ardCover Image of 17th Battalion Officers in front of Heaton Hall in April 1915
The network of connections between officers in 17th Battalion has always created intrigue. Masters and pupils from Merchiston Castle fkrSchool in Edinburgh formed a large contingent of the Battalion’s Officers. St Bees School Cumberland provided another group and there with other connections with Cheshire Rugby Club, Queens College, Oxford and varied Manchester organisations.
I hope this site contributions to the understanding of the men who enlisted in the Pals recruitment drive of autumn 1914. The research them on this page addresses the undoubted “Pals” connection that also applied to the Officers who commanded the clerks and warehouseman in the Manchester City Battalions. This page will take some time to complete, so please bear with me and don’t hesitate to add a comment if you have any thoughts at all. The snippets of information and fantastic photos that have been gleaned over the years are a shared resource that makes this site so rewarding.
Biographies have being compiled or linked to help compile a picture of the overlapping connections between the men. The date of birth of these Officers is provided with the rank and unit on 1st July 1916, when most of them first went over the top. The Rank is provided at the time when men arrived with the Battalion for later reinforcements. The names of the men who died in hostilities are highlighted bold.
A
Capt/Maj James Kenneth Aitken 17th Bttn (1863) Comm Capt 8/11/1914. Maj 07/09/1915 effective 1/1/1915. Major Training Reserve 01/09/1916. Attd to Regiment from TR 30/04/1917. Gen List 21/07/1917. Retired officer of Suffolk VB(2/Lt 1881). Overseas with /Gen List – not 17th. Relinquished Staff post 10/06/1919./
2nd Lt A S Anderson Joined 19th Bttn 31/8/1917 as 2/Lt. Trench raid 1/11/1917. Hospital 15/12/1917-6/1/1918, Hospital 6/2/1918 & transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918 while in Hospital. Struck off strength 29/5/1918.
2nd Lt Norman Ashness Arnold (b Old Trafford 4/10/1882) 191 resident Ormskirk and Member of Manchester Stock Exchange. Joined as Pte 9637 Inns of Court OTC 25/9/1916. Trained in 1 Pln & No 14 OCB from 27/12/1916. Comm as Officer Cadet 26/4/1917. Re-joined 19th Bttn from Leave 23/10/1917 and took command of D Coy. Returned from Corps School 17/12/1917. Leave 12/1/1918. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Wounded 28/3/1918. Later Capt. Resident 32 Haworth Buildings, Cross St. in 196 & 1931. Surgeon trained at Guys Hosp and Manchester University 1927.
B
2nd Lt Charles James Backhouse (b Ambleside Q4 1893?) Served as Sgt 19973 in 1/Border Regiment. Balkans 8/12/1915. Comm 3/London Reg 29/5/1917. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Transfer to MGC in UK & struck off strength 17/3/1918. Later Lt & Capt in 16/MGC. S. John St Liverpool in 1921.
Chaplain Robert Wilfred Balleine 90th Bgd (1881) Pembroke College, Oxford (Maths). Chaplain to Bishop of Manchester.
2nd Lt Herbert James Bankes Born Liverpool 30 May 1890. Father was Solicitor. Boarding School in Blackpool 1901. Resident Masham 1911. Comm 22/11/1916. Joined 17th Bttn 3/5/1917. Evacuated to England and struck off strength 22/6/1917.
2nd Lt George Robert Barnes Served overseas Spr 1683 & 534328 648 Fd Coy RE Posted to 3rd Bttn when Commissioned 29/8/1917 from Officer Cadet from E Coy No 2 Officers Cadet Bttn, Cambridge. Granted leave 1/9/1917-19/9/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 16/10/1917. Admitted Hosp 3/5/1918. Struck off strength 29/5/1918. Pension as 3rd Bttn.
2nd Lt John Roy Bayley Born Stockport Q3 1891. Comm in 25th Bttn from Pte 4687 Cadet in Artists Rifles 3/6/1916. Arrival 17th Bttn unknown. 19/4/1917 proceeded to Engineers Training Course in Newark 29/4/1917. MIC solely mentions RE Service. Engineers Apprentice resident Heaton Mersey 1911.
Lt Kenneth Alfred Bowles was absent for the photos taken at Heaton Park in April 1915. It is possible this is the man of the same name who served overseas with the Machine Gun Corps, wounded in Nov 1916 & April 1917 and retired due to ill health. He had been a bank clerk resident in London. Union Bank rowing club 1912
2nd Lt John Broadbent Officer Cadet commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in Territorial Force 25th October 1916. Arrived with 17th Bttn on 13th January 1917. 2nd Lt D Coy Heninel, Wounded 23/4/1917. After the War he lived at Ashton under Lyne.
2nd Lt Arthur Horace Mortimer Brown, born and educated in London. A former articled clerk and Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) working with J. Edwards Myers & Clark in London. Inns of Court OTC Pte 4362 on 21/6/1915. traine 4 & 1 Plns. Comm 18 or 27/10/1915. France 21/4/1916. Joined Bttn 26/4/1916. KiA 9/7/1916.
2nd Lt Frederick William Brown Served in France as Pte with 20th (UPS) Royal Fusils, 4416, from 14/11/1915 to 02/12/1916. Commissioned E Lancs 29/05/1917. Arrival unknown. Relinquished commission and struck off strength 13/12/1917. SWB entitlement 25/1/1918. 21 Albany Road, Victoria Park, Manchester.
Capt Macdonald Warriner Brown 17th Bttn Born Penarth 1890, Educated Cirencester Grammar. Uni London. Master North Manchester School from 1910. Resident Lytham. Public Schools Bttn 11/1914. Comm 12/5/1915. France 1/12/1915. Promoted Lieut 01/01/1916 & posted Adjt of 30th Div Grenade School. Returned to Bttn after School broken up and promoted to Capt 2/7/1916. Rejoined the Bttn for duty 17/9/1916. KIA Flers 12/10/1916 as OC C Coy. Credit Manchester Grammar Archive – Captain Macdonald Warriner Brown, a Master at North Manchester School, was killed in action in France on October 12th. He joined the staff of the School in 1910, and remained at his post till November, 1914, when he joined the Public Schools Battalion. In the following year he was granted a commission
in the 17th Manchesters, and after further training was sent to France. Very soon his worth as an Officer was recognised. Both from his superior Officers and from men invalided home strong testimony was repeatedly borne to his sterling, manly
qualities. For a time he was grenade instructor, and only a fortnight before he fell he was made Captain. Quite recently Colonel Johnson, commanding his regiment, remarked to another officer how splendidly Brown was doing, and how it was a
certainty that he would get speedy promotion and honour. And another wrote of him as being ” so capable in every way, and just the type of man we want.” To those who knew Mr. Brown his success in his new career came as no surprise, for he was
intensely whole-hearted as well as capable. As a Master he gained not only the high esteem, but the devotion of his boys at North Manchester. He taught them to ” play the game ” in every department. Loyalty to the School, loyalty to Gaskell House, which had already gained the highest laurels under the care of a former House Master, he fostered most keenly, but always most generously. In House matches, in the Hugh
Oldham Lads’ Club collection, his boys always forged ahead, and one knew his influence was at work, and that it was of the rightsort. In School, too, he knew how to get at the shirker, in his happy, yet effective way. But perhaps in two other directions
his personality will remain even more prominently fixed in the minds and hearts of his boys—in the keenness of his love of nature, and in his splendid sportsmanship on the Playing Field. Who that heard him talk to the Natural History Society on the
birds of the Fens, or of the Cheshire meres, will ever forget him? He was just at his best then, and would give, from his copious and wonderfully accurate stores of knowledge, fascinating stories connected with the pursuit of his favourite hobby. Again, on the field, to see him coach small boys unwearyingly evening after evening, you would perhaps hardly have suspectedhis brill iance as a cricketer, till at the end of a practice he would
have a few minutes’ batting and show the boys how it should bedon e. He was the hero of the School victories over the Parents in the annual match—one year by his fine batting, the next by his bowling and by the wonderful catches he made. Sorely is he
missed at North, for which he did so much, and always with sucha fi ne spirit. The memory of his generous, sunny nature and of the healthy influence he exerted among all who worked with him, will long be treasured. To many still at the Big School, to
others who have already passed through it, the thought that they had M. W. Brown as their House or Form Master will be a fragrant remembrance for years to come. He was their hero, the ” preux chevalier—sans peur et sans reproche.”
