Tag: 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment

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Lance-Corporal Albert Platt, MM

Albert Platt was born on September 17, 1887 in Lees, Oldham. He was the oldest of three boys, his younger sister dying when she was just two years old. By the age of 13 he had left school and was employed as a Cotton Mill Hand and living with his parents, George and Nancy Platt, (née Halkyard), on Warrington Street, Stalybridge.

On December 26, 1910 he married Jane Ann Baily at Castle Hall Parish Church, (now Holy Trinity), Stalybridge and they made their home at 13 Medlock Rd, Woodhouses, (now Failsworth). Albert was employed as a Stripper & Grinder at a Cotton Spinning Company.

Shortly after the outbreak of war, Albert joined the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, Territorial Force as a Private (2146) on Tuesday September 1, 1914 at Ashton. At least one hundred men attested this day and at that time the intent was for the battalion to take the most able-bodied and experienced men, deferring the others until later in the month, as they knew they were shortly to leave overseas. Albert and the others quickly joined the battalion at Chesham Fold Camp in Bury and a week later they entrained for Southampton and boarded HMS Aragon, leaving at midnight September 10, bound for Egypt.

Lance-Corporal Albert Platt, MM
Lance-Corporal Albert Platt, MM

In Egypt, the men went through rigorous training and Albert was appointed Lance-Corporal on February 9, 1915. He landed in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 with the rest of the 1/9th Manchesters as a junior NCO of C Company.

In December 1915. Albert was interviewed by the Ashton Reporter primarily because they had recently published an extensive report from an anonymous NCO from “C” Company of the 9th Battalion who had referenced Albert by name as having been “continually doing good work” in Gallipoli, a euphemism for multiple acts of conspicuous gallantry in the field. In Albert’s own account of his exploits on the peninsula he referenced the events of three different significant days which are outlined below:

May 23, 1915

“Two of our Companies, A and B, were put into the firing line, and C and D Companies were in the reserve Companies. Four men from each platoon in C and D Company were required to go and dig themselves in 120 yards in advance of A Company’s lines. This took them into the open between our lines and the Turks. Three men of my section volunteered, namely, Private Robinson, Pollard (of Woodhouses), and Stockdale, and a man named Rimmington from another platoon, made up the fourth. I said to Sergeant Joe Wood, ‘Well, I suppose I can go up and see the men off?’ and he gave me permission. I took a cloth bandolier with ammunition and my rifle. The lads had to go with full entrenchment kit and supplies, spade, rifle, bayonet, rations, etc. They had not been gone long before I heard someone was wounded. It turned out to be a lad named Penny. Lance Corporal Silvester, who has won the D.C.M. and another man brought Penny in. I then said to Silvester, “I’ll see if any of my lads have got wounded. They may be requiring help,” and leaving my rifle and ammunition I went out some distance, and then discovered that I was lost. I was in a very uncomfortable position. It was quite dark, and plenty of bullets were flying about. I decided to turn round, and see if I could find my way back. I did so, but instead of going back I afterwards found that I had gone to the right, and I stumbled on a dead Turk. I then got level with a hole and saw a head come up from it. I thought the hole must contain a Turkish sniper, and I got hold of the fellow saying, “Who are you?” He did not speak at first, and I was just going to take drastic measures with him when the fellow says, “What’s to want?” He turned out to be one of the East Lancs, an old soldier who had seen service in South Africa, named Jimmy McGuire. He and others were digging themselves in. I said, “I will stick with you.” I stuck with him all night and the next day, helping him to dig himself in. The following night I rushed back and enquired from Sergeant-Major Christie where Sergeant Harrop was. Sergeant-Major Christie told me that the whole Company were going to dig themselves in and make a new firing line. He asked, “Are you Lance Corporal Platt?” and I replied, “Yes,” and he said, “You are just the man we want. You are going to be shot for being absent without leave.” I then heard a laugh. I had not had a drink or bite since the previous night.”

1358 Corporal George James Silvester was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bringing in 1413 Private Thomas Penny while under fire. Cpl. Silvester had been wounded earlier that month but had remained with the battalion. Although Pte. Penny was safely brought back to the Allied lines, he was severely wounded and later died in Hospital at Malta, on June 6, and is buried at Pieta Military Cemetery.

Three of the four men who volunteered to go out into no man’s land and dig themselves in that night were 2011 Pte. Joseph Pollard, 1373 Pte. Noel Williamson Stockdale and 1383 Pte. Charles Irvine Rimmington. There were three Robinson’s at that time at Gallipoli: 1382 Pte. Ernest Robinson, 1681 Pte. Harry Robinson and 1887. Pte. Mark Robinson. Ernest Robinson was Killed in Action on June 7 in the bayonet charge referenced below and so we know that he was in C Company and so there is a stronger possibility that the “Robinson” referred to above was him.

Joseph Pollard was a 25-year-old neighbour of Albert Platt’s who’s family lived within 5 minutes walk. Pollard attested with the 9th Battalion on August 5, 1914 and had previously served 4 years with them. In 1911 Albert and Joe were both working in Cotton Mills and so there’s a strong possibility that they were friends and work colleagues too and perhaps this was part of the reason Albert enlisted on September 1st.

June 7, 1915

“Another night about 60 or 70 of us were told to dig a communication trench, and whilst we were engaged a fellow told me that Dick Stott was wounded in the head. I was fagged out with digging, but I crawled down to Stott, and took him a short distance. Then I passed word to Pollard, of Woodhouses, to come and give me a lift with Stott. We got hold of him and rushed into the trench. Stott had been wounded while we were in the open digging ourselves in. When we got to the trench Sergeant Harrop gave us a lift with him, and we placed him in a blanket and carried him to the dressing station. In the afternoon of the same day, C Company made a bayonet charge on the Turks. We were a little over 100 strong when we went out, but about 45 got either killed or wounded. When we got into the Turkish trench Tom Finnerty said to me “Joe Bertenshaw is over there, Albert, are you going for him?” I replied, “Sure!” and I climbed back over the parapet. Tommy Finnerty came with me and we found Joe lying on the ground. I said, “Is that you Joe?” and he replied, “Yes … is it Albert?” I replied in the affirmative, and Joe says, “Get me in, will you?” I said “That’s what we’ve come for.” We dragged him to the parapet and I shouted to some of the men to catch him. Then we rolled him over. Then we went back for another wounded lad called Wilson, of Ashton, and got him in, and we also fetched in Albert Wrigley. Just as we were getting him to the parapet the Turks opened rapid fire, and we had to lie down until their fire ceased, and they resumed independent fire again. Then Finnerty and I dragged Wrigley to the parapet and rolled him over, and the men caught him. In and between these I was fetching ammunition, etc., and passing it into the trench. I was in the open while doing this and exposed to the fire of the Turks. Just as we got to the parapet after taking Wrigley, Finnerty was shot in the leg.”

1652 Pte. Richard Stott died of wounds just under a week later, on June 13, on a hospital ship whilst at sea. Richard had just turned 15 years old and had been one of the first to attest at a big recruiting drive at Ashton Town Hall on the evening of February 14, 1914. He lied about his age and stated that he was 17 years old, the minimum age, but he was only 5ft 2” tall and it’s hard to imagine that they really believed him.

Despite being retrieved from no man’s land, 2141 Pte. Joseph Richard Bertenshaw did not survive the day and was reported as killed in action June 7. He had joined the battalion with his brother Percy the same day as Albert Platt, September 1, 1914. A third brother, Herbert, had been with the battalion since November 1913 and no doubt they joined to make sure they all served together.

2068 Pte. Albert Wrigley also retrieved that day did not survive and was listed as killed in action on June7. Pte. Wilson was more fortunate than the others and survived.

1776 Pte. Thomas Finnerty was shot in the knee on June 7 and medically evacuated to Malta. He was one of the 100 or so men who joined the battalion on February 14, 1914, along with Richard Stott. While in hospital at Malta he wrote home to his parents but remarkably did not make any mention of the role he played in bringing three wounded men in with Albert Platt, choosing instead to report on his neighbours’ wounds, (all three men living on Wellington Street in Ashton):

“I am sorry to say that I had the misfortune to get hit by a bullet in the knee, but I am doing very well indeed, so you must not trouble or worry about me. I shall be in good hands and well looked after. I want you to let Mrs. Barratt and Mrs. Turner know that Herbert and John have also been wounded, and tell them not to worry, as they are doing as well as can be expected. Herbert  Barratt was hit in the right arm near the shoulder, and John Turner has been hit two or three times in his right hand, wrist and arm near the shoulder. We all got wounded on the same night, it was June 7th. I am posting this at Malta”.

June 7 was a truly memorable day for Lance-Corporal Platt and no doubt one that he remembered for the rest of his life. Having just taken part in a bayonet charge that resulted in almost 50% casualties, and having voluntarily risked his life to check on the welfare of his men in May, he repeated that courageous act to bring in four seriously wounded soldiers. The fact that three of them did not survive is irrelevant to the conspicuous gallantry he showed that day which closely emulated that of Corporal Silvester in May. But June 7, 1915 was by far the bloodiest day in the battalion’s time at Gallipoli so far, with two officers of C Company killed in action and dozens of men killed or wounded, and we can only speculate that the chaos that day meant that he did not receive any official recognition for his actions.

June 18, 1915

“Another day, B Company made another bayonet charge, and while this was going on I was digging a trench for the bombing party.”

Although Albert devoted just one sentence to the events of June 18 it was in fact the bloodiest day of the battalion’s time on the Peninsula eclipsing that of June 7 less than two weeks before.

