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Duncan Hopper (1884-1951)


South Shields man served with Royal Naval Divison, interned at Groningen


At the beginning of the war, Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, created the Royal Naval Division (RND). The RND was made up of eight battalions, all named after naval commanders. Each battalion was made up of men from the navy (mainly reservists) but was to act like a light infantry unit; fighting on land. Duncan Hopper was probably drafted into the Collingwood Battalion because of his experience with the Durham Light Infantry.

By late August 1914, the Belgian Army had been cut off from the rest of the Allies by the advance of the German troops and had fallen back to the fortified city of Antwerp. The city came under siege.

After pleas of help from the Belgians (and because of the fear of the security of the channel ports) the Royal Naval Division were sent to help lift the siege. They arrived in Dunkirk on 3 October, just as the Germans were breaking through the outer ring of Antwerp’s fortifications. By the 6/7 October, when the RND arrived in the vicinity of Antwerp (some accounts say they travelled by recommissioned London buses).

Continual bombardment and the advancement of the German troops through the city’s inner defenses forced the Belgian to cede the city. The RND, still a new force with limited equipment or training, were forced to retreat in a hurry. About 1,500 men from the RND found themselves over the border in neutral Holland. The Dutch had no choice but to intern these men. A camp at Groningen, referred to by the internees as HMS Timbertown, was used to house these men who then spent the rest of the war in Holland.

Duncan Hopper’s Royal Naval Divison record card shows that, in spite of being a prisoner, the men were allowed home leave, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Hopper was first granted leave in April 1916 and was due back in camp in September! The second time, he was allowed out for a month and during his leave in 1918, the Armistice was declared.


First World War.com, summary of the Battle of Antwerp:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/antwerp.htm

The Great War 1914-1918 website, page on the Siege of Antwerp:
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/battles/yser/antwerp-siege.htm#britforce

British Armed Forces and National Service website, page on Royal Naval Division:
http://www.britisharmedforces.org/li_pages/regiments/rmli/marine_ww1.htm

wereldoorlog1418 wesbite, pages about RND internees in Groningen:
http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/englishcamp/

Stornoway Gazette article about HMS Timbertown:
http://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/what-s-on/leisure-time/remarkable-wwi-story-of-hms-timbertown-1-3565101

Civil Parish: South Shields

Birth date: 26-Feb-1884

Death date: 1951

Armed force/civilian: Navy

Residence: 15 Dale Street, South Shields (1891 census)
45 George Scott Street, South Shields (1901 census)
29 Shortridge Street, South Shields (Royal Naval Division Service Record)
35 Fordland Place, Pallion, Sunderland (Royal Naval Division Service Record)
125 Maxwell Street, South Shields (Royal Naval Division Service Record)

Employment: Iron shipyard labourer (1901 census)
Labourer (RND Service Record)

Family: Father: John Hopper (shipwright) (1901 census)
Mother: Grace Hopper (baptism record, Ancestry)
Siblings: John Hopper, Harry Hopper, Albert Hopper, Humphrey Hopper, Ellen Hopper (1901 census)
Wife: Beatrice A. Hopper (née Gill), married 1912 (British Marriage index)

Military service:

Joined army: 3 August 1905
5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Drafted from Tyneside Division to Naval Brigade Camp, Deal: 21 August 1914
Joined Collingwood Battalion: 22 August 1914
Interned in Holland: 8 December 1914

Gender: Male

Contributed by Peter Hoy | Durham County Record Office