A late 1915 Recruit to the 3/6th Battalion

Arrived in France in 1916 and served with 1/6th Battalion until the end of the War

British War and Victory Medal pair awarded to Matthew Hodgkins

4-digit Territorial Force number indicates that Matthew arrived in France during 1916 and before the 1917-reumbering

 Matthew only served overseas with the 1/6th Battalion

Matthew Hodgkins was born in Heage in 1885 and by the 1911 Census he was living with his family at No. 1 The Hat Factory in Fritchley, Derbyshire and was a livery storeman. He married in October 1915 not long before he enlisted in November 1915.

Matthew would have originally been posted to the 3/6th Battalion for training and may even have served with the 5th Reserve Battalion when it was formed in September 1916 with the merger of the 3/5th and 3/6th Battalions.

The fact that he has a 4-digit Territorial Force number recorded on the Medal Roll (see above) indicates that he arrived in France in 1916 before the 1917 renumbering. There is no record of him being discharged or disembodied and he was not awarded a Silver War Badge, strongly suggesting that he served with the 1/6th Battalion until 1918-19.