June 24, 1915

On June 23rd the battalion came out of the line and moved to “Shell Bivouac”, a rest area that had become notorious for being in sight of the Turkish artillery and which was constantly, randomly shelled.

“Altogether we had been in the trenches 21 days, and then came down for a rest. I was wounded while at the rest camp. I was just going to have a bath in the sea when a piece of shell struck me on the leg, just above the ankle. The leg was hanging, and I was taken down to hospital at Malta.”

He was medically evacuated to hospital in Malta where his right leg was amputated at the “seat of election”, just below the right knee. The “seat of election” was that point in the limb where, with practically the whole length at his disposal for an amputation, the surgeon elected to cut the bone and his preference for this particular spot was largely driven by the unsatisfactory nature of existing artificial limbs. Consequently, it was an advantage if the portion of the limb below the knee was left as short as possible and that the end of the stump was most protected and least in the way. The alternative approach for an ankle injury was a Syme amputation which is an amputation done through the ankle joint. The foot is removed but the heel pad is saved so the patient can put weight on the leg without a prosthesis. Presumably the shell fragment had damaged the tibia and fibula far enough above the ankle joint to make this procedure impractical.

Cpl. Albert Platt, MM
Cpl. Albert Platt, MM
Leg amputated below the knee. Recovering possibly in Malta.

In mid-1915, there were no antibiotics and sepsis (also known as blood poisoning) was a significant post-surgical risk, especially with battlefield wounds. Treatment was rather basic; antiseptics were used to clean the wounds and deep surgical incisions were used to drain the pus from infected parts of the body. Corporal Albert Platt, by his own account, underwent at least five operations for blood poisoning in his shoulders while he was in hospital at Malta. He was lucky to survive.

Almost 3 months after being wounded he embarked a Hospital Ship at Valetta bound for England on September 18, 1915, probably arriving 8-10 days later. By early December, he was being treated in the Ashton District Infirmary Wounded Soldiers’ ward but was sufficiently recovered to be able to make periodic day trips from the hospital to see friends and family. His wife at this time gave an address on Warrington Street, Stalybridge presumably to be closer to her family and in-laws.

On March 3, 1916 the battalion in Egypt received congratulatory cards from the Major-General commanding the 42nd Division, for good work done in Gallipoli, for a handful of men including 2146 Corporal Albert Platt. Clearly a belated attempt to provide official recognition of Albert’s actions on June 7 submitted by the battalion at the end of the campaign in an effort to address the oversight.

Albert had been promoted to Corporal on June 27, 1915 for his actions in the field and this, of course, provided slightly higher pay. On September 1, 1916 he was awarded Proficiency Pay, Class II, which would have resulted in an additional 3d per day over and above his regular pay. During the period that he was convalescing and being actively treated he remained on the Army payroll but in January 1917 he was medically assessed and pronounced permanently unfit for military service, registered for the silver war badge, and on February 3, 1917 was discharged under Paragraph 392 (XVI) of King’s Regulations. His Army disability pension began the following day.

Three full years later, on January 30, 1920, the following announcement appeared in the London Gazette:

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Military Medal to the undermentioned Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men for bravery in the Field, whose services have been brought to notice in accordance with the terms of Army Order 193 of 1919. To be dated 5th May, 1919, unless otherwise stated: —
MANCHESTER REGIMENT
2146 Cpl. Platt, A., 9th Bn. (Stalybridge).

This was a quite remarkable announcement since it meant that Cpl. Platt was awarded the Military Medal (MM) for his actions at Gallipoli. We know this since he did not serve under fire in any other military theatre of operation and the MM was awarded for “acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire”. But the Military Medal was not established until March 26, 1916, two months after the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula, and so he is a member of a very select group of men to have received this decoration for the Gallipoli campaign. From a purely practical perspective, the award of the MM meant an additional 6d per day for Albert’s disability pension.

Back in the civilian world, Albert and his wife moved to Heyrod Hall Farm, Heyrod, Stalybridge where he became a self-employed poultry farmer, thus side-stepping the need to try to find regular employment as a disabled ex-serviceman. Proving that he wasn’t completely disabled, on December 1, 1922 his son Albert Jnr. was born there. By 1939 the family had moved to Haltham, near Horncastle, Lincolnshire and in 1952 they sold their house in Haltham and moved to Saddleworth to be closer to their son.

Corporal Albert Platt, M.M. died on July 13, 1955 from a cerebral thrombosis, caused by underlying atherosclerosis, at his home in Saddleworth. He was 67 years old.

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Major Thomas Frankish, RAMC (Att’d)

Thomas Frankish was born on November 21, 1867 in Bromley, Middlesex to George Frankish, an inspector for the Inland Revenue, and Sarah Jane Frankish (née Nettleton). He was the oldest of four boys; George (b.1870), Walter (b.1874) and Henry (b.1877). His sister Alice Gertrude Frankish was born in July 1880 but died in 1882.

Thomas went to medical school at Edinburgh University graduating in 1889. He remained at university and received a Bachelor of Science in Public Health in 1893. After graduating and undergoing residencies at Bournemouth and Lewes, he moved back to live with his parents working as a Surgeon at Accrington Victoria Cottage Hospital and the Royal Infirmary, Bradford.

Royal Field Artillery

On February 9, 1898 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Lancashire Artillery Volunteers. In 1901 he married Edith Mary Jennings and on July 18, 1903 their only daughter, Freda May Frankish, was born. By 1911 they were living in Accrington with two domestic servants and Thomas was a Major in the 5th Lancashire Battery, Royal Field Artillery, 1st East Lancashire Brigade. On September 23, 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and assumed command of the Brigade. In his civilian life he was working in private medical practice, in partnership with Dr. J. S. Harbinson, and had been the Honorary Surgeon at Accrington Victoria Cottage Hospital for over a decade.

The Outbreak of War

At the outbreak of war, when he was 47 years old, he closed his medical practice and sailed with the 42nd Division to Egypt in September 1914 as Officer Commanding the 1st East Lancashire Brigade, RFA. While in Egypt his worsening presbyopia meant that his eyesight deteriorated to the point where he was reported as unfit to command due to defective eyesight. To his credit, he arranged to resign his commission in the RFA, allowing the promotion of his successor, Major Arthur Birtwistle, and to be granted a new commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps, (RAMC). The War Office granted the request on condition that he accept the rank of Major, which he did, and thus he lost both seniority and tenure which he struggled to come to terms with throughout the remainder of his war service.

Royal Army Medical Corps

He was commissioned Major in the RAMC on March 9, 1915 less than a week after Major Hilton of the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment died at Heliopolis, leaving them without a Medical Officer. Since there was a need for his services with the 42nd Division but no suitable vacancy, he was added to the Army’s list of RAMC officers not attached to a medical unit and rotated through various posts as and where he was needed. By his own account, he served as the Senior Medical Officer at the British Military Hospital, Khartoum and as Medical Officer for the 1/7th Manchester Regiment. The 1/7th Manchesters being based in Sudan from September 30, 1914 until they returned to Egypt in April 1915.

Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters

Back in Egypt he was attached to the 9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment on May 5th, 1915 serving as their Medical Officer. This attachment was wired to the War Office by the G.O.C. Egypt Expeditionary Force and it turned out to be the last official communication from the field concerning him and so for the next several years, as far as the Army was concerned, he remained attached to the 9th Battalion and was presented as such on the Army List. In later years he spent much personal effort attempting to correct the record without much success.

In fact, his tenure with the 9th Manchesters lasted less than 4 months, landing with them at Cape Helles on May 9, 1915 and remaining with them until temporarily transferred by the 42nd Division Assistant Director Medical Services (ADMS) to the 1/3rd East Lancs Field Ambulance on August 31, 1915. He was belatedly struck off the strength of the Battalion on October 21st when he was permanently transferred to Divisional HQ, as Sanitation Officer.

He did not serve as Sanitation Officer long because on November 11, 1915 he was medically evacuated to the 17th General Hospital, Alexandria (ex Hospital Ship Delta) suffering from dyspepsia and dysentery, the third attack that he had endured on the peninsula. He remained at the 17th General from November 17 to December 6 when he was transferred to an Officer’s Convalescent Hospital at Luxor.

Egypt 1916

Sufficiently recovered, he reported for duty with the 42 Division’s 1/1st East Lancs Field Ambulance at Shalufa on February 13, 1916. Just over a week later he transferred to the 35th Casualty Clearing Station, on February 22nd. He was briefly made Officer Commanding RAMC Details, Sidi Bishr, Alexandria but he was not well and after constant headaches for six weeks and occasional sudden attacks of fever, made worse by exposure to the sun, he was admitted to the British Red Cross Hospital at Ginza on April 8th suffering from Pyrexia of Unknown Origin. He recovered over the next 3 weeks and no microbial infection was found but on April 22nd he was medically assessed and granted 2 months home leave to recover in a more temperate climate. Consequently, he boarded the Hospital Ship Salta at Alexandria on May 14, arriving Southampton May 26, 1916.

On May 28, 1916 he was medically assessed at the 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester where it was noted that he had recovered on the voyage home but was still not at his usual strength. They granted him 1 month’s leave and he reported for a second medical assessment on June 17 where he was passed fit for General Service. He embarked the Troop Transport Minetonka at Devonport bound for for Alexandria on July 5, 1916, arriving there on July 19.

On July 23rd he reported for duty at the 15th General Hospital, Alexandria where he remained for the remainder of 1916.

Salonika 1917

He was not happy away from the action and so by his own request he embarked a Hospital Transport ship for Salonika on April 4, 1917 arriving six days later. Here he was briefly posted to the 28th General Hospital before assuming command of the 8th Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance on May 3, 1917. They remained in Salonika until June 1st when they embarked for Egypt, arriving 3 days later.

