World War I Victoria Cross Recipient. He received the award posthumously for his actions as a sergeant in the 20th Battalion (Central Ontario), Canadian Expeditionary Force, of the British Army on August 18, 1917 during the Battle of Hill 70 near Lens, France. Born in London, England, he served in the Wiltshire Regiment of the British Army during the Second Boer War (October 1899 to May 1902) in South Africa. In 1904 he emigrated to Ontario, Canada, eventually settling in Galt (now Cambridge). When World War I broke out in July 1914, he joined the Norfolk Rifles and then enlisted with the 20th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent to the Western Front in France. During a German counterattack at the Battle of Hill 70 on August 18, 1917, he was killed in action at the age of 43. His Victoria Cross citation reads: "No. 57113 Sjt. Frederick Hobson, late Can. Inf. Bn. During a strong enemy counter-attack a Lewis gun in a forward post in a communication trench leading to the enemy lines, was buried by a shell, and the crew, with the exception of one man, killed. Sjt. Hobson, though not a gunner, grasping the great importance of the post, rushed from his trench, dug out the gun, and got it into action against the enemy who were now advancing down the trench and across the open. A jam caused the gun to stop firing. Though wounded, he left the gunner to correct the stoppage, rushed forward at the advancing enemy and, with bayonet and clubbed rifle, single handed, held them back until he himself was killed by a rifle shot. By this time however, the Lewis gun was again in action and reinforcements shortly afterwards arriving, the enemy were beaten off. The valour and devotion to duty displayed by this non-commissioned Officer gave the gunner the time required to again get the gun into action, and saved a most serious situation." In addition to the Victoria Cross, he also received the Queen's South Africa Medal, the King's South Africa Medal, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. His Victoria Cross and other medals are on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. A plaque in his honor is located at Valour Place in the Waterloo Region of Cambridge, Ontario.