Archibald (Archie) Hoare was my grandfather's cousin. He was born in Hampshire in 1878 and joined the Army in 1895. Serving with the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, he was at the Siege of Ladysmith during the Anglo Boer War. In 1907, he was in India with the 2nd Battalion, returning to the UK in 1910.
At the start of the Great War, he was promoted to RSM of the 2nd Battalion and went to France on 13 August 1914. The Battalion took part in the Retreat from Mons and the Battle of the Marne. When out of the line, he was commissioned in the field, possibly because of the death of a junior officer during the battle.
During the first Battle of Ypres, he was injured and returned to England, then joining the 12th Battalion which had formed in Winchester in September 1914. With the 12th Battalion he served on the Somme, the advance on the Hindenburg Line in the spring of 1917, the third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) in July and August 1917.
He was then sent to Cambrai to prepare for the battle, which started on 20 November 1917, as company commander of B Company. Cambrai was the first battle when tanks were the main method of attack although they had been used before then to some extent.
The leading companies broke into the German main and support trenches and B Company was tasked to take the final objective. Two platoons were deployed to take the first element and suffered heavy casualties and Archie then led the third platoon forward to take the last element, coming under machine gun fire during which Archie received a severe head wound and most of the platoon were wounded.
Rifleman Albert Shepherd was one of the few uninjured and led the rest to cover, bringing forward a tank to take the final position. For this, Shepherd was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Archie was evacuated for treatment to his wound but he died on 27 November, aged 39 years and was buried at Tincourt New British Cemetery.
He served with the KRRC for 22 years and was a stalwart of the Regiment serving from the rank of Rifleman to Regimental Sergeant Major to Captain.
He left a widow, Lydia, but unfortunately I have been unable to find out whether they had any children.
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