Lives of the First World War

George Frederick Hopkinson OBE MC (1896 – 9 September 1943) was a senior British Army officer who commanded the 1st Airborne Division during World War II. After working for a period prior to the beginning of World War I as an engineering apprentice, Hopkinson joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the North Staffordshire Regiment and then posted to France as a signals officer in the 72nd Brigade. He was awarded the Military Cross for meritorious actions during the retreat of the British Army during early 1918; after the end of the conflict he gained a degree in civil engineering, before rejoining the British Army in the mid-1920s. He was promoted to major-general and given command of the 1st Airborne Division in May 1943 and was killed by machine gun fire as he witnessed an assault by the 10th Parachute Battalion on a roadblock held by German paratroopers.

Phantom unit Neerlanden 1940 (HQ). Lieutenant-Colonel “Hoppy” Hopkinson is 4th from left, smoking a pipe. “Phantom” was under the command of Wing Commander J.M “Fairy” Fairweather and Lieutenant-Colonel G.F “Hoppy” Hopkinson. Noting the speed of the German ’blitzkrieg" invasion of the Low Countries both men realised that the only way to get the information that their boss needed was by actual ground reconnaissance at the front line. Trying to pick up titbits of intelligence from behind the lines at G.H.Q was not an option. Together “Fairy” and “Hoppy” put together a mixed company of 15 officers and 110 other ranks, equipped with armoured cars and motorcycle units. There was also a wireless section manned by men from the Royal Corps of Signals and 500