In early October the Assistant Director Medical Services (ADMS) Yeomanry Division wrote a scathing letter to the Deputy Director Medical Services (DDMS) Desert Mounted Corps complaining of Major Frankish’s unsatisfactory performance, especially with regard to the Field Ambulance’s field sanitation standards. The DDMS concurred and used Major Frankish’s own 3-page, detailed riposte to the charges as evidence that he would be better suited to a support, rather than a field, position. GHQ concurred and transferred Major Frankish to the RAMC Base Depot, Mustapha where he assumed command on November 3, 1917. This position carried the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and he assumed this rank from this date forward, although it took almost two years for the Army to recognize it.

Torpedoed 1918

On February 21, 1918 he was granted 3 weeks home leave and embarked the Indarra en-route to England. In England his leave expired without receiving orders to return and so on April 15, 1918 he wrote to the War Office reporting this fact. Two weeks later, upon receiving orders to return to Egypt, he wrote another letter to the War Office requesting that he be allowed to not return to Egypt due to health reasons exacerbated by the hot climate. He received a one sentence reply denying his request. This was rather unfortunate because he then boarded the Troop Transport Omrah, bound for Alexandria via Marseilles. On May 12, 1918 the Omrah was torpedoed by UB52, 40 miles S.W. of Cape Spartivento, Sicily and sunk. But remarkably there was only one reported casualty, which was fortunately not him, and he arrived relatively unscathed at Alexandria on the Malwa, 5 days later.

During his adventure in the Mediterranean, on May 11, 1918, he was awarded the Territorial Decoration for long service with the Territorial Force.

He remained in command of the RAMC Base Depot, now at Kantara, but after the war had ended he was sometimes deployed for temporary duty on board Hospital Ships sailing between Egypt and Beirut.

Demobilisation in 1919

On March 28, 1919 he relinquished command of the RAMC Base Depot and was assigned to the Convalescent Depot at Boulaq, Cairo. Consequently, when he became unwell on April 4, 1919, he was admitted to the Citadel Hospital in Cairo. Whilst being treated, he wrote to the Ministry of National Service, in England, requesting a “speedy demobilisation” citing a litany of reasons but primarily his deteriorating health in Egypt’s hot climate. He also wrote to his former medical partner, Dr. J. S. Harbinson, who had already been demobilised, requesting him to contact the War Office on his behalf, which he duly did.

He was medically assessed in Cairo on April 20th and they recommended two months rest in the UK. He boarded the Hospital Ship Carisbrooke Castle at Alexandria on May 6, 1919 arriving Southampton 10 days later. Here he was admitted to the Endsleigh Palace Hospital for Officers, London for treatment. The War Office notified him that he would be demobilised when fit and instructed the hospital to schedule a medical assessment for June 12, 1919. Remarkably, on May 24th he wrote to the War Office now requesting to remain in the Royal Army Medical Corps since he felt that he had secured a move from Egypt and claiming that there was not enough work for him in his medical practice (the opposite of what Dr. Harbinson had told them a month earlier). Needless to say, his request was summarily rejected.

He was discharged from Endsleigh on June 13 and returned home, with another medical assessment scheduled for July. On July 10, 1919 he submitted an official request for a speedy demobilisation for medical officers. The War Office must have considered starting a new department just to deal with all his correspondences. Nevertheless, he was assessed at Exeter on July 28 and granted leave until September 1st. On September 4, 1919 he was medically assessed again at Queen Mary’s Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancs and pronounced to be at fitness level ‘C1’. He was demobilised a week later on September 12, 1919.

Post War Years

On September 30, 1921 he resigned his commission with the Royal Army Medical Corps having attained the age limit and was granted the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

On October 20, 1939 he wrote to H.M. Secretary of State for War, offering his services, noting his prior service and stating that after the war he had been Chairman Pension Boards and Referee to the Ministry of Health. He indicated that he had been the Medical Officer on a troop ship for the last 4 years and was currently returning to England. He was 72 years old and his offer was very politely declined.

By this time he and his wife had moved to Quainton, near Aylesbury and in early 1946 he died there. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Frankish, MB, TD was 78 years old and was survived by his wife and daughter.

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2/Lt. Charles Henry Nash, RAMC (Att’d)

Charles Henry Nash was born on July 16, 1875 in Cork to the Rev. Llewellyn Charles Nash and Ellen Henrietta Nash (née Welland). Charles was the youngest of 3 boys (William Welland Nash and Sidney Dawson Nash) and had an older sister, (Henrietta May Nash), and two younger sisters, (Mary Welland Nash and Anna Florence Nash).

Charles’ mother died in 1893, when he was 18 years old, and two years later he enrolled as a first-year medical student at Queen’s College Cork, on October 28, 1895. By 1901 Charles was living with his father, who was now the Rector of Ballymartle, (near Kinsale, County Cork), his younger sister Mary, his uncle Robert Spread Nash, and a domestic servant. Charles took his final examinations under the auspices of the Scottish Conjoint Board and so when he passed, in 1903, he became LRCP (Edin.), LRCS (Edin.) and LRFPS (Glasg.).

By 1911 he had formed a medical partnership with a local doctor, (Dr. Walter John Roalfe-Cox), and was working as a General Practitioner and living in Mortimer, Berkshire with his brother Sidney, (a former Army officer and now a District Commissioner in West Africa), his sister Mary and a domestic servant. Shortly after the outbreak of war he dissolved his business partnership so that he could join the Army and was commissioned as a temporary Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps on December 28, 1914.

He was attached to the 42nd (East Lancs) Division and by August 1915 was assigned to the 1/1st East Lancs Field Ambulance at Gully Beach, Cape Helles, Gallipoli. On Augst 31st the Divisional ADMS issued orders for him to be attached to the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, replacing Major Thomas Frankish, RAMC. He remained attached to the 9th Manchesters until he reported sick to hospital on October 25, 1915. He did not return to the Battalion.

On December 28, 1915 he was promoted to temporary Captain which rank he retained until he resigned his commission on March 8, 1919 retaining the rank of Captain. In October 1917 he married Julia Phyllis Smeddle, in Durham, and after he left the Army, they settled in Porthcawl, Wales where he worked in private practice. They had 3 daughters; Phyllis Kathleen Nash (b. 1919), Dorothy Joyce Graham Nash (b.1921) and Vera Peggy Nash (b.1925). They stayed in Porthcawl until the mid-1930s when they moved to Sandhurst, Berkshire.

Captain Charles Henry Nash died on February 8, 1952. He was 71 years old.

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2/Lt. George Gordon Greene-Kelly

George Gordon Greene-Kelly was born on July 11, 1886 in County Dublin, Ireland. By 1901 he was attending school and living at 24 Belgrave Square, Monkstown Dublin with his widowed mother Elizabeth, his older brother Frederick William (attending Medical School) and a domestic servant.

In January 1915 he applied for a commission stating that he had been a member of his School Cadet Corps and the Planters Volunteer Mounted Corps, Malacca. He was accepted and commissioned on February 4, 1915 as a temporary Second Lieutenant with the 10th Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment).

He deployed to Gallipoli, and on October 7, 1915 was attached to the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment along with 4 other junior officers from the Essex and South Lancashire Regiments. There is no official mention of his movements or activities at Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters and on December 8, 1915 he was transferred and attached to the 10th Manchesters along with another subaltern, 2/Lt. Laird Kirwan, who had arrived with him on October 7.

2/Lt. Greene-Kelly remained with the 10th Manchesters as they evacuated the Gallipoli Peninsula and moved to Egypt. On March 14, 1916 he was transferred to the 126th Brigade, 42nd Division Machine Gun Company at Shalufa. He spent a week in hospital at Suez in April and on May 20th was made temporary Lieutenant. In October he was granted 5 weeks leave in England and departed Port Said on the SS Caledonian on October 13th. After his leave was over, he embarked the Indulgence in Marseilles on November 13th rejoining the Machine Gun Company in Al Mazār, Northern Sinai, on November 27th. The pursuit of the Turkish forces across the Northern Sinai proceeded without incident and the 42nd Division marched into El Arish in January 1917. After a relaxing two weeks by the sea, they were ordered back to the Suez Canal in preparation of deployment to France.

The Machine Gun Company embarked for Marseilles, at Alexandria on February 2, 1917 sailing on the HT Huntspill, disembarking on March 6th. Lt. Greene-Kelly fought with the Machine Gun Corps in France throughout 1917 taking home leave from July 8-20 and again from January 11-27, 1918. Immediately upon his return he was recalled to England leaving the Machine Gun Company on January 29, 1918. He spent the remainder of the war in England.

On November 18, 1918 he returned to France and reported to Terlincthun Chateau, Boulogne for duty as War Workers Conducting Officer with the Military Inter Allied Commission of Control. Two weeks later he was granted the rank of temporary Major while so employed. The disarmament provisions of the Armistice, in November 1918, and of the Treaty of Versailles fourteen months later were primarily carried out by the Military Inter Allied Commission of Control. He remained with them until October 21, 1921 when he resigned his commission, retaining the rank of Major, but by this time he was based in Berlin.

He remained in Berlin and started his own import / export business, Gordon Kelly Export House. On September 20, 1923 he married Paula Gertrude Karla Marie Kuhlewind and they remained in Berlin after the marriage. In May 1924 their son, Ronald Gordon Greene-Kelly was born and around that time  he applied for an educational sponsorship from the Army for former officers who wanted to attend a business course at a London university but was rejected as he had not served in the regular forces. By 1926 the family had moved to Hendon, London and they remained there until he died in December 1932.

