In the 1911 Census, Charles Ferdinand D’Hooghe’s large family are all single and living at home, apart from Leonard who is already in the army. Their address is 12 Prospect Street, Radford, Nottingham.
Herbert is 22 years of age and is stated as being a Lace Maker. Three of his siblings work for one of Nottingham’s other large employers at this time, namely John Player Tobacco.
Unfortunately, Herbert’s Army Service Record has not survived but from the limited records that are available, we know that Herbert enlisted on 4th February 1916 and the Sherwood Foresters post-war Medal Roll shows that Herbert served with the 12th Battalion initially and later the 2nd/7th (Robin Hood Rifles) battalion as an unpaid Lance Corporal.
The 12th Battalion was the Pioneer battalion for the 24th Infantry Division which arrived in France in September 1915. We do not know how long Herbert served with the 12th battalion Sherwood Foresters, but at some point we know from the records that he transferred to the 2nd/7th battalion.
The 7th battalion (Robin Hood Rifles) Sherwood Foresters was the city of Nottingham’s Territorial Force battalion which had a proud history of service dating back to 1859. During the Great War of 1914-18, the British Army expanded hugely, and the 7th Battalion became the 1st/7th battalion and 2nd/7th and 3rd/7th battalions were formed.
The 2nd/7th Battalion arrived in Dublin in April 1916 to help extinguish the Irish Nationalist uprising that took place at Easter. In early 1917, the battalion as part of 59th (2nd North Midland) division arrived on the Western Front. Here it fought with distinction in following up the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and in September 1917 in the 3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), and in stemming the German counter attacks at Cambrai in December 1917.
In early 1918, due to severe losses of men in the 1917 fighting, soldiers of the 1st/7th and 2nd/7th battalions were amalgamated to form one composite 7th Battalion (Robin Hoods).
It is here that we can pick up Herbert’s story once again. On 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their last great offensive of the war. The attack fell primarily on British 5th Army but also on elements of the 3rd Army including 59th Division who were holding the forward line at the villages of Noreuil, Croiselle and near to Bullecourt.
Herbert, by now promoted to unpaid Lance Corporal, faced the German onslaught bravely, but the battalion was swiftly overrun and took more casualties on this day than did any other British battalion on the opening day of the German Spring Offensive.
The Robin Hoods were approximately 660 strong on the morning of 21st March 1918 and during the fighting that morning, 171 men and officers were killed and 470 were wounded and/or taken prisoner, including the Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Toller and Lance Corporal Herbert D’Hooghe. King George V inspected the remnants of the battalion a few days later and only 14 men answered the roll call.
The International Red Cross records for German Prisoners of War show that Herbert was serving with 15 Platoon of D Company and that he was wounded in the face and shoulder when taken prisoner near Croiselles. His address was given as 163 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham. He arrived at a POW camp at Limburg directly from the front.
Herbert suffered nearly nine months in captivity but appears upon a list of repatriated prisoners dated 3rd December 1918. The German medical authorities will have treated his wounds after his capture, but nevertheless, Herbert was discharged from the army on 29th April 1919 under King’s Regulations 392 (xvi) ‘No Longer Physically Fit For Active Service’, and awarded a Silver War Badge for his wounds received as well as the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
The 1939 Register of UK citizens shows Herbert, still single, living with his brother, Albert Stanley (Also a Great War veteran), at 537 Alfreton Road, Nottingham where he is noted as being a Chamois Leather Manufacturer. His younger brother, Bert Harold and his wife Anne are their neighbours at 535.
Herbert continued to live at 537 Alfreton Road until his death on 26th November 1969 aged 80.
