Fred Hinton was my Great-Grandfather (my grandfather‘s Father). He was not a Machine Gunner, yet his influence on the establishment of the collection warrants his inclusion on this website.
Fred, and his brother Edgar, lived at The Croft, Wanborough. They were the grandsons of a Swindon Mayor – James Hinton – and the sons of a prominent Wanborough Farmer and member of the local Council. It was their father – also called Frederick – who organised the recruitment meeting, on 03 September, 1914, where both sons joined the 1/1st Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry.
On 26 September, 1917, the 1/1st was effectively disbanded and all Officers and Other Ranks were transferred to the 6th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, which was renamed the 6th (Wiltshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment.
He was captured in March, 1918, during the same battle as his brother was killed.
Whilst he was a Prisoner of War, he was interned at the Schweidnitz Officers’ P.O.W. Camp in Schlesen, Germany, presumably as a Batman. In his belongings when he returned home, he brought a copy of the camp magazine – The Barb Magazine – from October, 1918. This is available for free PDF download by clicking on the cover image below or this Barb Magazine (3,705 KB).
He also wrote home not knowing that his brother has been killed. The letters are in the VMGCRA archive.