Major George Gordon Greene-Kelly was just 46 years old. He was survived by his wife, his son, his mother and his older brother.

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2/Lt. Arthur James Southcott

Arthur James Southcott was born on July 18, 1895 in Woodford, Essex to Arthur Southcott, a civil servant at the royal mint and Annie Southcott (née Pattison). He was educated at The Cooper’s Company School, in London, and by 1911 was living in Woodford with his parents, his younger brother, Walter Roy Southcott, and a domestic servant. His father passed away on January 31, 1912.

Shortly after the outbreak of war, on September 3, 1914, he left his civilian job as a shipping clerk and joined the 9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) as a Rifleman (#3177), undergoing 3 months basic training at Crowborough and Fleet. On November 5, 1914 the 1/9th London Regiment landed at Le Havre and went into the trenches at Neuve Eglise on November 29th recording their first casualties on December 4th. On December 31st they occupied the trenches again and the following day Rifleman Southcott sprained his back and was medically evacuated to England leaving France on January 5, 1915. Back in England he was assigned to the 2/9th Battalion while he recovered and there was granted a commission as a temporary Second-Lieutenant on March 27, 1915 with the 12th (Service) Battalion, The Essex Regiment.

He deployed to Gallipoli, and on October 7, 1915 was attached to the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment along with 4 other junior officers from the Essex and South Lancashire Regiments. There is no official mention of his movements or activities at Gallipoli save for a reference to reporting sick to hospital on December 4-8, 1915. He rejoined the Battalion on December 9th but two days later was admitted to the 17th Stationary Hospital at Cape Helles suffering from Diarrhea. He was medically evacuated to England on January 3, 1916 from Mudros sailing on the hospital ship Britannic and arrived at Southampton on January 9th, by now diagnosed with gastritis and enteritis.

He was given a month’s convalescent leave and on Feb 12, 1917 was pronounced fit for home service. A month later the Army medical board passed him fit for general service.

He deployed to France and was attached to the 10th Battalion, The Essex Regiment who at the time were part of the 53rd Brigade in 18th (Eastern) Division. They had taken heavy casualties in July at the Battle of Delville Wood and again in September at the Battle of Thiepval Ridge but on October 17, 1916 they were taking over the lines near Courcelette (S.W. of Bapaume).  The battalion war diary simply states, “No 2 Platoon of “A” Company on reaching the BAPAUME POST was knocked out by a bomb from enemy aeroplane”. But a first-hand account of the incident provides more detail:

Account of Incident of Bomb from Enemy Aeroplane on morning of 17th October – by the [3] survivors:

“On the morning of the 17th inst. we were being marched up the BAPAUME ROAD in our platoon under 2/Lt. A. J. Southcott the platoon commander. When we reached the point on the road formerly known as BAPAUME POST a very heavy bomb fell and exploded about 3 yards to the left of the centre of the platoon. This was at about 5:40am when the light was poor and there was a heavy mist issuing from the river. All the platoon were rendered casualties except ourselves. Officer (2/Lt. A. J. Southcott) wounded. Other ranks: 1 killed and 17 wounded.

We were marching at ease at the time and were singing so no one either heard the aeroplane or the noise of the bomb descending. After the explosion we immediately commenced to bandage the wounded and some 3 or 4 minutes after the explosion we saw the aeroplane hovering fairly low little distance to the right, where it dropped another bomb. There were lights and fires burning in the camps both on the right and left of the road where the bombs were dropped.”

2/Lt. Southcott was struck by a fragment of bomb shrapnel which entered the lower part of the right buttock passing through the rectum from which it passed 3 days later, which can’t have been pleasant. He was medically evacuated to England on the Asturias embarking at Le Havre on October 20 and disembarking at Southampton on the 21st where he was transported to London and admitted to Lady Mountgarret’s Convalescent Hospital for Officers. The wound became septic but healed reasonably quickly but he then developed Gastritis and Enteritis as he had before in Gallipoli. It was not until June 16, 1917 that he was finally pronounced fit for general service again whereupon he proceeded to the 27th Training Reserve Battalion, Harwich Fortress at Dovercourt, Essex.

On June 7, 1918 he suffered the humiliation of a Field General Court Martial, accused of Drunkenness at Felixstowe on May 13. He pleaded Not Guilty but was found Guilty and severely reprimanded. He relinquished his commission and left the Army on February 23, 1919 retaining the rank of Lieutenant.

In 1920 he applied to the War Office for his medals and the contact address was later amended from his mother’s home in Essex to that of the Militia Council Headquarters, in Ottowa, Canada. He officially emigrated to Canada in March 1923 and became the head clerk at an aircraft engine manufacturer called Armstrong-Siddeley, (later to become Hawker-Siddeley), in Ottowa. Lt. Arthur James Southcott died suddenly on June 31, 1935 and is buried in the Beechwood Cemetery, Ottowa. He was 39 years old.

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2/Lt. Laird Kirwan

Laird Kirwan was born on April 14, 1894 in London to John William Kirwan, a successful wholesale Jeweler, and Caroline Marian Kirwan (née Collins). He was the youngest of six children although his older brother Howard had died shortly after birth when he was just 7 months old. In 1911 he was living with his parents and four older sisters in Islington.

One month after the outbreak of war, on September 5, 1914, Laird joined the Honorable Artillery Company as a Private (#1931) and was assigned to Number 2 Company, 2nd Battalion. He was granted a commission as a temporary Second Lieutenant with the 10th Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) on January 26, 1915.

He deployed to Gallipoli, and on October 7, 1915 was attached to the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment along with 4 other junior officers from the Essex and South Lancashire Regiments. There is no official mention of his movements or activities at Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters and on December 8, 1915 he was transferred and attached to the 10th Manchesters along with another subaltern, 2/Lt. George Greene-Kelly, who had arrived with him on October 7.

2/Lt. Kirwan remained with the 10th Manchesters as they evacuated the Gallipoli Peninsula and moved to Egypt. On March 30, 1916 he was transferred and attached to the 6th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment who were in Mesopotamia and formed part of the 38th (Lancashire) Infantry Brigade of the 13th (Western) Division. 2/Lt. Kirwan embarked at Port Suez on April 9th and disembarked at Basra on April 24th. This was 5 days before the fall of Kut Al Amara which no doubt delayed his passage up river to join his new battalion. Consequently, he spent some time at Basra before joining the Battalion at Sheikh Sa’ad on June 19th where he was immediately put in command of a company, relinquishing command 5 days later. On July 9, 1916 he went sick to hospital where he stayed for a week before rejoining the battalion.

After the debacle of Kut-Al-Amara, Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude, formerly commander of the 6th South Lancs’ own 13th (Western) Division, was made commander of all Allied forces in Mesopotamia in late July 1916. He embarked upon a 7-month period of re-organizing and re-supplying his forces while steadily improving the lines of communication and medical and port infrastructure at Basra. In December 1916 he launched a new campaign whose goal was to capture Baghdad, which he did on March 11, 1917.

Shortly after the start of the campaign, on January 11, 1917, 2/Lt. Kirwan was transferred to “G” Stokes Mortar Battery and periodically served as second in command of the battery throughout his time with the battalion, temporarily assuming the rank of Lieutenant during those periods. Over the next 3 months the battalion took part in a series of minor battles including the capture of the Hai Salient, the capture of Dahra Bend, the Second Battle of Kut, the passage of the Diyala River and the fall of Baghdad. A month after it was all over, on May 16, he proceeded to Basra to commence home leave to England sailing on the transport Sofala. While in England, the War Office extended his leave and so he did not return to Basra until September 26, 1917 sailing from Bombay to Basra on the transport Torilla.

By this time the battalion was north of Baghdad at a small town called As Sindiyah, on the East bank of the Tigris and it took 2/Lt. Kirwan two weeks to reach them, rejoining the “G” Stokes Mortar Battery on October 9th at Tuwair (an even smaller town on the West side of the Tigris). As was not uncommon, a few weeks after returning from leave the change of climate and harsh living conditions caused him to report sick to hospital on November 25th and after a month in a field hospital went to an Officers’ Convalescent Hospital in Baghdad where he remained until December 28, 1917, rejoining the battalion at As Sindiyah. The commander of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, Lt.-General Sir Stanley Maude was not so lucky, he contracted cholera around the same time and died in Baghdad on November 18.

2/Lt. Kirwan remained with the battalion until August 1, 1918 when he was attached to the 31st Wing of the Royal Air Force as an “Observer” joining the 30th Squadron at Baqubah, North West of Bhagdad. Three weeks later, on August 20, 1918, his Army service record states that he was “Accidentally Killed” on flying duty but his RAF record was subsequently amended to state that he in fact died of wounds sustained on flying duty, and was designated a “Battle Casualty”.

2/Lt. Laird Kirwan was 24 years old. He is buried in the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq which is also the final resting place of Sir Stanley Maude.

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2/Lt. George Frederick Barker

George Frederick Barker was born in 1884, in Brentwood Essex to Frederick Inkerman Barker, (a blacksmith and farrier) and Kate Barker (née Monsear). George was the oldest of four children and the only son. His father died in 1903 and by 1911 he was living with his widowed mother and three sisters and employed as a school teacher for the Poplar Guardians (a poor house which built a training school for around 700 pupils in 1906/07 at Hulton in Essex). He was reportedly a fine athlete playing both football and cricket at a high amateur level in Brentwood.

He was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant on December 5, 1914 and underwent his basic training with the 12th Battalion, The Essex Regiment. During this time, in the latter half of 1915, he married Lydia Laura Horwood. He deployed to Gallipoli, and on October 7, 1915 was attached to the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment along with 4 other junior officers from the Essex and South Lancashire Regiments.