2nd Lt Donald Harlow Budenberg 17th Bttn (13/7/1896) Resident Marple. Clifton College. Manchester University & OTC & 25/6/1915 Trinity College, Cambridge & OTC. Officer Cadet from 29/6/1916 and commissioned in 4th Special Reserve Bttn 25/3/1916. France January 1917. Joined the 17th Bttn (att from 4th) 23/1/1917. B Coy 2nd Lt 23/4/1917 Heninel. HQ Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Wounded at duty 20/4/1918. KiA “While valliantly leading the counter-attack” at Lock 8 25/4/1918 as part of composite C & D Coys. Father was member of Manchester Reform Club. Photo Cartman
2nd Lt Norman Butterworth 5th Bttn att 17th Bttn (Q2 1892) Born Holmfirth, Yorks. Apprentice Woolen Manuf. 1911 in his father’s woolen mill. Enlisted S Lancs Sept 1914. Must have transferred to OCB. Comm 31/12/1915. Arrived 17th Bttn 27/10/1916. Att to RFC and struck of strength 28/2/1917. 2Lt Norman Butterworth (formerly South Lancashire Regiment) was flying as observer in Sopwith 1½ Strutter A8174 of No 70 Sqn RFC when he was killed in action on 9 May 1917 (Airmen Died) or 10 May (The Sky Their Battlefield) while on a reconnaissance mission. His pilot, Capt R S Lucy, was wounded (AD) or uninjured (TSTB) when the Strutter was forced to land near Morlancourt. DoW 9/5/1917 9th CCS att from 5th Bttn. Son of Alfred H. and Alice A. Butterworth, of Park Riding, Holmfirth, Huddersfield. Grave Ref. II. G. 16. BAGNEUX BRITISH CEMETERY, GEZAINCOURT, Somme, France. Holy Trinity and Holme Valley Memorials in Holmfirth, Yorkshire.
C
2nd Lt Kenneth Henry Callan-Macardle 14th att 17th Bttn (1890) Irish born. Educated in Catholic Schools in Lancashire and Somerset. Banker in California prior to War. Comm 14th Bttn 6/4/1915. KiA 9/7/1916.
2nd Lt Robert Mayson Calvert 17th Bttn (1/3/1896) St Bees Old Boy, Queens College, Oxford. Comm 8/4/1915. Joined Bttn 12/3/1916. KiA 9/7/1916.
Lt Alastair Gregory Cameron 17th Bttn (10/4/1889) Merchiston Old Boy employed in a Liverpool shipping office. Commissioned 2nd Lt 25/2/1915. 2nd Lt B Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Wounded 10/2/1916. Struck of Bttn establishment 12/2/1917.
2nd Lt Sydney W Cannon (b Cambridge 8/1/1892) School Master in Cambridge and Chiswick 1901/11. Cadet commissioned in the Regiment 29/8/1917. Joined D Coy of 19th Bttn from 30th IBD 16/10/1917. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Captured C Coy 26/4/1918. Held Mainz with others. Exonerated Officers List. Address in 1918 15 Strand on Green, Chiswick, London
2nd Lt Alfred Coldrick Carter b London 6/1/1896. Enlisted 16th Bttn London Regiment. Pte 2451. France 24/1/1915-31/7/1915. Comm Manchesters 16/11/1915. Scout Officer April 1916. Rejoined 17th Bttn from Base 27/2/1917. Date of original joining isn’t seen and may be 7th November (RAF date) or July 1916. Lt 01/07/1917. A Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Wounded in action & struck off strength 20/9/1917. Transferred to Indian Officers Reserve Army on MIC and RAF 22/9/1918. 1 S of A. Family in Brixton Hill, London.
2nd Lt Thomas Cartman (17th Bttn) (Q2 1893) Attended Bury Grammar School & OTC in 1912. Employed in Foundary Mill, Radcliffe. Enlisted as Pte in 16th Bttn on 1st Sept 1914. Transferred to Inns of Court OTC 3/8/1915. The Inns of Court OTC Record says Tom Cartman was Pte 5364 in 6 Pln, then 5 Pln. He joined 4/8/1915 and discharged to commission with Manchesters 15/1/1916. Served in France achieveing rank of Captain and wounded twice. MC. Address 109 Bury and Bolton Rd, Radcliffe.Comm November 1915. Bombing Officer 25th Bttn where he trained at Altcar in January 1916. Posted to 17th Bttn 30/7/1916. Unwounded at Flers 12/10/1916. Promoted T/Capt in command of a Company 15/11/1916. Gun shot Wound in left thigh & MC as OC B Coy at Heninel 21st March 1917. Treated at No 10 Red Cross Le Treport Hosp, Le Touquet. Transfer to Base Depot Etaples 10/6/1917. Capt (29/06/1917). Received MC from King George V at Buckingham Palace in July 1917. Returned to duty 11/9/1917. Att to DW Recreation?. Attended Army School, Senior Officers Course at Auxi-le-Chateau 1917. Returned to 17th Bttn as OC B Coy 10/4/1918. Composite Coy att HQ 16th Bttn with 2nd Yorks 29/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops 26/5/1918. Transferred to 13th Bttn when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918. Posted 224 POW Company Baixieu. 5′ 7 1/2 ” blue eyes, black hair. Pension at Beech House, 59 Eccles Old Road, Pendleton.
2nd Lt Frank Cartwright PHOTO (b11/9/1890 Old Trafford) Hulme Grammar School. Insurance Clerk. Former Sgt 4602 in 20th Public Schools Bttn Royal Fusiliers. France 14/11/1915. Home Dec 1917. Commissioned Manchesters 31/7/1917. Trench Raid 1/11/1917. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Missing assumed KiA 22/3/1918. Father W H Cartwright 28 Darley Road, Whalley Range 1921. Was 6, Kensington Gardens, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire.
Major Frank Casswell (Born Pointon, Lincs 14/4/1863) Enlisted 7/Dragoon Guards 24/4/1883 with previous service in the 4th Royal Lancs Militia. Tall Sgt 03/07/1888. Home & India. 5’10”. Commissoned 2/Lt 07/12/1892 in India. Assisitant Adjt 01/10/1893. Married Constance May Begley at Kersley in 1897. She lived in Kersal in 1900. Capt 25/02/1900. Boer War Officer of Notts & Derbys Regiment as Coy Commander 10/Mounted Infantry. MiD 10/09/1901. Retired as Capt 03/09/1904. Long Service KSA & QSA Medals. Master of Crumpsall Workhouse in 1904-11+. Three sons. Comm T/Maj 23/10/1914. Relinquished rank 10/9/1915 and retired as Capt with SWB 12/10/1916. Did not go to France with Bttn in November 1915. Retired to Malvern.
2nd Lt John Hanchett Chadwick born Wilmslow Q3 1897. Father – Fruit & Spice Merchant. Commissioned in 6th Bttn 14th June 1915. France September 1916. Arrived with Bttn 27/10/1916. Later promoted Captain commanding a Company 12/11/1916, wounded OC D Coy Heninel 23/4/1917, attended by RSM Coates. Returned to duty 11/9/1917 and absorbed in 17th from 6th Bttn 22/9/1917. A/Capt in Command of Coy d/22/9/1917. Transfer to UK for tour of duty & struck off strength15/3/1917. Photo Cartman x 2. Retired as 5th Bttn att 3rd.
