sergeant, 10th London Regiment
Acting Warrant Officer Class II, Rifle Brigade
Acting Regimental Sergeant Major, Royal Irish Regiment – WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal (CC/OFS/Johannesburg/Diamond Hill) to 1473 PTE. A.K. HAWKINS. C.I.V.
- 1914-15 Star to 200063 C.SJT. A.K. HAWKINS. 10/LOND.R.
- British War Medal to 200063 T.W.O.CL.1. A.K. HAWKINS. 10-LOND.R.
- Victory Medal to 200063 T.W.O.CL.1. A.K. HAWKINS. 10-LOND.R.
- Territorial Force Efficiency Medal GV to 420063 T.W.O.CL.1. A.K. HAWKINS. 10/LOND.R.

Alfred Hawkins was born in Clapham, Surrey on 27 August 1876 the son of William Hawkins, a Railway Clerk by occupation and his wife Esther.

According to the 1881 England census the family were living at 110 Dalston Lane in Hackney. A 6 year old Alfred was rather low down in the sibling pecking order with 14 year old Eleanor ruling the Nursery roost, followed by William (13); Elizabeth (12) and Ethel (3) bringing up the rear.

On 13 April 1885 he was enrolled in the Bay Street Temporary School (same address as above provided) but he was, magically a year older, the claim being made that he was born on 27 August 1875.



It must be assumed that the Hawkins were not regular church goers. This proven by the fact that Alfred was only baptised on 26 February 1888 – some 12 years after he was born. This auspicious event took place at St. Matthew’s in Kensington which is where, at 189 East Street, the Hawkins family resided.

Three years later, at the time of the 1891 England census, the family were living at 33 Sandbrook Road, Stoke Newington, Hackney. 15 year old Alfred had dispensed with the schooling provided by the willing teachers at Bay Street Temporary (the school originally opened in 1883 and closed probably in 1890) and was following in his father’s footsteps as a Railway Clerk. Elizabeth and Ethel were the only two siblings still at home to keep him company.

As he went about his day the thought of war would have been far from Hawkins mind but, as the 19th century drew to a close, the two Dutch speaking Boer Republics in far away South Africa had other ideas. Distrustful of British intentions towards their sovereignty they declared war on 11 October 1899 with their Burgher Commandoes streaming across the Natal and Cape Colony borders the very next day. Britain was unprepared for the speed and severity with which the Boer forces moved and found that the number of Regular Army men she had on the ground was woefully inadequate and ill-equipped to stem the advancing tide.

As December 1899 progressed the British were stunned by a series of reverses in what became known as Black Week. The call went out for additional men to be recruited from the civilian population. The response was overwhelming as patriotic fervour swept the country and London was in the vanguard with the Lord Mayor raising a corps of City Imperial Volunteers for the front. Plucked as it were suddenly from civilian life, the volunteers rapidly assimilated what extra teaching could be given before being thrown into the field, and when there, almost all became useful soldiers and took the hardships inseparable from active service in their stride.

The Metropolitan Volunteers were more in the public eye than, for example the Imperial Yeomanry which was raised at the same time, because they formed a battalion of infantry, two companies of mounted infantry, and a field battery. They thus had organisation separate from any regiment and a history of their own, whereas the infantry volunteer companies from other parts of the country were attached to their respective territorial battalions of regulars. Before leaving for the front the C.I.V. men were awarded the Freedom of the City of London on 12 January 1900 – Hawkins’ name appears in the register compiled in for this purpose.



The City Imperial Volunteers embarked on the Briton, Garth Castle, Ariosto, Gaul, and Kinfauns Castle between 16th and 21st January 1900. Having disembarked, on 20th February the bulk of the Infantry Battalion left the Cape for De Aar and Orange River, in which district they took over various posts from the Regulars. On account of the rising in the Britstown district of the Cape Colony fighting was soon seen, and on 6th March 13 men were wounded, some of these being taken prisoners. On 31st March the battalion left De Aar for Bloemfontein via Naauwpoort. At the latter place they were detrained and stayed some time. Ultimately, about 23rd April, the battalion got to the Free State capital, partly by road, partly by rail, and on the 24th were inspected by Lord Roberts. Within a few days they were put into the 21st Brigade under General Bruce Hamilton, and thus formed a part of Ian Hamilton's army of the right flank, which saw plenty of fighting on the way to Pretoria.