There is no official mention of his movements or activities at Gallipoli save for a reference to reporting sick to hospital on December 8, 1915, most likely the 17th Stationary Hospital at Cape Helles. He remained in Hospital for six weeks until he was medically evacuated to Malta, disembarking on January 21, 1916 and diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever. There he was admitted to the Blue Sisters Hospital the following day. Two weeks later, on February 5th, he embarked on the Hospital Ship Aquitania bound for England via Naples.

On September 1, 1916 he was promoted to acting Lieutenant in the Training Reserve and remained so until February 16, 1917 when he relinquished his acting rank of Lieutenant and reverted to temporary 2nd Lieutenant. A week later he joined the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, The Essex Regiment at Felixstowe, on February 22, 1917. The 3rd Essex was a depot and training unit and he remained there until he was passed fit for active service. Two months later he sailed to France and joined the 2nd Battalion, The Essex Regiment on April 22, 1917 while they were in billets at Beaufort-Blavincourt, a few kilometers West of Arras. The timing was not good as the Battalion was engaged in the Second Battle of Arras and both sides were suffering heavy casualties.

A week after his arrival, the Battalion moved into the front lines at 8pm on April 30, 1917. There they were subjected to enemy artillery and sniper fire and took several casualties. On May 3rd they were directly involved in an attack against the German positions and suffered 5 killed, 96 wounded and 106 missing other ranks with 2 officers killed, 8 wounded and 4 missing. The following day the battalion moved back to the support line. On May 10th they moved towards the front lines again when they supported an attack by the 11th Brigade. By this time the Battalion HQ was located in a cellar at Fampoux. On May 12th they were in the front lines again supporting an attack by the 10th and 11th Brigades. The battalion started to pull out during the evening and was fully relieved at midnight. The scale of the battalion’s casualties over the past month is made evident by an excerpt from the war diary entry for May 12:

“Only 4 Officers came out of the line with the Battalion out of 25 who had been with them this tour. 2 Officers wounded. 2/Lt. G. F. Barker killed.”

Temporary Second Lieutenant George Frederick Barker was killed in action on May 12, 1917 at Fampoux, France. He was 33 years old. His wife was notified by telegram 6 days later:

War Office Telegram to Mrs. Lydia Laura Barker
War Office Telegram to Mrs. Lydia Laura Barker

He is buried in the Saint Nicolas British Cemetery, Arras and commemorated at the Ilford War Memorial Hall.

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2/Lt. George Robert Bernard

George Robert Bernard’s childhood is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. By his own account, he was born on September 5, 1887 at 9 Young Street, Kensington and was the only son of George Arthur Bernard, a Stockbroker, and Madame Felice Bernard and was educated at Emanuel School, Wandsworth. However, there is no independent surviving corroborating evidence of any part of that narrative.

Indeed, George himself was unable to find any such birth record at Somerset House when he searched for it in 1914. But what George did not know is that there is a birth record for George Robert Wallendorff, born on September 5, 1887 at 9 Young Street, Kensingnton to Alexandrine Françoise Wallendorff, a 28 year old dressmaker, previously living in Paris, who signed her name as the anglicized “Fanny Wallendorff”. No father was named on the birth certificate, which was registered six weeks later, and a hand written note implies that the baby was adopted.

George Robert Wallendorff Birth Certificate
George Robert Wallendorff Birth Certificate

Three years later, a court dressmaker called Madame Fanny W. Dubois, the same age as Fanny Wallendorff, was living at the same Kensington address. So, it would appear that George Robert Bernard may have actually been the illegitimate son of Alexandrine Françoise Wallendorff, (who later reinvented herself as Madame Fanny W[allendorff] Dubois), and was adopted shortly after his birth by Madame Felice Bernard.

But whatever the truth surrounding his early life actually is, he was clearly raised as an affluent and well educated young man and from 1911 his story is clear.  By 1911 he was renting a flat in Pimlico and working as a clerk in the pensions department of the Board of Trade, (whose responsibilities later fell to the Ministry of Labour, after it was established by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act of 1916).

In 1914 he was still working at the Board of Trade and was Secretary to the Local Juvenile Advisory Committee, Shoreditch Labour Exchange.  It’s likely that this is how he met and became friends with the Rev. Robert Robertson Hyde, Chaplain at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, City Rd London, and a lifetime advocate for juvenile welfare.

At the outbreak of war, he secured permission from the Board of Trade “to serve with His Majesty’s force for the duration of the war” and subsequently joined the newly formed 18th Service Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, as a Private (3720) on Sept 15, 1914 and underwent basic training at Epsom. The 18th Royal Fusiliers were also known as the 1st Public Schools Battalion, part of the University and Public Schools (UPS) Brigade. Most of the men were educated at public schools and many were subsequently offered commissions. George was quickly singled out for promotion and on November 30, 1914 was appointed temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the 12th Battalion, The Essex Regiment.

All candidates nominated for a temporary commission were required to provide a signed certificate of good moral character for the prior 4 years from “a responsible person”. In George’s case, his friend the Rev. Hyde attested to George’s character indicating that he had known him since 1909. His educational reference was provided by the Oxford educated private Chaplain to Maurice George Carr Glyn J.P. then living at Albury Hall, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. Providing further evidence of George’s privileged and socially well connected upbringing.

He deployed to Gallipoli, and on October 7, 1915 was attached to the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment along with 4 other junior officers from the Essex and South Lancashire Regiments. At this point in the campaign on Cape Helles, the positions of the Allies and the Turks were essentially fixed and well dug in. The primary means of attrition on both sides was through the digging of mine shafts and galleries under the enemy’s lines and exploding large amounts of munitions. Consequently, in mid-August the 8th Army Corps, under the command of Major Henry William Laws, formed a Mining Company with 4 platoons, each with 1 Officer and 2 Mining Squads of 2 NCOs and 24 men. Each Division in the Corps was required to contribute a platoon and the 42nd Division, of which the 9th Manchesters were a part, duly complied. 2/Lt. Bernard became temporarily engaged in the Divisional support of these mining operations and a letter from Capt. Oliver Jepson Sutton to his father relating to events in October, and published in the Ashton Reporter on November 27, 1915, highlighted the dangerous nature of the work:

Yesterday, whilst waiting for dinner, an explosion took place underground. I went off to find out where it was, and after travelling along the trench some way, found a man coming out of a shaft. He was a bit shaky, and said he had heard a man shouting below. I could get no candles or lamps, so I doubled back to the dugout and got the lamp you sent me. Without a light it was no use going down because the mines are complicated, and I had not been in before.

Wandering about below I came across the new sub., Bernard, and in a few moments, we discovered one of the men gassed and unconscious. It was hard work carrying him out, as the roof was very low, but we managed to get him to the shaft, and there he was hoisted out. He came round in a few hours, and is now none the worse for his experience. No damage was done to the mine, but the gas from an explosion 20 yards away was forced through the ground into our mine, and was too much for the man.

Throughout October and November, the demand for more personnel to support the expanding scope of the Mining Company’s offensive activities steadily increased and the 8th Army Corps made a request to GHQ for the addition of subalterns to each platoon in order to bring the operational structure more in line with that of the Tunneling Companies of the Royal Engineers, which had just started operating in Europe. Since the requested subalterns from England were not forthcoming, 2/Lt. Bernard became one of those subalterns already at Gallipoli who was attached to the 8th Army Corps Mining Company. On the evening of November 28, 1915, he was involved in the incident that would eventually see him awarded the Military Cross, on June 3, 1916. In the early morning hours of November 29th, the following signal was sent to 8th Army Corps HQ:

From OC 8th Corp Mining Coy

29 Nov, 1915

Fusilier Bluff borehole exploded under Turkish gallery from which gas was issuing last night. After firing, Lt. McNamara and two miners entered No 2 shaft to investigate and were immediately overcome with gas, presumably the gas produced by explosion of ammonal. Lt. Bernard attempted rescue and was also overcome. Regret to report Lt. McNamara and one miner died. Others have recovered.

Back in England, the 254th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers was formed. They sailed for Gallipoli and arrived at Cape Helles on December 7, 1915 where they quickly absorbed the personnel of the 8th Army Corps Mining Company, Major Laws, DSO assuming command as he was more experienced than the Tunnelling Company CO. A week later, most of the Divisional personnel temporarily attached to the Mining Company were allowed to return to their battalions and 2/Lt. Bernard re-joined the 9th Manchesters. But he had performed his duties with the 8th Army Corps Mining Company admirably and they would not forget him.

2/Lt. Bernard left the Gallipoli peninsular with the 9th Manchesters on December 28, 1915 and went with them to Egypt where he continued to serve until he was granted one month’s home leave to England, embarking at Alexandria on June 18, 1916. Back in England he stayed with his friend the Rev. Robert Robertson Hyde at St Mary’s Clergy House, Provost Street, Hoxton. On July 1st he married Eleanor Bertha Taylor at St. Mary’s Church and Rev. Hyde performed the marriage ceremony. George and Eleanor had a productive honeymoon; their son Geoffrey George Bernard being born 9 months later on April 24, 1917. George also produced a short manuscript, “Extracts from the Letters of a Temporary Tunneller” providing an account of his work with the 8th Army Mining Company and pulled from his letters home to Eleanor from Gallipoli. But before he could return to Egypt, he was seconded to the Royal Engineers by the War Office and attached to the 256th Tunnelling Company which had just been formed, and deployed to France in July.