2nd Lt Reginald Cecil Chapman Born Croydon 23/5/1892. Estate Agents Clerk in 1911. France 25/8/1916. Joined 17th 3/5/1917. Posted to 914 Area Supply Coy 29/10/1917. Comm date ? Resident W Croydon in 1922
2nd Lt Frederick Ernest Clayton Born Liverpool Q2 1890. Resident Formby in 1911 employed as railway passenger clerk. Enlisted 7198 Inns of Court OTC 4/11/1915 6th & 1st Plns. Officer Cadet Comm 5/9/1916 with Holmes, Orritt, Palmer, Cole, Longworth & Woodward. Arrived 17th Bttn from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916 with these men. Sick & later struck off strength 3/5/1917. Admitted Queen Alexandra’s Hosp, Millbank. Discharged to Park Street, 23/6/1917. Retired SWB 17/12/1917.
2nd Lt John Lambert Clayton (b Aintree 1897?) Was 2092 in 1/5th KLR. France 21/2/15. Commissioned 2/4/15. 20th Bttn Depot Coy in April 1915 Joined 17th Bttn 3/5/1917. Lt 01/07/1917 in HQ Coy. Ypres 31/7/1917. A/Capt 5/10/1917. Wounded & PoW 22/3/1918. Repatriated 1/12/1918. Retired as Capt. Photo T Cartman x2. Attended Merchant Taylors School Crosby.
2nd Lt Thomas Henry Clesham 17th Bttn. Portora School, Ireland. Trinity Coll, Dublin. Worked in S Africa and served in Natal Light Horse. Comm 17th Bttn 20/7/1915. Joined Bttn 9/5/1916. KiA 1/7/1916.
2nd Lt William Alvared Roe Clifton Born Q3 1878. Joined Bttn 22/5/1917. 2nd Lt with Hereford Regiment 19/5/1915. Transferred to 30th IBD and struck off strength as unfit 18/8/1917. SWB 6/2/1918 Eastbourne.
RSM Henry Coates left Bttn for Officer Cadets Bttn 21/6/1917.
2nd Lt Benjamin Remington Cobley b Manchester 19/12/1897. Resident Harpurhey with father who was Mill Furniture Manuf.. Cadet Comm Regiment 22/11/1916. France 10th January 1917. Joined 17th Bttn 3/5/1917. In charge Bgd Dump 31/7/1917. Rejoined from II Corps Signal School 4/6/1918 and proceeded to Base 5/6/1918. Awarded MC Attached to 2nd Bttn 30/7/1919 and Bar 15/2/1930.
2nd Lt Harry James Cole Born 1888. Enlisted @ Sept 1914 and as L/Cpl 2143 in 1/4th Seaforth Highlanders overseas from 7/11/1914, then 6794 Inns of Court OTC 13/10/1915 6th & 5th Plns. 11 OCB. Officer Cadet Commissioned 5/9/1916 with W G Woodward, Longworth & F E Clayton. Wounded in Reserve 23/4/1917. Later Capt KAR. Penn Cottage, Queens Road, Uxbridge. Planter in Africa after war. Pension for GSW R Forearm.
Major William Harold Colley 6/11/1917 transferred from 2nd Bttn Yorks to be 17th Bttn 2iC. A/CO 1 month from 1/12/1917. 2iC d/31/12/1917. Returned to 2nd Yorks 15/1/1918.
Capt Henry Rodham Cook (3/9/1883) Formerly 30544 RAMC 29/04/1914. Sgt 20/02/1915. Commissioned 16th 18/06/1915, 25th 22nd Bttn Shell Shock Fricourt 29/06/1916 & 71st TR – A/Capt. Merchiston Old Boy resident Altrincham. Joined 22nd Bttn for duty from 30th IBD on 1/5/1916. With J Nanson. KIA 7/9/1917 attd 12th Bn as 2.Lt Intelligence Officer. Forestery Assistant in Bombay prior to hostilities.
Lt John Cookson transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918.Had taken part in bombing attack with 19th Bttn on 9/4/1917. Still with Bttn on 27/4/1917. Returned from Leave and took command of B Coy, 14/10/1917. Relinquished command 14/11/1917. Transfer Home for tour of duty and struck off strength 17/2/1918. Probably not Pte John Cookson 1/6th Bttn. Gallipoli 6/5/1915. MIC says 1/7th Bttn Lt. and refers to 127th Bgd. Urmston 1923.
2nd Lieutenant John Francis Cottrell (17th Bttn) Born Pottiger, Ireland 19/10/1893. Moved to S London and went to Hitherfield Road School, Lambeth from 1907. Employed as insurance clerk in 1911. Embarked for France as L/Cpl with 1/16th (Territorial) London Regiment, the Queen’s Westminster Rifles on 1/11/1914. Discharged to be Officer Cadet 28th May 1915. Commissioned 17th Battalion 3rd July 1915. 2nd Lt B Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Accidentally shot by his own men on 22nd February 1916. Married in Balham on 7th December 1917 and returned to duty with C Coy 25th December. Wounded in Command of B Coy 22/3/1918. Received MC WD April 1918 – prob action 26/4/1918. Capt wef 28/1/1918. Pension for GSW R Knee & Otitis Media. Elmhurst, Blundellands, Nr Blackpool.
D
2nd Lt George Frederick Vaughan Dalley Born Leeds Q1 1878. Formerly 6822 in W Yorks Regiment 1900. Verger Manchester Cathedral resident Moss Side in 1911. Enlisted 9050 in 17th Bttn France 8/11/1915. RQMS assumed duties of Comm Rank 9/3/1917. Hon Lt 18/6/1917. Rejoined Bttn from Hosp 7/11/1917. Composite Coy att HQ 16th Bttn with 2nd Yorks 29/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops as Lt QM26/5/1918. Transferred to Base when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918. Photo – Cartman SBook.
2nd Lt C Davies MM transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Arrived 19th Bttn as 2/Lt 31/8/1917. Leace 30/12/1917. Transferred to MGC Grantham 15/2/1918. May be Charles Davies 11784 Pte in 19th Bttn Sgt 10336 MGC France 7/11/1915. 2/Lt & Lt MGC Comm 29/9/1917. Mother MA Davies 472 Manchester Road, Heaton Chapel.
2nd Lt William Harrington Hulton Dawson (22/3/1894) Queens College, Oxford 1912-1914. Comm. 22/09/1914. Did not go to France with Bttn in November 1915. Probably transferred 25th Bttn and joined 17th Bttn in June 1916. Wounded Flers. Comm 22/9/1914. Promoted Lt 3/7/1916. MC Flers. Struck off strength 5/4/1917. Indian Army Lt 9/2/1918.
2nd Lt Brian Broadbent Dowling Born Alderley Edge, Cheshire Q4 1896 Educated at Repton School. Commissioned 17th Bttn 11/1/1915 . Under age to leave with Bttn Nov 1915. France 15/7/1916. Later 12th Bttn and ADRIC and Sqd Ldr in WWII.
Lt John Duncan. Cpl to be 2nd Lt 14/10/915. Comm 7th Bttn. France14/10/1916. att 17th Bttn 27/10/1916. Later Capt. Adjutant effective 2/2/1917 (WD 22/8/1917). HQ Adjt 23/4/1917 Heninel. Absorbed in 17th Bttn from 7th 22/9/1917 as T/Lt. Leave in UK 24/2/1918. Took Command 27-31/3/1918 when JJW Hosp & Keefe KiA. To Hosp sick 16/4/1918. Returned to duty 28/4/1918. MiD May 1918. T/Capt WEF 28/1/1918. Resident Stoke on Trent in 1921. Photo – Cartman
2nd Lt Frank Dunn 12273 36th T Res Bttn. Posted to 3rd Bttn when Commissioned 29/8/1917 from Officer Cadet from E Coy No 2 Officers Cadet Bttn, Cambridge. Granted leave 1/9/1917-19/9/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 16/10/1917. Transf 21st Bttn 12/11/1917. Return unknown. Resident Birmingham
2nd Lt George Dunscombe 17th Bttn Born Manchester (06.03.1893) Worked as a railway booking clerk, resident Newton Heath, Manchester. Lancashire Parents. Enlisted 15657 in 6th Bttn Royal Irish Fusiliers appointed L/Cpl. Disembarked Gallipoli 7/8/1915. Promoted Sgt and transferred to 1st Bttn. Comm Regular Forces 27/6/1917. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 8/11/1917. PoW 22/3/1918.Died Graudetz in Germany from influenza 6/11/1918. 29 Richmond St, Newton Heath.
