JOSEPH ALFRED HOPSON
LOST IN ACTION
Official confirmation has been received by Mr and Mrs Joseph Herbert Hopson of Newbury, of the death of their son, Trooper Joseph Alfred Hopson, of the Wellington Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He had been reported as missing for some time and the worst was feared. On Thursday a telegram was received from the London Record Office of the New Zealand Force, followed by a letter from the same source, stating that Trooper Hopson was killed in action on August 27th. Greater details were furnished in a sympathetic letter received from Corp. J. M Morrison, who described himself as his closest friend since he joined the squadron in New Zealand. Trooper Hopson had been detained at the base with an injured foot, but rejoined his regiment when when it was engaged in outpost work in Gallipoli. On August 24th they were under orders to move about a mile to the left, where a few lines of trenches had to be taken. The N.Z. Brigade formed the first and last lines of attack, and after a severe two hours bombardment, they charged the first trenches through an inferno of shrapnel, machine gun and rifle fire. A fair percentage of the New Zealanders reached the trenches, and after a hand-to-hand fight took possession of three lines.

It was in this fight that Trooper Hopson fell. His friend writes "Please accept my deepest sympathy in your loss, although I consider the loss to us is greater. I have lost a comrade, and the squadron has lost one of its best soldiers, one who was loved and respected, and is mourned by the very few of us left now. There are only 70 out of 700, the remainder being killed, wounded or on sick leave. I trust that you will bear in mind that Joe has nobly laid down his life for King and country, surely the finest death to die." Like many another British lad, he lies buried in a foreign soil, but there will always be kindly memories retained by his Newbury friends. To the parents sincere sympathy is extended.
Newbury Weekly News Oct. 28, 1915