He sailed to France and joined the 256th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers on August 21, 1916 while they were at Agnez-lès-Duisans, near Arras. Six months later, on February 12, 1917, 2/Lt. Bernard was transferred to the 254th Tunnelling Company, East of Bethune, arriving there on February 18. Seven weeks after arriving, in the early morning hours of April 8, 1917 at 2:15am, 2/Lt. George Robert Bernard was shot by a sniper’s rifle bullet and killed in action while working on wire entanglements on top of Willow Mine dump. He was buried the next day in the Bethune Town Cemetery, along with 6 other ranks of the 254th Tunnelling Company who also lost their lives the previous day when they were buried in a covered approach to Willow Mine that suffered a direct hit by a German Trench Mortar.

The following obituary appeared in the April 16, 1917 edition of the London Times:

Times Obituary, April 16, 1917
Times Obituary, April 16, 1917

2/Lt. Bernard was just 29 years old. Killed in Action two weeks before the birth of his son. 2/Lt. George Robert Bernard, M.C. is commemorated on the Board of Trade War Memorial, the Memorial to the Staff of the Ministry of Labour and at Emanuel School.

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to Emanuel School for their patience and their assistance in uncovering the murky details of George’s birth and (probable) adoption.

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1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment in France 1917-18

March 1917:

On the 4th March, 1917 the 9th Battalion embarked on HMT Arcadian bound for France. They disembarked at Marseilles on 11th March and moved by train to Pont Remy, arriving there on the 14th March. From Pont Remy the 42nd Division was moved to an area ten miles east of Amiens, there the 9th Battalion was issued with rifles and steel helmets. They began training on the tactics of trench warfare, trench digging, route marches were also the order of the day.

Marseille
March 11, 1917: His Majesty’s Transport ARCADIAN arrived at Marseille.
Mâcon
March 12: 09:30 Halte Repas 1 hour MACON.
Les Laumes
March 12: 18:30 Halte Repas 1 hour LES LAUMES.

9th Manchesters France March 1917

1/9th Manchesters France March 1917

Monterau
Mar 13: 04:00 Halte Repas 1 hour MONTEREAU.
Juvisy-sur-Orge
March 13: 11:00 Halte Repas JUVISY, near PARIS.
Pont Remy
Mar 14: 10:30 Arrive PONT REMY.
Doudelainville
March 14: A, B, C & HQ billet in DOUDELAINVILLE (Sq J.6). D Company billet in WARCHEVILLE (Sq J.6). Transport at POULTERE (Sq J.6). Brigade. HQ at LIMERCOURT VALMA (Sq J.6). Men billeted in barns & outhouses.

On the 21st March, 1917 Private ARNOLD PEARSON (351087 formerly 2787) was killed in action. He is commemorated at Pozieres Memorial.

April 1917:

The Battalion moved to Haquaix on 18th April, and on the evening of 22nd April they took over a section of the front line and support line at Epehy; the first time they had been in the front lines since Gallipoli.

Bailleul
April 1: Divine Service, voluntary. Major T. E. HOWORTH proceed to Course of Instruction for Company Commanders at MONTIGNY.
Pont-Remy
April 7: 10:00am. Battalion entrains at PONT REMY station & proceeds to LA FLAQUET (Sq I2) for MORCOURT.
Morcourt
April 7: 5:30pm Battalion billeted in “French” huts. Orderly room in house at MORCOURT.
Feuillères
April 11: MORCOURT. Move to FEUILLERES (Sq H1) by march route in open formation – 100 yards between platoons – via CAPPY and ECLUSIER (Sq J1).

1/9th Manchesters France April 1917

1/9th Manchesters France April 1917

Cartigny
April 17: Battalion moves to CARTIGNY (Sheet 18 Sq A2). Rendezvous 7:30am Cross Roads HERBECOURT. Route HERBECOURT, BIACHES, crossing the SOMME by the FAUBERG de PARIS bridge to PERONNE. After leaving PERONNE the Battalion marched independently to CARTIGNY via DOINGT. Every village devastated accommodation very poor accordingly.
Marquaix
April 18: 9:30am. Battalion, less D Company, move to MARQUAIX.
April 29: Battalion moves [from Epehy] to MARQUAIX & occupies billets vacated on April 20th.
Villers-Faucon
April 20: 11:00am. C Company (Capt. HANDFORTH) & HQ proceed to VILLIERS-FAUCON (E22 28).
Épehy
April 22: EPEHY. Battalion takes over the line from 4th East Lancs Regiment during night 22/23.

April Casualties:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Pte. 351494 WILLIAM NALLY 24-Apr KIA
Pte. 351324 JOHN W JEVONS 25-Apr KIA
Pte. 351625 HARRY LORD 25-Apr KIA
Pte. 352320 SAMUEL LORD 25-Apr KIA
Pte. 350582 HENRY McCLUSKEY 29-Apr KIA
Pte. 350809 JAMES McDONALD 29-Apr KIA
Pte. 351976 ROBERT CAMPBELL 29-Apr KIA
1/9th Manchesters Casualties April 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties April 1917

May 1917:

The Battalion moved to billets in Marquaix; the same ones they had occupied earlier in April. They moved into the front line on May 5th. On the evening of May 6th, 2/Lt Cooke was mortally wounded.  The Battalion went into reserve on the evening of May 9th, moving to Templeux Quarry, and returning to the line again on May 13th. They were relieved on May 17th and marched to billets at Villers Faucon.

On May 19th they moved to Bertincourt, via Equancourt, and went into billets. They moved into the reserve line at Havrincourt Wood on May 21st and spent their time digging and consolidating trenches. Two days after 2/Lt. Cooke died of wounds on May 24th, Pte. Harry Holden was awarded the Military Medal, most likely for carrying him back to safety.

On the evening of May 29, 1917 a patrol composed of Lt. Phillip Sydney Marsden and 3 privates was fired on by the enemy. Lt. Marsden and one of the men were hit, both in the abdomen. The two remaining privates carried back the two wounded men 300 yards under fire and then obtained a stretcher and some assistance. Lt. Marsden died an hour after he was brought in and the private some hours later.

Marquaix
May 1: A Company work on roads near TINCOURT (J24). Remaining Companies training during morning and afternoon. Lt. Col. D. H. WADE invalided home.
May 6/7: Many acts of gallantry performed during the night in bringing in wounded notably by Pte. A. HOLDEN 350077 and 350149 Pte. KINSELLA and others. Lt. C. E. COOKE to hospital wounded.
Templeux-le-Guérard
May 9/10: Battalion relieved by 1/4 East Lancs Regiment & takes over from 1/4 East Lancs in reserve at TEMPLEUX QUARRY (62c F27c).
Villers-Faucon
May 17/18: Battalion relieved by 1/6th D.G. (Carbineers) & marches to billets in VILLERS FAUCON after a hot meal at TEMPLEUX QUARRY.
Équancourt
May 19: 4:50pm Depart VILLERS FAUCON. Arrive EQUANCOURT (57C SE V 10a 3-8). 21 tents and 85 tarpaulins put up by 1/4 East Lancs for the use of 1/9 Manchester Regiment.

1/9th Manchesters France May 1917

1/9th Manchesters France May 1917

Bertincourt
May 20: 4pm Depart EQUANCOURT. Arrive BERTINCOURT (57c SE P.7) and go into billets chiefly ruined buildings made habitable with tarpaulins & repairs done by troops previous to our arrival.
Le Bois d'Havrincourt
May 21/22: 7pm Depart BERTINCOURT. Billets to be taken over by 11th Rifle Brigade. Battalion Relieves 11th Rifle Brigade. in Reserve S. end of HAVRINCOURT WOOD.
Trescault
May 31: TRESCAULT heavily shelled, 7.7s from 1:30am to 2:30am.

May Casualties:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Pte. 350681 JEREMY BARKER 6-May KIA
Sgt. 351175 THOMAS H LEE 6-May DoW
Pte. 350431 WILLIAM HANDLEY 7-May KIA
Pte. 350627 STANLEY PEARSON 7-May KIA
Pte. 350840 HERBERT CHRISTIAN 7-May KIA
L/Cpl. 351697 STANLEY GREEN 7-May KIA
Pte. 352014 JAMES HOWARD 7-May KIA
Pte. 352409 THOMAS HARRISON 7-May KIA
Pte. 350297 JOSEPH GEE 8-May DoW
Pte. 352432 FREDERICK CLARKSON 8-May KIA
Pte. 351648 FRANK SHEPHERD 9-May KIA
Pte. 352238 EDWARD SKIRVIN 9-May DoW
Pte. 351774 THOMAS NORMAN 10-May DoW
Pte. 351372 ROBERT FOSTER 14-May DoW
Pte. 350379 ROBERT AL THOMAS 15-May KIA
Pte. 350298 HERBERT POTTER 29-May KIA
Pte. 350454 TOM FIELDING 30-May DoW
Lt. CHARLES E COOKE 24-May DoW
Lt. PHILLIP S MARSDEN 30-May KiA
1/9th Manchesters Casualties May 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties May 1917

June 1917:

The Battalion was in the line at Havrincourt Wood at the start of the month being relieved on June 5th and moving to Ruyaulcourt. They moved back into the line at Havrincourt Wood from June 12-16, moving to Ytres when relieved. They spent time training at Ytres before returning to the reserve line at Havrincourt Wood on June 21st.

The Battalion remained in the line for the remainder of the month and whilst there all companies were engaged in the digging of firing and communication trenches at night under cover of darkness.

Le Bois d'Havrincourt
May 21/22: 7pm Depart BERTINCOURT. Billets to be taken over by 11th Rifle Brigade. Battalion Relieves 11th Rifle Brigade. in Reserve S. end of HAVRINCOURT WOOD.
Trescault
May 31: TRESCAULT heavily shelled, 7.7s from 1:30am to 2:30am.