E
2nd Lt Elwell, Ernest Edward Depot late 17th Born Walsall 7/11/1891. Educated Bilton Grange, Rugby and Gresham School 1906-09. Owned tool manufacturers. Enlisted in Public Schools Battalion and volunteered as Despatch Rider in Royal Engineers, going to France on 28th October 1914. He returned home sick and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 1st March 1915. OC XI Pln April 1915. He will have known Lt Edward Lawrence Heyworth. Ernest went overseas as 2nd Lt in C Coy in November 1915 and returned home with sickness in Spring 1916. Transfer to Training Reserve 01/09/1916. He returned to France in 1917 attached to 21st Battalion. He was killed at Passchendaele on 6th October 1917.
Capt Wilfrith Elstob 6th then 16th Bttn (8/9/1888) Ryleys School & Bluecoat. Manchester University, Merchiston Master. Father lived in Cheshire.
Lt Thomas Etchells Town Clerks Dept Manchester Corporation. Comm 6/10/1914. Recruiting Officer formed E Company in February 1915. OC XVII Pln then Capt in 22nd 22/04/1915 and Brigade Depot. Became Lt Col Royal Fusiliers MC Lived in London after war.
F
2nd Lt Arthur Vernon Faux PHOTO 17th Bttn Born London Q2 1897 and school in Southport. Enlisted 6518 in 6th & 5th Coys Inns of Court OTC on 30/9/1915 with brother. 37 Balfour Road, Southport. Commissioned Manchesters 2nd June 1916 with W T Jones and WJC Faux. France @ 15/7/1916. Att 19th Bttn 11/8/1916 with W T Jones & Shapland. wounded at Flers 12/10/1916. Wounded as OC A Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. A/Capt 20/9/1917. Lt 02/12/1917. Later attached R W Surrey R.
2nd Lt William James Christopher Faux 17th Born Surrey 31/8/1889. Sold Advertising for W H Smiths on Railways 1911. Enlisted 6519 in Inns of Court OTC (6th & 5th Coys) with brother on 30/9/1915. Commissioned Manchesters 2nd June 1916 with W T Jones and A V Faux. France 15/7/1916. Capt 20/02/1917. Wounded and later emp with Ministry of Labour. Capt. Resident Southport in 1920. Address as 9 Cumberland Rd, Southport.
Capt Edmund Fearenside 17th Bttn (2/6/1881) Queens College, Oxford 1900, Cheshire Rugby, Merchiston Master. Capt A/Brigade Major of 90th Bgd 27/3/1916. Captain / Adjutant for 21st Brigade Major issuing orders to 19th Bttn on 15th-23 June 1916. A different Staff Capt signed orders on 13th and 25th June. No record of presence at Montauban or Trones Wood. In Command of A Coy at Guillemont. Proceeded to England to Commanding Officers Course on 10 or 13/10/1916. Not present at Flers. Struck off strength 5/11/1916. He returned to the Bttn on 9/1/1917 and took over command of A Company. Appointed 2nd in Command 30/1/1917. T/CO 11/2/1917 when Lt Col Whitehead on Leave. Wounded list reported 29/3/1917. Rejoined Bttn 18/4/1917. T/Major 27/4/1917. Awarded DSO 3/6/1917. 2iC 18/6/1917. Lt Col Granted extension of sick leave & struck off strength 16/9/1917 with Major F CO. T/Lt Col 10/9/1917. Months leave in England 30/11/1917. Returned as CO 31/12/1917. 2iC when J J Whitehead returned as CO 6/1/1918. T/CO 10-13/2/1918 in absence of JJW. 14/2/1918 att 30th Div wing XVIII Corps reinforcement camp where he was apppointed CO 17/2/1918 and struck off strength of 17th Bttn. Rejoined 17th Bttn as CO 10/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops of 2/140 & 3/140 Infantry Regiments of US National Guard 26/5/1918. US Troops left Guerville & La Haie 6/6/1918. 2/132 Infantry Regiment of USNG arrived Guerville. 1/132 Regiment to La Haie. Sub-Cadre at La Haie relieved 15/6/1918. Joined by 3/132 Regiment under Major Pomfret. Affiliated to 123rd MG Batt US at Pont Remy 28/6/1918. 3-17th July 1918. Vaucourt-Bussus affiliated to 3/129th USNG. Leave in Paris 2-12/7/1918. Transferred to Base when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918. CO 14th S Lancs at Stalham, Norfolk on 18/3/1919 (9005 Blundell SR)
2nd Lt Peter Fenton Commissioned on same date as Philip Ward 26/4/1917. Arrived with 17th Bttn with P Ward 16/6/1917. Possibly from Officer Training Battalion No.7 at Fermoy, County Cork with P Ward. Unidentified from other records as no address on MIC.
Capt Reginald James Ford 17th Bttn (05/05/1888) New College School, Oxford. Queens College, Oxford 1906, St Bees Master and OTC Officer, 2/Lt 11/02/1911. Capt 25th Bttn 9th October 1915. Capt 2iC B Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. KiA 1-2/7/1916.
Major Nowell Barnard de Lancey Forth MC DSO (22/12/1879) took Command of 17th Bttn on 7/1/1917, having arrived in France in December 1916 and holding the rank of Major in 1915. Subsequently left for England 23/1/1917 for att to 3rd Camel Corps and Essex Regiment.
He had been born in Australia and served as Sgt in Queensland Imperial Bushmen in S Africa before commission, Lt in the Regiment in 1900/01, joining the Egyptian Army in 1907 and serving in Camel Corps. Manchesters Capt in 1912. Died in Egypt 1933.
2nd Lt Henry George Frith 17th Bttn Born Dukinfield 27/2/1889. Lived in Bowdon in 1891. Architects Clerk resident Hale, Cheshire in 1911. Weslyan. Enlisted No 1945 in 23rd (Sportsmans) Bttn Royal Fusiliers. France 16/11/1915. Comm 25/4/1917. Joined Bttn 17/6/1917. KiA with A Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Henry is commemorated on the Metro Vickers War Memorial in Trafford Park, indicating he probably worked there.
2nd Lt Clement Gadsby to be 17th Bttn Born Loughborough 20/5/1880. Chartered Accountant with Wentworth Price & Gadsby resident Cardiff in 1911. Applied for Commission in Welsh R Artill 2/2/1915. Comm 4th Bttn (Ex OTC) 7/5/1915. France 21/6/1916. Went to Clarques with Trench Mortar School 14/8/1916. Resigned SWB May 29/5/1918.
2nd Lt James Gauntlett PHOTO (B Ordsall 4/1/1887) Textile draughtsman 1911. Father railway engine driver. Enlisted in RGA 6/11/1914. Disch Comm 26/5/1915. France 21/5/1917. Joined 17th Bttn Manchester R and taken on strength 31/8/1917. Address in Salford then W Ealing in 1921.
2nd Lt Frederick Gilliat (b Candlesbury, Lincs 16/5/1889) Student resident Stockport in 1911. Manchester Uni from 1909. Teacher in Cheshire 1920. Comm 14th Bttn. Poss 11/6/1915? Lt 01/07/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 19/12/1917. Transferred to UK sick 5/4/1918. 2nd Lieutenant Gilliat’s initial F. is specified in the Brigade Casualty List for Montauban. It is thought this is Frederick Gilliat who is mentioned in the Manchester University Roll of Honour as serving with 14th Battalion and a former member of the O.T.C. Frederick was born in Lincolnshire and was a 21 year old student living in Stockport with his parents and sisters in 1911. A Frederick Gilliat was Commissioned in the Infantry on 10th May 1915 as published in the London Gazette of 12th June 1915 when he was posted to Manchester Regiment as published in the Gazette on 28 July 1916. He was later promoted Lieutenant, effective 1st July 1917 and attached to Machine Gun Corps on 27th May 1918. Later discharged from RAF, service No A278608/41.