In the numerous engagements the battalion performed well and was highly spoken of. General Smith-Dorrien, in his despatch regarding the battle of Doornkop (the battle for Johannesburg), said: "The features of the day were the attacks of the Gordon Highlanders and the City Imperial Volunteers. That of the City Imperial Volunteers convinced me that this corps, at any rate of our Volunteers, is as skilled as the most skilful of our Regulars at skirmishing. The men were handled with the most consummate skill by Colonel Mackinnon, Colonel Lord Albemarle, and their other officers, and it was entirely due to this skill and the quickness and dash of their movements, and taking advantage of every fold of the ground, that, in spite of a terrific fire from several directions, they drove the enemy from several positions with comparatively small loss"—about 12 wounded.

The battalion was present at Diamond Hill on 11th and 12th June, and again had stiff work. Their casualties were 1 officer and 1 man killed, and about 20 wounded. The brigade next took part in Sir Archibald Hunter's operations in the north-east of the Orange River Colony. At Frankfort, on 4th July 1900, the City Imperial Volunteers left the brigade on convoy duty to Heilbron, where they did garrison duty for three weeks. Colonel Mackinnon was then told to rail the garrison to Krugersdorp. This was accomplished by the 26th, and the battalion operated about Frederickstad, Banks, and Krugersdorp during the exciting times when De Wet was preparing for, and did effect, his crossing of the Vaal. The work was most arduous and fighting frequent.

On 30th July the battalion marched to Frederickstad, and on the 31st a Boer force sent in a message asking their surrender. Colonel Mackinnon did not entertain the idea, but took out five companies who, after stiff fighting, drove the enemy off some hills they had seized near the camp. In this action the battalion lost 2 men killed and 4 severely wounded. General Smith-Dorrien complimented the battalion on their excellent work on this occasion. Part of the battalion took part in the pursuit of De Wet to the Magaliesberg and marched to Rustenburg, part remained about Welverdiend under Lord Albemarle. About the end of August the battalion was gathered together again near Pretoria.

On 2nd October Lord Roberts inspected the regiment. The Commander-in-Chief not only spoke flatteringly of the City Imperial Volunteers but stated his belief in the value of the Volunteer force. His Lordship said: "The admirable work now performed by the City Imperial Volunteers, the Volunteers now attached to the regular battalions serving in South Africa, and the Imperial Yeomanry have, I rejoice to say, proved that I was right, and that England, relying as she does on the patriotic Volunteer system for her defence, is resting on no broken reed". On the afternoon of the same day the entraining for Cape Town commenced. The regiment had been ordered back to England.

Hawkins was awarded the Queens Medal with Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Johannesburg (Doornkop) and Diamond Hill (Pretoria) clasps. This was issued to him off the roll signed by Colonel McKinnon on 16 May 1901.

Once back on home soil Hawkins returned to his parental home, 33 Sandbrook Road, Stoke Newington. According to the 1901 England census he was a 25 year old Commercial Clerk and still unwed. At some point in the next few years he sought and obtained employment with the Stoke Newington Council, appearing in the 1911 England census as a Surveyor’s Clerk in their employ. His sister, Ethel had, in the meanwhile married a Solicitor’s Clerk by the name of Charles Pringeur who had taken over the family home at 33 Sandbrook Road. Hawkins was now a 35 year old man boarding with his sister and her family. The same lot had fallen to his 66 year old widowed mother.

All the while he had kept up his involvement with the Territorial Forces. An article in the Volunteer Service Gazette of 9 April 1913 confirming under “Certificates of Proficiency” that, “The following N.C.O.’s have been granted satisfactory reports on Army Form E661, after attending the March 1913 Ordinary Night Course at the London District School of Instruction, Chelsea Barracks, S.W. ….Lance Sergeant A.K. Hawkins. In the same article the name Lance Sergeant C.A Pringeur appears – this was, of course, Hawkins’ brother-in-law, proving that being a volunteer was indeed a family affair.