1/9th Manchesters France June 1917

1/9th Manchesters France June 1917

Ruyaulcourt
June 5: Battalion relieved by 1/7 Lancs Fusiliers and go into billets at Ruyalcourt.
Ytres
June 16: Relieved by 1/4 East Lancs Regiment. Into billets at YTRES.

June Casualties:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
L/Cpl. 350567 THOMAS ASHCROFT 3-Jun KIA
Cpl. 350351 JOSEPH WILDE 3-Jun KIA
Pte. 352196 WILLIAM RAWSON 20-Jun KIA
Cpl. 350520 ARTHUR SPURRETT 26-Jun KIA
Pte. 351936 ARTHUR HAGGER 30-Jun KIA
1/9th Manchesters Casualties June 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties June 1917

July 1917:

The Battalion went into a reserve area on 9th July, undertaking various training exercises and rest.

July Casualties:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Cpl. 350512 RAYMOND GIBSON 3-Jul KIA
Pte. 351171 ELLIS BOWKER 3-Jul KIA
Pte. 351716 TOM MOSS 3-Jul DoW
Pte. 352313 STANLEY BUCKLEY 3-Jul KIA
Pte. 375895 BERTRAM ATKIN 4-Jul KIA
Pte. 400212 JOHN MURPHY 23-Jul DoW
Pte. 400602 JOHN H MARSH 23-Jul KIA
Pte. 400720 ALFRED A OVERTON 23-Jul DoW
2/Lt. BERTIE FREEDMAN 3-Jul DoW
1/9th Manchesters Casualties July 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties July 1917

August 1917:

On the 22nd August they were entrained, bound for Ypres, and suffered only one death, Private JOSEPH REYNER (350880) who died of wounds on August 30, 1917 and is buried at Ruyaulcourt Military Cemetery.

1/9th Manchesters Casualties Aug 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Aug 1917

September 1917:

In September the 42nd Division took over a sector almost a mile in width, enduring appalling conditions due to bad weather and constant heavy enemy shellfire.

September Casualties:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Pte. 351748 CYRIL J WELFORD 1-Sep KIA
Pte. 352074 WILLIAM BRADBURY 1-Sep KIA
Pte. 352672 HARRY LUNN 2-Sep KIA
Pte. 350646 GEORGE ROBSON 3-Sep KIA
Pte. 352013 MICHAEL ROGAN 5-Sep KIA
Pte. 376856 JOSEPH E SELLERS 6-Sep KIA
Pte. 51426 WILLIAM SINCLAIR 11-Sep KIA
Pte. 34276 SETH WALLEY 12-Sep KIA
Pte. 352239 HERBERT WOOD 12-Sep KIA
Pte. 351685 JOSEPH LINDLEY 13-Sep KIA
Pte. 350290 THOMAS GASKELL 14-Sep KIA
Pte. 35481 JAMES W SMITH 14-Sep KIA
Pte. 51422 GEORGE BELL 14-Sep KIA
Pte. 350993 STANLEY STRUTT 14-Sep KIA
Cpl. 350522 WILLIAM SMITH 15-Sep KIA
Pte. 376681 FRANK DYSON 16-Sep DoW
C.S.M 350051 WILLIAM BIRCHALL 25-Sep DoW
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Sept 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Sept 1917

The 9th battalion left the front line at the end of September and took over the coastal defence at the Nieuport front, under constant shellfire and aerial attack. In December the battalion went into the line near Bethune with the 10th battalion.

During this period the following casualties were recorded:

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Pte. 50293 SIDNEY WATSON 24-Oct KIA
Pte. 351696 JOHN H MOORES 24-Oct KIA
Pte. 351732 WILLIAM BOURNE 24-Oct KIA
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Oct 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Oct 1917
Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname Died Cause
Pte. 351273 WILLIAM LEECH 3-Nov KIA
Pte. 351909 THOMAS BLAZE 3-Nov KIA
Pte. 351224 ELLIS HIBBERT 6-Nov DoW
Pte. 350869 WALTER LEECH 8-Nov DoW
Pte. 350538 THOMAS BUTLER 12-Dec KIA
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Nov 1917
1/9th Manchesters Casualties Nov 1917

1918
The battalion moved to Gorre on the 24th January where trench warfare continued with raids from both sides. In a raid on the 11th February, 1918 the battalion went over the top in a successful action in the sector opposite Festubert, with artillery stopping any German escape or reinforcements.

On the 15th March the battalion was withdrawn to the Busnes/Burbure/Fouquieres area. The army was going through a dramatic reconstruction at this time with brigades being reduced from 4 to 3 battalions. Some 260 officers and men of the 9th joined with the 2/9th while 210 others joined the 1/5th and the 1/6th. Other men were used to supply drafts to under strength battalions, like the 1st Notts & Derby Regiment.

Those left in the battalion remained as a training cadre. In August 1918 they absorbed the 13th Manchesters and were later reconstituted as the 9th battalion. They ended the war in Soire le Chateau near Avesnes.

Note: Much of the original text for 1918 was taken from the www.themanchesters.org and is their copyright.

Commanding Officers
A list of the Battalion’s Commanding Officers in World War One can be found here.

1/9th Manchesters 1914-15

1/9th Manchesters 1916-17

 

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1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment in Egypt 1916-17

The 9th Battalion left Mudros in early January and landed at Alexandria on January 17, 1916. They were taken by train from Alexandria to Cairo and from Cairo Station to Mena Camp by tram. Mena Camp was situated about 10 miles West of the centre of Cairo just on the outskirts of the city and took its name from Mena House, an old hotel located near the Giza pyramids.

Mena House Hotel

Mena House Hotel, Giza

A week later they moved to Tel-el-Kebir which is located about 68 miles north-north-east of Cairo and 25 miles West of Ismailia.

Tel el Kebir

Tel el Kebir

Shortly after, they moved to El Shallufa on the Suez Canal, making camp on the East of the canal.

Cantilever bridge at Shallufa

Cantilever bridge at Shallufa

On February 10th they moved again to El Kabrit, about 20 miles north of Suez where they remained for some time.

Kabrit South Pilot Station

Kabrit South Pilot Station

Mena Camp
The battalion traveled by train from Alexandria to Cairo and then by Tram to Mena Camp by the Giza Pyramids, arriving on January 18, 1916.
Tel-El-Kebir Camp
The battalion traveled from Mena Camp, Cairo to Tel-El-Kabir on January 26, 1916.
El Shallufa
The battalion traveled to El Shallufa on the Suez Canal on January 29, 1916. Crossing the canal the following day.

Battalion Locations January to June 1916

Map: Battalion Locations January to June 1916

El Kabrit
The battalion moved to El Kabrit on February 10, 1916 and spent their time putting the post into defensive order.
Port Suez
On April 1, 1916 the battalion moved from El Kabrit to Suez where they remained until mid June undergoing training with the rest of the 42nd Division.
El Ferdan
On June 20, 1916 the battalion, along with the rest of the 126th Brigade, moved from Suez to El Ferdan.
Bi’r Abū al ‘Urūq
The battalion moved from El Ferdan to Bi’r Abū al ‘Urūq on June 22, 1916 and remained there for a month. During this period, a considerable amount of work on the defences at ABU URUQ, chiefly wiring and the maintenance and improvement of existing trenches. Range marks were placed in front of all works and reserves of food, water, S.A.A. and Bombs in works completed. Night Outposts and Day Observation Posts were maintained and Night Patrols sent out to meet Patrols from 125th Brigade at BALLY BUNION. Mounted Officers went out in turn with Patrols of D.L.O.Y. Parties were marched down to Canal daily for bathing. Bombing instruction was continued. Almost all N.C.O.s and men received elementary training and Platoon teams received more advanced instruction.

January – June was spent rebuilding the Division by the addition of new recruits from England and soldiers rejoining from hospital to replace those lost in Gallipoli and the longest serving Territorials whose time had expired. The battalion was engaged in improving the canal fortifications needed to protect the Southern route across the Sinai from raiding parties (since no large army could cross quickly without first building rail and water supplies).

There were 3 routes across the Sinai; the Northern Route which covered El Arish to B’ir Qatia to El Qantara (known as Kantara to the Allies); the Central Route (which followed the Ismailia to Maghara Road), and the Southern Route. Militarily, each route had a base of operations which were El Qantara, El Ferdan and Shallufa respectively. Since the central and southern routes were impassible to a large force without first building supply lines these two routes were defended by the Allies from small raiding parties through a three tier defence of an outpost approximately 7 miles out from the canal, with a second outpost 3 1/2 miles out and a bridgehead at the canal itself. Much effort was spent consolidating these outposts and linking them together via signals and other communications.

Beginning in January 1916, a new railway was constructed, by the British and Egyptian allied ‘Egyptian Expeditionary Force’ (EEF), from El Qantara to Romani, and was planned to continue eastward through the Sinai to El Arish and Rafa on the border with the Ottoman Empire. A water pipeline and telegraph line were simultaneously constructed along the same route by the Royal Engineers.

April (Suez):

In April the Battalion moved south to Suez and began to engage in divisional training and route marches. On April 26th the Battalion suffered 2 fatalities and several wounded during a training exercise when a bomb exploded accidentally. And the next day a man was accidentally killed when he was shot as another man cleaned his weapon which accidentally discharged.

June (Abū al ‘Urūq):

By the end of June, 17 Officers and around 500 Other Ranks had joined (or rejoined) the Battalion. The Battalion was then effectively back to full strength.