2nd Lt Thomas Frederick Goldsmith MC & Bar (b Hastings 1891) Pre-War Serviceas Pte 575 in 7th Coy, 4th Territorial Bttn Cheshires from 27/3/1909 to 1/2/1913, resident Liscard. Tramway Clerk for Council in Wallasey in 1909-11. Father, Frederick was confectioner. Mother Jane. Served as Pte 16902 in 18th KLR France 7/11/1915. L/Cpl , then Officer Cadet Commissioned 26/4/1917. Arrived 17th Bttn posted to D Coy 2/7/1917. D Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Att 90th Bgd TMB 20/8/1917. 2iC TMB 22/3/1918. A/Lt as 2iC TMB 3/5/1918. Member of D Coy, Admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital At Millbank from Sick Convoy, with Neuresthania 22/7/1918 having served 3 yrs 11 mnths and 23 months overseas. Transfer to Palace Green Hosp 9/9/1918 and later Imperial Hydro, Blackpool. MC and Bar in Sept 1918 on att TMB. Gold Coast after War with address in Moss Side. Married in Nellie Holden Eccles in 1923.
2nd Lt Roy Mackenzie Gourlay 4th Bttn 1917 (29/3/1897) Merchiston Pupil
Lt Eric Lindsey Goodwin 13th Bttn att 17th. Born Eccles 6/5/1894. Manchester Grammar & grad Uni 1913. Worked Stock Exch in father’s firm. Son of A K Goodwin of Elmhurst, Ellesmere Park, Eccles. Comm 13th Bttn from University OTC 16/11/1914 Lt 1/2/1915. France with 13th Bttn June 1915. Returned due to accident before they departed for Sallonika. Att 17th Bttn on return to France.Att 30th Div Mining Coy 14/8/1916. Rejoined the Bttn for duty 17/9/1916. KiA 12/10/1916. Lt Col JJ Whitehead wrote “He was killed leading his Platoon in the attack on the German trenches. He had not been with the battalion very long, but has proved a good and reliable offier. and did his work well. He will be a great loss to the Battalion (dR)
Lt Arthur Hyde Greg RAMC Born Cheshire, Marlborough Coll. Trinity College, Cambs, St Thomas’s Hosp. Left Bttn for Overseas service. Comm 11/12/1914.
2nd Lt Malcolm Howard Grigg att 17th Bttn (from 26th) (1894) Tottenham Grammar School. Formerly 1st Bttn London Rifle Brigade in 1914, taking part in the Christmas Truce. Resident London. Probationer Institure of Actuaries. KiA 9/7/1916. Missing then reported KiA 25/5/1917.
Lt Col H J Grisewood late Sussex Regiment Lt Col 17th Bttn CO from 15/7/1916. Admitted to 96th Fd Amb 1/9/1916.
2nd Lt James Charles Guillet Born Kensington Q2 1883. Surveying draftsman 1911.. Farmer returned from S Africa 7/10/1914. Address Kensington. Comm 22nd Bttn 8/2/1915. Trained in A Coy 23rd Bttn. France 25/3/1916. Later address in Bradford.
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2nd Lt Robert Halliday Packer, Born 1889. Shippers Clerk resident Cheadle 1911. Enlisted 2/9/1914.Served as Sgt 10/2/1916 6620 in 16th Bttn. Trained in VIII Pln. France 8/11/1915. Leave at Home 1/6/1916 B Coy. Adm Hosp Stockport Rheumatism 9/6/1916. Posted Depot (Wounded?) 10/6/1916. 3rd Bttn 6/10/1916. 13th Officer Cadets Bttn, Newarket. Married Ida Greaves 30/10/1915. Fa John m Jemima. Comm 3rd Bttn 25/4/1917. Arrived 17th Bttn 17/6/1917. C Coy Ypres 31/7/1917 – wounded at duty. A/Adjt 23-28/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops 26/5/1918. A/Capt 17/6/1918 d 6/4/1918. Transferred to 13th Bttn when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918.
2nd Lt Frederick Halliwell (B Shrewsbury 1885) 1911 Import Clerk Starches & flour. Pte 764241 28/ London Reg Artists Rifles Comm 11th Bttn 28 Aug 1917. Joined 19th Bttn from 30 IBD 2/1/1918. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Proceeded to Base for drafting 14/5/1918. A/Capt 12th Bttn KIA 12/10/1918. Neuvilly Communal Cemetery Extension. Resident 63 Whitelake Ave, Flixton. Widow Mary. Daugh Muriel Mary.
2nd Lt George Arthur Halstead (b Droylesden 14/8/1891) Clerk in Leather cloth works resident Droylesden in 1911. Enlisted 14/9/1914. Pte 12902 trained IX Pln 19th Bttn. France 8/11/1915. Wounded in accident with smoke flares admitted 24 CCS. Depot 20/10/1916. Off Cadet 13th OC Bttn in Newmarket 5/7/1917. Disch to Comm Special Reserve 30/10/1917. Married 2/1/1918. Joined D Coy 19th Bttn 14/1/1918. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Reported wounded & missing 25/4/1918. POW Records specifies 4th Bttn GSW left thigh, fractured. A brother officer has written stating that he was wounded and was attended to by stretcher-bearers. An order then came through to retire, and he had to be left behind (MEN 4/5/1918). Captured B Coy 28/3/1918. Address in Droylesden and later Hyde in 1922.
2nd Lt George Frederick Herrenden Harker (b Coventry 11/8/1898) Officer Cadet Comm 1917 (LG 29/08/1917). Joined 17th Bttn from Base 22/11/1917. Wounded December 2017. Resident Cardiff in 1923.
Capt Alfred Harrey 17th Bttn (1867) Sgt South Staffs Regiment in 1890-92. Army in Aldershot in 1897. Col Sgt ‘1805’ Boer War KSA & QSA with 3 Clasps with 1st S Staffs. Hotel Manager in Levenshulme. Alfred enlisted in the ranks and was 17th Battalion’s first Regimental Sergeant Major prior to his commission as Captain on 7 January 1915.
Lieutenant Aubrey Harris 6th Bttn & 21st Bttn Born 13/10/1893 in Wrexham. BA French at Manchester University, Rugby XV 1911-14 & Merchiston Master 1914. KIA 21/09/1916.
2nd Lt Frank Valentine Harrison (b 21/12/1893 Salford) Wholesaler ladies costumes resident Salford in 1911. Enlisted as Pte 6996 in 16th Bttn 1/9/1914. D Coy. France 8/11/1915, Wounded GSW Ankle 30/7/1916. Depot 6/8/1916. 3rd Bttn 3/10/1916. France 16th Bttn 7/12/1916. Home to Cadet School 14/2/1917. Comm 1/8/1917. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 3/10/1917. Wounded at Duty October 1917. Reported MEN 1/11/1917. Captured 22/3/1918 after driving Germans out of quarry. Distinguished conduct 22/3/1918 mentioned in Bttn Record. Repatriated 18/12/1918. MC LG 2/2/1920. Resident Flixton 1925.
2nd Lt William Michael Harrison France Sept 1917. Pte 5/879 in 1st T Reserve Bttn. Posted to 3rd Bttn when Commissioned 29/8/1917 from Officer Cadet from A Coy No 2 Officers Cadet Bttn, Pembroke Coll. Cambridge. Granted leave 1/9/1917-19/9/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 15/10/1917. Returned to Hosp sick 16/4/1918. Struck off strength 29/5/1918. Resident Nawton, Yorks in 1923.
