The memorial
originally stood in The Market Place, Northampton but was moved in
1937 to the Garden of Remembrance (Memorial Garden), Northampton.
The memorial is in the form of a robed female figure representing
the Goddess of Fame, holding a wreath in her left hand and a staff
raised in her right. The figure stands on a tapering pillar which
in turn rests on a three stepped base. On the front face of the pillar
is a bust of Colonel Mobbs with a wreath behind his head. On the front
of the memorial is a bust of Lt. Col Mobbs; on the left side is a
relief panel depicting a rugby match, and on the right a battlefield
scene.
Edgar
Roberts Mobbs DSO (1882 - 1917) was an English rugby union footballer
who played for and captained Northampton R.F.C. and England. He played
as a three quarter.
After
initially being turned down as too old to join the army in World War
1, Edgar raised his own "sportsmans" battalion of 250 sportsmen
(also known as Mobbs' Own) for the Northamptonshire Regiment. He rose
to command his battalion with rank of Lt. Col.
Edgar
was killed in battle, in July 1917, at Zillebeke during the Third
Battle of Ypres, whilst attacking a machine gun post. His body has
never been found, so his name is on the Menin Gate memorial.
In 1921
the first Mobb's Memorial Match was held between the East Midlands
and the Barbarians at Franklin's Gardens and has continued ever since.
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From
an old photograph
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IN
MEMORY OF
EDGAR R MOBBS
DSO
ERECTED BY SUBSCRIPTIONS
OF ADMIRERS THE WORLD OVER
TO THE MEMORY OF A
GREAT AND GALLANT
SOLDIER SPORTSMAN
WHEN THE GREAT WAR BROKE OUT
HE FOUNDED
"MOBBS COMPANY"
JOINED AS A PRIVATE AND ROSE
TO COMMAND THE BATTALION
TO WHICH IT BELONGED HE DID HIS DUTY
EVEN UNTO DEATH
