Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins – Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 49th Battalion

Corporal Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins – Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 49^th Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins

Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins was born in 1894 in Swansea. He was the son of George Herbert Hopkins and Emily Hutton.

Emigration to Australia

There are no surviving official census records for the Hopkins family in Britain, as they emigrated to Australia in 1900. The family sailed to Queensland aboard the ship Duke of Sutherland, settling in Australia while Donald was still a child.

Military Service

Attestation Papers

In 1916, Donald Hopkins, then living in Brisbane, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He served initially as a Private with the Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 49^th Battalion.

During active service on the Western Front, Donald demonstrated leadership and reliability and was promoted to the rank of Corporal in August 1917.

Australian Infantry, A.I.F., 49^th Battalion — 26^th September 1917

On 26^th September 1917, the 49th Battalion was heavily engaged in the Battle of Polygon Wood, one of the major Australian operations of the Third Battle of Ypres campaign on the Western Front.

The battalion formed part of the 13^th Brigade, 4^th Australian Division, and took part in a coordinated Allied assault aimed at capturing Polygon Wood and advancing the line east of Ypres. The attack followed earlier successes at Menin Road Ridge and was designed to seize key high ground dominating the surrounding battlefield.

The assault began in the early morning under a well-coordinated creeping artillery barrage, which initially enabled Australian infantry to advance rapidly and secure their objectives. The 49th Battalion advanced through shattered woodland and heavily cratered ground, encountering stiff German resistance, particularly from machine-gun positions and concrete pillboxes that had survived the bombardment.

Although the attack was ultimately successful, the fighting on 26^th September was intense and costly. German artillery responded with heavy shelling throughout the day, targeting newly captured positions and inflicting casualties on troops attempting to consolidate the line. The battalion suffered losses not only during the advance but also while holding exposed ground under sustained bombardment and counter-attacks.

Battlefield conditions were severe. The ground around Polygon Wood had been devastated by months of shellfire, with broken trees, deep mud, and flooded shell holes offering little cover. Visibility was poor, communications were difficult to maintain, and wounded men were often hard to evacuate under fire.

It was during this hard-fought action on 26^th September 1917 that Corporal Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins was killed in action.

Death and Commemoration

Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins
Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

Donald Herbert Odo Hopkins has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, which bears the names of thousands of Commonwealth soldiers who fell in the Ypres Salient and whose resting places remain unknown.

The actions of the 49^th Battalion at Polygon Wood contributed significantly to one of the Australian Corps’ most successful operations of the war, helping to secure vital ground and weaken German defences during the costly but decisive fighting of the Passchendaele campaign