2nd Lt Herbert Haslam 17th Bttn. Clerk in Electical works, Bolton born 18/12/1895. Comm as Sgt from 24th Bttn to 14th 29/6/1915. Joined 17th Bttn in France 2/3/1916. Wounded 9/7/1916. Lt 13/10/1916. Herbert was subsequently transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, receiving his Certificate for flying a Maurice Farman Biplane at Ruislip on 10/5/1917, graduating his training on 26/6/1917. Herbert was attahed to 6 Squadron, flying an RE8, when he went missing in combat on 16/9/1917 crash landing after entering a spin apparently under control. He was assumed dead on 7/7/1918. He is commemorated at ARRAS FLYING SERVICES MEMORIAL Herbert’s father lived at Tamworth Street, Werneth in Oldham.
2nd Lt John Edwi n Hatton (1894) Spade & shovel Manuf. Stourbridge in 1911. Married Sept 1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty from Base 15/10/1917. Wounded 22/3/1918. Eligible SWB 20/2/1919. 20 Mount St, Stourbridge, Worcester.
Lt Frank Henshall Poss b 1891 Urmston. Manchester Uni & OTC. OC IX Pln 19th Bttn April 1915. France 11/1915. Held in Reserve at Montauban. Front line 18/10/1916. MiD LG 21/12/1917 & WD 8/1/1918. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Transfer to UK for tour of duty & struck off strength15/3/1917. Transfer to UK for tour of duty & struck off strength15/3/1917.Later Capt. Also 21st Bgd HQ.Resident Prestatyn 1930.
2nd Lt Norman Heywood MC PHOTO (b Whaley Bridge, Chesh 29/8/1897) Walton High School, Nelson (formerly Nelson Grammar School) PHOTO Enlisted as Pte 011555 in RAOC . Overseas apppointed :L/Cpl. Comm Manchesters 26/6/1917. Joined 17th Bttn and taken on strength 22/8/1917. Att 201 Fd Coy RE 3/10/1917. MC for action 22/3/1918 or 26/4/1918 where wounded at duty. Admitted Hosp 11/5/1918. Struck off strength 29/5/1918. Resident Colwick Ave, Altrincham 1926.
Lt Edward Lawrence Heyworth (1892) Bilton Grange, Rugby. Resident Alderley Edge. Comm in 2nd City Bn, 18/9/1914. IX Pln OC. Lt C Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Still with Bttn 28/1/1916. Defended Montauban with C Coy and took command of Coy. Attached to RFC. Captured 03/04/1917,
2nd Lt Cecil Hill. (b Mansfield 1894) Textile Clerk Gorton in 1911. Clerk from 27 Peacock St, Gorton. Enlisted Belle Vue, 23/12/1914 as Pte 18143 in 20th Bttn, training in VI Pln and arriving France 7/11/1915. Discharge to Commission in 3rd Bttn 26/6/1917. Joined 17th Bttn 22/8/1917. Composite Coy att HQ 16th Bttn with 2nd Yorks 29/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops 26/5/1918. Proceeded to LaHaie Chateu to assist with training of 3/140 IR USNG. Awarded MC in May 1918. Transferred to 13th Bttn when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918.Resident Gorton in 1922.
2nd John (Miller) Hillian Student born 1895 resident Tollcross in 1914-15, resident with father, who was a baker. Served overseas Pte S/13060 in 6th (Service) Bttn Cameron Highlanders. France 10/5/1915. Comm Manchesters 27/3/1917. Joined Bttn 11/6/1917. B Coy Ypres 31/7/1917.Missing PoW B Coy 26/4/1918. Greenfield House, Tollcross, Glasgow Held Block 2 Mainz. Repatriated & 2/1/1918. Exonerated. Promoted Lt. Resident Tollcross, Glasgow 1924. Son William MC was killed in Italy in 1944 with Regiment
2nd Lt Arnold Henry Hillier (16/02/1891) OC XX Pln was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 26th November 1914. Hulme Grammar School swimming & athletics. Alfred had been an agricultural student in 1911 and his affluent family lived in Chorlton cum Hardy. Alfred did not serve overseas with the Regiment. Married at Evesham July 1915. Retired with SWB & pension for flat feet 21/09/1916.
2nd Lt Herbert Victor Hobbs PHOTO late 23rd Bttn to 17th (1878) Born in Birmingham. Resident Levenshulme, Manchester. Employed as Tram Driver with the City Corporation. Enlisted as Pte 22822 in 23rd Bttn 5/1/1915. Sgt 26/3/1915. Severely reprimanded for Improper conduct in Sgts Mess 19/9/1915. France 29/1/1916. CSM WOII 29/7/1916. Discharged to commission 12/2/1917. Joined Bttn from GHQ Cadet School 16/2/1917. KiA 7/4/1917 while patrolling near Neuville Mill with 2nd Lt Rallison.
2nd Lt Alan Thomas Selbourne Holt 17th Bttn (26/03/1895) Merton House & Rugby School, where he had spent 3 years in the OTC. Parents lived in Hale. Alan made another Application for a Regular commission on 7/9/1914, which had been cancelled. Comm Manchesters 28/9/1914. Attended Bombing School at Clapham Common. Arrived France 5/1/1916 and probably served in A Coy. Attended 30th Division School at Corbie in May 1916. Wounded in rifle grenade accident 18/8/1916. Embarked Boulogne 22/8/1916. Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital At Millbank 22/08/1916 – 02/09/1916, then 2nd Gen Hosp. Served in 3rd & 4th Bttns 30/10/1916. Lt 13/02/1917. Taken back on strength and rejoined Bttn from Base 11/3/1917. A Coy OC, Wounded (Neck & Knee), captured and MC 23/4/1917. Held Karlsruhe, Freiburg -21/5/1917. Repatriated 4/12/1918.
2nd Lt Frank Edmund Holmes 17th Bttn Born Australia 14/4/1896. 1911 School, Whalley Range. Enlsited Inns of Court OTC 6858 on 15/10/1915. 6 & 5 Plns. Commissioned 4/9/1916. Arrived with Bttn from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. Lt 13/02/1917. Wounded in Action 20/4/1917. Latter attached KOYLI and LC. Resident Bramhall after War. Married Dorothea Budenberg Derbys 14/12/1921. She was Donald Budenberg’s cousin.
2nd Lt Charles Edward Hope 2nd Royal Scots prior to 17th Bttn. Born Dalston, Cumberland 1884. Cotton buyer resident north Manchester in 1911. Served as Private and L/Cpl 29529 in 2nd Royal Scots. Adjoining numbers relate to 15th Royals Scots which was known as the Manchester Scottish. France after 1915, which was later that 15th Bttn. Photos show he was wounded at some stage. Comm Manchester Regiment 29/8/1917. Joined 17th Bttn from base 16/10/1917. KiA 22/3/1918.
Leslie Brian Humphreys was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 3rd October 1914. Leslie was 20 years old and in common with a number of the 2nd City Battalion officers, he had been born in Bowdon. He had also been employed by Tootal, Broadhurst & Lee, which contributing a large number of volunteers to the City Battalions. Mr E Tootal Broadhurst was a member of the Mayor’s committee for the formation of the City Battalions, guaranteeing significant funding and resources.
Lt Leslie Brian Humphreys 17th Bttn (1894) Born Bowdon, Cheshire. Lived Knutsford. Employed by Tootall, Broadhurst & Lee. Tootall was on Committee that formed the City Bttns. Comm 3/10/1914. Lt (01/07/1915) B Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Defended Montauban 1/7/1916. Captured PoW 9/7/1916. Gutersloh 27/7/1916, Krefeld 2/4/1917, Strohen 23/6/1917, Bad Colberg 3/2/1918 & Holland 7/10/1918. Repatriated 22/1/1919.
2nd Lieutenant Lionel Welby Huntington 17th Bttn (22/10/1884) Commissioned 13/10/1914, shortly before his 30th birthday. Transfer to RNVR 7/12/1914. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge 1903-06. Resident of British Columbia at the outbreak of war and returned to serve.
