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Auction: 17001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 245

A fine inter-war C.B.E., Battle of the Somme D.S.O. group of nine awarded to Brigadier-General H. T. Dobbin, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, a much in demand Battalion C.O. who rose to the command of 75th Brigade in 1918: awarded the D.S.O. for his gallantry and leadership of the 1/4th Gloucestershire Regiment at Ovillers in July 1916, he added the C.B.E. to his accolades after commanding the Iraq Levies in the Kurdistan operations of 1923

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military), Commander's 1st type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in Garrard, London, case of issue; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel; 1914-15 Star (Capt. H. T. Dobbin, D. of Corn. L.I.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Brig. Gen. H. T. Dobbin); General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Kurdistan (Col. Cmdt. H. T. Dobbin); Belgium, Order of the Crown, Officer's breast badge, with palme, silver, silver-gilt and enamel; France, Croix de Guerre 1914-1918, with bronze palme; Belgium, Croix de Guerre 1914-1918, mounted as worn where applicable, D.S.O. obverse centre slightly recessed and Belgian Crown with loose centres and lacking obverse central enamel, otherwise generally very fine and better (9)

C.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1925.

D.S.O. London Gazette 20 October 1916:

'For excellent handling of his battalion while temporarily in command, notably on two occasions, when he captured, respectively, 500 yards and 400 yards of the enemy's trenches.'

Herbert Thomas Dobbin was born on 27 May 1878, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel G. M. Dobbin, late of the Bombay Artillery, and was educated at Bedford School. Commissioned in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in January 1899, he was advanced to Captain in July 1904 and served in the Gambia Company of the West Africa Field Force from January 1908 to January 1913.

The Great War - Somme D.S.O.

Embarked for France in December 1914, he served in the 2nd Battalion until June 1915, in which period his unit sustained serious casualties at Ypres. Having then been advanced to Major in September 1915, he held a succession of Battalion commands in the acting rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

The first of these was 1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, in the period June-September 1916, when he won the D.S.O. for his gallant leadership at Ovillers on 17 July. The unit remained heavily engaged on the Somme for the remainder of his tenure of command, including a costly attack on 'Skyline Trench' on 16 August, when enemy bombs and heavy rifle and machine-gun fire made 'it impossible to advance or withdraw'.

Transferring to the command of the 1/8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in September 1916, he remained similarly employed until being appointed C.O. of the 1/8th (Ardwick) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, in March 1917. He commanded the latter unit at Havrincourt Wood until July 1917, when he was appointed Commandant of the 4th Army Military School. Finally, from February 1918 until the war's end, he commanded 75th Brigade in the temporary rank of Brigadier-General.

His D.S.O. aside, Dobbin was thrice mentioned in despatches (London Gazettes 1 January 1916, 4 January 1917 and 5 July 1919, refer), in addition to being awarded the French Croix de Guerre (London Gazette 19 June 1919, refers), and Belgian Order of the Crown and Croix de Guerre (London Gazette 24 October 1919, refers).

Between the Wars

Having relinquished his temporary rank, Dobbin was appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel and served in the West African Field Force in 1920-22, prior to being appointed Colonel Commandant of the Iraq Levies in October 1922.

It was in this latter capacity that he commanded a column in the operations against the Kurdish Chief Sheik Mahmoud in March-April 1923, the latter having installed himself at Salaimaniyah, in the north-east of Iraq, with the assistance of a Turkish force at Rowanduz (Medal & clasp). Dobbin remained in command of the Levies until April 1926 and was awarded the C.B.E.

Having the served as Colonel of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, he was placed on the Retired List as a Brigadier-General in 1935, he died at Budleigh Salterton, Devon, on 9 September 1946.

Reference sources:

Craigh, Sir O'Moore, V.C., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., and Humphris, E. M., The V.C. & D.S.O. (The Standard Art Book Co. Ltd., London, 1924).

Graduation List of Officers of the British Army (H.M.S.O., London, 1933).
Hayward, John, Birch, Diana, Bishop, Richard, British Battles and Medals (Spink, London, 2006).
Westlake, Ray, British Battalions on the Somme (Leo Cooper, London, 1994).

Who was Who 1941-50 (Adam & Charles Black Ltd., London, 1951).





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