MOVING A WATER-TANK AT EL FERDAN

Moving a Water-Tank at El Ferdan

In late June the Division moved to El Ferdan, and then to Abū al ‘Urūq, to assist with the fortifications of the central route since they were now fully recovered and acclimated to the harsh desert conditions and summer heat. Fortification work and training continued throughout July until the 23rd.

July (El Qantara):

In July, intelligence reports indicated a large Turkish force, led by German Officers, was making its way Westwards from El Arish along the Northern Route. 8th Corp, to which the 42nd Division belonged, was transformed into a Mobile Column and sent to meet this force which was moving towards the Suez Canal.

Kantara

Aerial View of Kantara

On July 25th, the Battalion marched overnight from Abū al ‘Urūq to El Ferdan, so that they could cross the canal, and then the following night made their way to El Qantara (and on to Hill 40), via Al Ballāḩ. Soldiers considered not fit enough for the upcoming difficult desert marches were left at El Qantara. At this point the Battalion was re-equipped to operate as a Mobile Column.

Bi’r Abū al ‘Urūq
The Battalion was based at Abū al ‘Urūq throughout July 1916.
El Ferdan
The battalion marched overnight from Bi’r Abū al ‘Urūq to El Ferdan on July 26, 1916.
Al Ballāḩ
July 26, 1916 the battalion marched from El Ferdan to Al Ballāḩ and rested until late evening.
El Qantara
The battalion passed through El Qantara on its way to defend the Norther Route across the Sinai in August 1916, and returned to El Qantara, before marching to Moascar Camp, in mid February 1917.

Battalion locations July to August 1916

Map: Battalion Locations July to August 1916

El Qantara (Hill 40)
The battalion arrived, by route march, at El Qantara July 27, 1916 and then moved out to Hill 40.
Gilban Station
The battalion marched to Gilban (Gelbana) Station, which was on the newly constructed railway, on August 4, 1916.
Pelusium
August 8, 1916 the Battalion moved by rail to Pellusium where they made camp north of the railway.
Moascar Camp
The Division arrived at El Qantara by train in early February 1917 and then marched to camp at Moascar, just west of Ismalia. They left Moascar Camp for Alexandria by train on March 1, 1917 to sail for France, leaving Egypt on March 4th.

August (Pelusium):

On Aug 4th the Battalion marched to Gilban, which was a station on the newly constructed railway along the Northern Route.

Wrecked Mk IV British tank at Gilban Station

Wrecked Mk IV British tank at Gilban Station

The rest of the Division entrained to Hill 70 from where the 127th Bde marched across the desert to support the Anzacs at the Battle of Romani. The 126th Bde moved to Pelusium by train on August 8th where they were held in Corps reserve.

Railway Station at Pelusium

Railway Station at Pelusium

The Battalion remained at Pelusium for the rest of August engaged in outpost duty, training and route marching.

Romani
The battalion marched to Romani on September 9, 1916 and camped for the night.
Er Rabah
The battalion marched from Romani to Er Rabah on September 10, 1916.
Oghratina / Hod en Negiliat
The battalion marched from Er Rabah to Oghratina on the morning of September 11, 1916 where they took their position on the outpost line. At this time, the reserve was located slightly North at Hod en Negiliat. They remained at Oghratina for about 2 weeks.
B’ir El Abd
The battalion marched to B’ir El Abd on October 25, 1916.
Bîr Salmâna
The battalion marched from B’ir El Abd to Bîr Salmâna (Kilo 60) on November 9, 1916.

Battalion-Locations-August-1916-to-March-1917

Abu Tilûl
The battalion marched from Bîr Salmâna to Abu Tilûl (Kilo 100) on November 10, 1916.
Bi'r al Mazār
The battalion marched from Abu Tilûl to Bi’r al Mazār on November 24, 1916. A steam disinfector was brought to al Mazār station and the battalion was disinfected over the course of 3 days.
Kilo 128
The battalion marched to Kilo 128 on December 20, 1916 and spent the night there but returned to Bi’r al Mazār the following day as the Turks had fled El Arish.
El Arish
The battalion marched to El Arish in mid January 1917 and spent two weeks there before returning to El Qantara by train in early February 1917.

September (Oghratina):

After the allied victory at Romani, defence turned into offence and the railway and water pipes were slowly extended eastwards.  The 42nd Division was pushed out ahead to protect the new construction from raiders who were mainly Bedouin tribesmen allied with the Turks.

Supply Depot near Oghratina

Supply Depot near Oghratina

The Battalion marched to Romani on Sept 9th and then on to Er Rabah the following day and Oghratina, which was considered to be the outpost line, on the 11th. On Sept 21st they moved into reserve at Hod en Negiliat, (a “hod” is a plantation of date palms).

Camel train carrying supplies at Negiliat

Camel train carrying supplies at Negiliat

The Battalion went back into the line at Oghratina on October 2nd and remained there until October 24th during which time they were engaged in training and route marches once again.

October & November (Bîr el-‛Abd):

In October the railway reached Bîr el-‛Abd (30 miles East of Romani) and the Battalion marched there from Oghratina on October 25th. In November it reached Bîr Salmâna and Abu Tilûl before arriving at Al Mazār.

Al Mazār

Al Mazār

The Battalion marched to Kilo 60 (Bîr Salmâna) on November 9th and then on to Kilo 100 (Abu Tilûl) the following day. Two weeks later, the Battalion marched to Al Mazār on November 24th. Here the Battalion spent 3 days being disinfected using a mobile system sent out by rail especially for the troops who had been living under canvas since arriving in Egypt.

December (Al Mazār):

In December an offensive was launched against the Turks at El Arish but by the time the Corps was ready to engage, the Turks had fled. The Battalion marched to Kilo 128 on December 20th in preparation, but were ordered to return to Al Mazār the following day.

1917 (Moascar):

The 42nd Division marched into El Arish in mid January 1917 and spent two weeks there by the sea.

Wadi El Arish

Wadi El Arish

But at the end of January they were ordered back to the Suez Canal in preparation for their imminent deployment to France. The Division arrived at El Qantara by train in early February and then marched to camp at Moascar. They left Moascar for Alexandria by train on March 1st to sail for France on March 4th.

Casualties:

Throughout their time in Egypt, during 1916 and 1917, there was little danger from hostile forces, their main threat being sickness and disease brought on by unsanitary conditions and the harsh summer climate of the Sinai desert.

Rank No. 1st Name MI Surname When How
Pte. 2088 WILLIAM H COOKE1 19-Jan Died
Pte. 1744 ANTHONY SHERIDAN 25-Feb Sickness
Pte. 3260 JAMES W MANSFIELD1 7-Apr Sickness
Pte. 2327 THOMAS SMITH 26-Apr Bomb
Pte. 3244 ERNEST CHADDERTON 26-Apr Bomb
Pte. 3483 JOHN HEGGINBOTTOM 27-Apr Shot
Pte. 3029 TOM A CARR 2-May Died
Pte. 2341 PERCY NICHOLSON 13-May Died
Pte. 3987 HARRY H KERRICK 28-Oct Sickness

Note 1: These men died and were buried in the UK (St. Paul’s Church Stalybridge and Dukinfield Cemetery respectively) and so it is highly unlikely that they served in Egypt in 1916.

On March 4, 1917, the same day that the Battalion embarked for France, the final Egyptian casualty, Private JAMES KERR (1984), died of pneumonia in Hospital in Ismailia.  He was buried at the Ismailia War Memorial Cemetery.

Honors:

During 1916 several Officers and men were officially recognized for their long exemplary service and for individual acts of bravery in Gallipoli as prior recommendations worked their way through the honours process.

On January 28, 1916 the following men of the 1/9th Manchester Regiment were mentioned in despatches for their part in the Battle of Krithia Vineyard.

Second Lieutenant (temporary Captain) O. J. Sutton
Lieutenant W. T. Forshaw, V.C.
Second Lieutenant C. E. Cooke.
No. 180 Sergeant S. Bayley.
No. 2103 Corporal T. Pickford.
No. 2148 Lance-Corporal S. Pearson.
No. 1294 Private F. Chevalier.
No. 1160 Drummer H. Broadhurst.

In February, information was received that Capt. O. J. SUTTON and 2/Lieut. E. COOKE had each been awarded the Military Cross, and L/Cpl. PEARSON and Cpl. PICKFORD the D.C.M.

In August the Battalion received orders which in part contained the following entries:

Qtr. Mr. & Hon Major CONNERY                – awarded Military Cross
No 1792               L/Cpl. DAVIES A.               – awarded D.C.M.
No 1623               Sgt. GREENHALGH J.     – awarded D.C.M.
No 1083               Pte. LITTLEFORD S.       – awarded D.C.M.

1792 L/Cpl. A. DAVIES, DCM
For conspicuous gallantry when covering a retirement under a very heavy fire at a few yards range. [Gazetted June 21, 1916 for the actions of December 19, 1915]

1623 Sgt. JAMES GREENHALGH, DCM
For conspicuous gallantry when covering a retirement under a very heavy fire at a few yards range. [Gazetted June 21, 1916 for the actions of December 19, 1915]

1083 Pte. SAMUEL LITTLEFORD, DCM
For conspicuous gallantry in flinging a lighted bomb over the parapet, and thus probably saving many casualties. He was himself wounded in the arm by the explosion. [Gazetted June 21, 1916]

Desert Glossary:

Sabkha:                A salt flat with a thin crust and very muddy underneath.

Hod:                      A planting of palm trees, a palm grove.

B’ir:                        A well from which water can be pumped to the surface.

Kathīb:                 A large sand dune or other elevation less than 300m.

 

1/9th Manchesters 1914-15

1/9th Manchesters 1917-18