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2nd Lt John James Ilett 17th Bttn (11/08/1884) Born W Yorks. Wakefield Technical & Art School, Modern Languages to 1903. Secretary to Vice Chancellor of Leeds University in 1913. Pte 3406 Artist’s Rifles. Comm 25th / 18th Bttn 18/7/1915. Joined Bttn 12/3/1916. Wounded 9/7/1916. Lt 01/07/1917. Married as 2/Lt Wakefield 03/11/1917. SWB 26/6/1919.
Capt Norman Sedgwick Ince (bStanley, Yorks 8/2/1892) Parents Rev. H.G. Ince and Mrs. Ince of Foxhill, Woking. Newick House School, Cheltenham. MC 19th Bttn LG 1/1/1918. WD 6/1/1918. France Nov 1915. OC VII Pln 19th Bttn in April 1915. Lt Held in Reserve on at Montauban. Rejoined 19th from 2nd Army School 17/9/1917 and took command of D Coy. Leave 20/10/1917 to 2/11/1917 and took command of D Coy. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Distinguished conduct 22/3/1918 mentioned in Bttn Record. Wounded 25/3/1918. Resident Woking in 1923. His 2 brothers won MC too.
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2nd Lt Reginald James Jackman 5th Att 17th Bttn b Q3 1885 Lambeth. Enlisted Pte 3821 in Artists Rifles. Comm 5th Bttn 11/12/1915. Arrived 17th Bttn 27/10/1916. Wounded 23/4/1917.
Captain Francis Joseph Janion (b 1884) Resident Wicklow in Ireland 1911. Transfer from a Reserve Bttn as Lt 1/9/1916. 2nd Lt D Coy Heninel 23/4/1917. Capt arrived 17th Bttn 16/7/1917. Wounded and treated at Millbank & Royal Free. Taken off strenght & transferred to England, sick 15/8/1917. Camp Commandant in 1919 as Lt. No identified Medal entitlement. Deprived of Rank of Captain following Civil Conviction 20/3/1928. He was bankrupt in 1926.
2nd Lt Samuel Arnold Jackson (b Oldham 23/8/1888) Bank Clerk in Oldham 1911. Enlisted 1/1/1914. Pte 6763 in X Pln, 16th Bttn France 8/11/1915. GSW Knee & Thigh 1/7/1916. Depot 7/7/1916. Hosp Blackpool to 2/12/1916. 69th TR. Off Cadet, Bushey Hall (Household Bgd OCB) 5/7/1917. Comm 4th Bttn 30/10/1917. Joined C Coy 19th Bttn 14/1/1918. Transferred from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Missing ,& PoW 22/3/1918. Repatriated 18/12/1918. Exonerated Officers List. Troutbeck, Windermere in 1923.
2nd Lt Cyril Thornton Jensen (04/09/1885) Cyril had been commissioned 25th Bttn from Pte 3448 28th London Regiment (Artists Rifles) He had disembarked in France on 4/3/1916 posted to 25th Bttn and att 17th Bttn on 15th March. His home address was in Dulwich. Cyril had been a clerk when he married in 1909. The couple lived in Sutton in 1914. KiA 10/5/1916 att 90th Bgd TMB
Lt Col Herbert Alfred Johnson 17th Bttn (10/7/1866) Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Cable Manufacturer Richard Johnson & Nephew Ltd. Pre-war Volunteer Officer, 3 or 4 VBn Lt June 1886 Capt 26/02/1889. 6th VB Major 17/10/1894 & 4th Bn CO Lt Col 19/05/1905. Serving 14th Bttn when Gazetted to 2nd City Bttn 1/9/1914. CO when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Admitted Hosp sick 28/3-10/4/1916. Wounded 1/7/1916. 28/4/1917 Returned to Bttn and took Command dated 19/4/1917. Returned to UK 17/6/1917 and replaced by JJ Whitehead as CO. Promoted T/Lt Col 29/6/1917.
Captain William Morton Johnson 16th Bttn (1881) Resident Altrincham. Harrow School & Trinity College, Cambridge. Ironmasters Factory owner. Comm. 10/1914. Played for Manchester FC Rugby Club.
2nd Lt Robert Loudon Johnston Former 1/6th Bttn 17th Bttn Born Devon (6/9/1891) Salford Municipal School. Employed Fred Taylor & Sons with Staff Capt Arthur Taylor Resident Kersal. Egypt with 6th. Comm 10/5/1915. 2nd Lt B COy and Transport Officer when arrived in France, 7th November 1915. Killed Bayencourt 13/12/1915.
2nd Lt Richard Jones Formerly L/Cpl 1/5th KLR France 21/2/1915. Commissioned 29/12/1915. Arrived @ 15/7/1916. Att to 16th Bttn in command of D Coy to Festubert on 3/9/1916 – 9/9/1916. Wounded Flers 12/10/1916 Awarded M C Birthday Honours 6/6/1917. Later att Labour Corps and RFC/RAF. Resident 122 & 124 Everton Road, L/Pool in 1930.
2nd Lt Walter Truran Jones Photo 17th Bttn (1897) Born S Wales. Family moved to Middlesborough where he went to the High School, then St Bees Pupil. Enlisted 8873 Inns of Court OTC 18/10/1915 L/Cpl (6th & 2nd Coys). Comm 1/6/1916. France 15/7/1916. Att 19th Bttn 11/8/1916-15/8/1916 with AV Faux. KiA 12/10/1916.
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2nd Lieut James Dunlop Kirkwood (11/11/1885) Attended Merchiston Castle in 1901. MA Glasgow University. Civil servant with Ottawa Forestry department, Canada. Commissioned 2nd Lieut 05/01/1915. OC IV Pln. France 08/11/1915. Promoted Lt. Treated for insomnia at Rouen 31/01/1916, then neurasthenia commencing 16/03/1916. Evacuated home 06/02/1916 and posted to reserve 25th Bn 30/03/1916, Div 13/04/1916 att 5th Reserve KLR and reserve Bn 22/08/1916.
2nd Lt Stanislaus Alfred Knowles B Q1 1889. Commercial traveler resident Urmston in 1911. Cadet 762980 in Artists Rifles Comm 2nd Lt 28.3.17 Joined 17th Bttn from Base 28/5/1917. Successful raid 13/14 June 1917. A Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Struck off strength as sick in England 3/9/1917. Relinquish commission 5/2/1918. SWB 30/5/1918. Resident Chorlton c Hardy 1920
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A/Maj Lionel William Peppe de Hochepied-Larpent (10/02/1877) 2/Lt 04/04/1900. Sussex, Essex & N’land Fusils. Boer War officer wounded 25/8/1914 with 2nd Connaught Rangers and posted to 17th Bn as Adjutant to assist training 11/12/1914 Left Bttn 10th June 1915. Cousin to Ralph Marillier Miller‘s mother’s sister.
2nd Lt Douglas Munro Lauder 2/8th Bttn (8/4/1897) Merchiston Pupil
2nd Lt George Leach (Leech) MM. LNL prior to 17th Bttn. (1889) Loom overlooker resident Chorley in 1911. Served 200491 in LNL. France as Cpl 4/5/1915. Awarded MM as Sgt. Widow Jane Anne lived in Chorley. Disch Comm 25th Bttn att 17th 26/6/1917. Att 19th Bttn 23/8/1917. Leave 13/12/1917-30/12/1917 then transferred back from 19th Bttn to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918. Trench raid with 2/Lt Ruddy 13/4/1918. Missing KIA 28/4/1918. Husband of Jane Ann Leach. of 5 Colyton Road, Chorley.