It would seem that the courses Hawkins attended boded well for what was to come – on 4 August 1914 Great Britain woke up to war with Germany. It naturally followed that Hawkins would put his hand up for action and so it was – he joined the 1/10th (City of London) Battalion (Hackney) and made preparations to leave for the front.

The 1/10th were stationed at Hackney when war was declared and was part of the 3rd London Brigade of the 1st London Division. Having been mobilised they then moved to Bullswater, Pirbright and then Crowborough. In April 1915 they were transferred to the East Midland Brigade of the East Anglian Division and then moved to Norwich but before that, on 23 January 1915 in the Parish Church at Stoke Newington, Hawkins’ bachelor existence came to an end. Aged 37 he wed Annie Davis (also 37). Described as a Clerk he was living at St. Stephen’s in Shepherd’s Bush whilst his bride lived at 173 Albion Road.

There was little time for a honeymoon in a time of war and, champing at the bit to see some action it must have been very frustrating for Hawkins to be still in England. On 19 March 1915 a short article appeared in the Hornsey Finsbury Park Journal informing their readers that, “The Stoke Newington Council at their meeting on Tuesday congratulated Mr A.K. Hawkins, (Surveyor’s Department) who has been promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major.”

On 7 May 1915 the formation of which he was part became the 162nd Brigade of the 54th Division and then moved to St. Albans before, finally, embarking for Mudros from Plymouth in July 1915. The long wait was almost over.



On 11 August 1915 they landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli and “engaged in various Operations against the Turkish Army in the Suvla Bay area”. This was an understatement! After the initial landings there failed owing to concentrated and organised resistance by the Turkish Army a period of lethargy set in. The British General in charge was relieved of his command and the fighting recommenced, climaxing on 21 August with the Battle of Scimitar Hill, the largest battle of the Gallipoli campaign. When it too failed, activity at Suvla subsided into sporadic fighting until it was evacuated by the British in late December. Conditions during the summer had been appalling because of heat, flies, and lack of sanitation. On 15 November there was a deluge of rain and again on 26/27 November a major rainstorm flooded trenches up to 4 feet deep. This was succeeded by a blizzard of snow and two nights of heavy frost. At Suvla, 220 men drowned or froze to death and there were 12,000 cases of frostbite or exposure. In surprising contrast to the campaign itself, the withdrawals from Gallipoli were well planned and executed, with many successful deceptions to prevent the Turks realising that withdrawals were taking place. Minimal losses were experienced, and many guns and other equipment were also taken off.

Hawkins, with his regiment was evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915 and posted to Egypt from where, in 1916, they were involved in the defence of the Suez Canal. On 7 July 1916, 1/10th and 3/10th Battalions London Regiment were both transferred to the corps of the Rifle Brigade whilst retaining their London Regiment affiliation. Hawkins was assigned no. 212243 and the rank of Acting Warrant Officer 2nd Class.

In 1917 they participated in the First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, leading to the capture of Gaza from the Ottomans. They were also in the Battle of Jaffa and, in 1918, the fight at Ras el’Ain, the operations at Berukin and the Battle of Sharon. At this point in his war he was assigned to the Royal Irish Regiment with no. 21641 as their Acting Regimental Sergeant Major. Their war ended at Beirut in Palestine on 31 October 1918 whereafter they sailed for home after an absence of many years and having seen much fighting and endured much hardship.

Back home once more, Hawkins was awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal in 1920. The 1921 England census revealing that he had “adopted” his wife’s house, 173 Albion Road and was residing there at the age of 45 alongside his wife and 66 year old mother-in-law. He was still a Surveyor’s Clerk with the Stoke Newington Borough Council in Milton Road.

According to the 1939 Register he was still at the above address and employed in the Municipal Costing Office.

Afred Kemp Hawkins moved to St Leonards on Sea at some point, presumably on retirement and it was here, at St. Anne’s Nursing Home, that he passed away on 26 January 1960 at the age of 85. He bequeathed an amount of £691 to Sir Herbert Davis White.

Acknowledgements:
- Stirling for C.I.V.
- Ancestry for medal rolls, census data etc.
- FMP for 1939 Register

Very nice and interesting article. It’s great to have a photo too. Thank you for posting.
John