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Killed by a machine gun bullet in the advance from Flers serving with 17th Bttn, aged 29. Thiepval Memorial. Widow’s address 12 Broom water West, Teddington. Educated at Rugby School (1901-1905) and a graduate in Political Economy tripos of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Married Dorothy Vickers-Edwards in October 1915 at Chorlton. Originally enlisted as Private 609 in Royal Fusiliers. Employed in family firm, Levinstein & Limited, Anniline Colour Manufacturers of Blackley. Third son of German born Ivan Levinstein, Past President of Society of Chemical Manufacturers. His brother Herbert developed the production of Mustard Gas for the British Army. The firm’s Roll of Honour indicates service in 20th Bttn. Gerald was working for the American branch of the firm and returned to join the Royal Fusiliers, Public Schools Battalion in September 1914. He was Commissioned in Manchesters in March 1915 and promoted Lieutenant in September 1915.
His Commanding Officer wrote:- “He had not been in the Battalion very long, but was very popular with us all, and most thorough in his work-we shall miss him very much indeed.”
Played for Manchester FC Rugby Club
Pte Frederick Percy Leybourn 12/3/1893 Warehouseman & Clerks Orphans School. 20th to be Commissioned 19th, Leave from 19th Bttn 24/12/1017 & transferred to 17th Bttn on 6/2/1918 atta to 1/6th Chreshires. Born 1893. Insurance Clerk enlisted in 20th Bttn 16/11/1914. France 9/11/1915 MM. Comm 27/6/1917 MiD. Appointed A/Adjt 16/4/1918. Wounded 29/4/1918. Arrived 19th Bttn 31/8/1917. Att 21 Bgd HQ as Intelligence Officer 23/4/1918. Wounded by shell fire 29/4/1918 at Poperinghe camp as part of 21st Bgd HQ. DoW in No2 CCS 1/11/1918.
2nd Lt John Edward Lightburn Born Liverpool 19/8/1891. Resident Warrington 1911 Articled to Solicitor. Springfield, Stockton Heath, Warrington. Enlisted 3/3784 27/5/1915 in Inns of Court OTC 3 Coy. Comm 5th Bttn 9/9/1915. Arrived 17th Bttn 27/10/1916. Machine Gun officer in France 1917. Evacuated to England sick and taken off strength 2/8/1917. Presumably returned as absorbed in 17th from 5th Bttn 22/9/1917. Retired Lt from 5th Bttn with SWB 9/8/1918. Address in Northumberland, then Warrington. Photo Cartman
Captain Edward Lloyd (Manchester 07/05/1871) Formerly 2nd Bttn and Boer War Veteran DCM. Serving in 4th VB when Enlisted ‘1871’ 12/03/1887. India Medal with Clasp for Mirannai, 1891. Sgt 1894. Col Sgt 08/06/1899. Boer War DCM, KSA 1901/02. QSA 3 Clasps. Mentioned in Despatches 18/07/1902. Married Ada Amelia Walkley at Aldershot in 1903. Long Service & Good Conduct Medal 1904. Posted Col Sgt 01/09/1904. Acting CSM 4th VB when retired 11/03/1908. Canteen Manager at Ashton Barracks in 1911-12. Hon Lt 9/1914. Capt 12/1914. OC A Coy, when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915.
2nd Lt Thomas Longworth Born Collyhurst 15/3/1887. 25 Brook Road, Flixton. Father was newspaper publisher resident Urmston in 1901, with Thomas as Apprentice. 25 Brook Rd, Urmston. Enlisted 6204 Inns of Court OTC 13/9/1915. 6 & 5 Coys.Comm Manchesters from Officer Cadet 5/9/1916. France 10/1916. Arrived 17th from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. HQ Coy 2nd Lt 23/4/1917 Heninel. Lt 05/03/1918. Resident Flixton in 1920. Missing 22/3/1918. PoW Repatriated 28/12/1918.
2nd Lieutenant Kenneth Henry Callan-MacArdle (1890) Irish born. Stonyhurst Catholic School, Clitheroe and Downside Somerset 16/9/1901. Working in US in 1914. KIA in Trones Wood 9/7/1916.
Maj Charles Leslie Macdonald 17th Bttn (22/9/1881) Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Merchiston Old Boy, Master & Captain in OTC serving from June 1909. Lt 1/12/1911. Family lived in Bowdon, Cheshire. Appointed 17th Bttn T/Capt 24/12/1914. OC D Coy in Manchester. Adjutant in Bttn HQ when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Took command of Bttn in Montauban 1/7/1916. In Command of B-D Coys at Guillemont 30/7/1916. Rejoined the Bttn for duty 17/9/1916. T/Lt Col 15/11/1916 30th Div Schools. Taken off 17th Bttn strength 26/10/1916. Assumed Command 19th Bttn 4/3/1917 as Major and was CO for the attack on Heninel 23/4/1917 (Bar) & 3rd Ypres 31/7/1917. Returned to Folkestone on Leave 17/9/1917 for leave to 16/10/1917 and treated in 4th London Hospital for a boil on his right leg 17th Oct/ober 1917. Extended leave to 1/11/1917 and returned to 19th Bttn on 2/11/1917. Hospital 23/11/1917-6/1/1918. until disbanded Feb 1918. Leave from 27th February after Temp command of 14th Entrenching Bttn, Then served at Home with 51st Devonshires and 2/6th KLR – still CO 21/5/1919 DSO and Bar. Lived at Alder Bank, Bowdon after retiring commission in 1919. Charles completed his MA Classics Tripos at Emmaunel College in 1919 and may have returned to Merchiston for a short period afterwards. He was appointed Head of Amesbury School in 1920. where he was known as “Clem”. One of his pupils was David, son of Gen Bernard Montgomery. Charles Macdonald married Registerd Physiotherapist, Marjory Douglas Kennedy, at Brentford in Q2 1921. All four of Marjory’s brothers had been commissioned in the Great War. Marjory passed away at Amesbury School on 19th June 1925. “Clem” remarried Annie Mary Kinross MBE. Lt Col Macdonald retired due to ill health in 1938 and died on 19 /01/1939, aged 57. His widow, Annie Mary Macdonald lived at Brackland, Hindhead. The funeral was at St Alban’s Church, Hindhead, where Charles is buried. They had one son, Alastair Kinross Macdonald, born in Farnham 19 October 1927. Annie was offered post of typist in the Civil Service on 27th January 1939. She moved to Stirling and died on 8th February 1946. During the Great War Annie had worked as a Canteener for the British Red Cross, serving in France with her sister, Margaret, from September 1915 to February 1916. She later served in Queen Mary’s Army Auxillary Corps for which she was awarded the MBE in the 1919 Brithday Honours List as Unit Adminstrator.
Lt John Greville Madden 17th Bttn (21/3/1889) Raised in S London. Father worked at King’s College, London. Educated Pembroke College, Cambridge. Merchiston Master & OTC Officer. Transferred from OTC 24/12/1914 as Lt VI Pln. Capt 2iC C Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. DSO for action 1/7/1916 as OC C Coy. Later took Command of A & B Coys in Montauban. Wounded 9/7/1916.
2nd Lt Alfred Norman Marchant Born Halifax Q2 1885. Gents hairdresser resident Hyde in 1911. 3 children by 1914. Pte 9199 in XII Pln 17th Bttn. No Star. Comm from Cadet 2nd Lt 25/1/1917. Joined for duty from Base 23/3/1917. Wounded with D Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Later Capt in KLR. Post war address in Felixstowe.
Lt Percy John Mead 16th (1888) Born S London. Manchester University. Previously taught at Wadham House School Hale. Merchiston Master. Wounded December 1915. Appointed Adjutant July 1916.
Capt Edward John Malim late 17th Bttn – MGC (28/11/1880) Born Balham. No known Cheshire connection. Boer War Officer in Imperial Yeomanry 1900-02 (Comm from L/Cpl in 11th Bttn 9/12/1901) working as planter in Ulu Rantau Estate, Negri Sambalan, Malaya. Comm 1/1/1915 with R J Ford. OC C Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Present with Bttn 29/1/1916. Transfer to MGC as a Assidtant Instructor 26/6/1916 and later Staff posting. Influenza 1/11/1918. Discharged as Major 17/4/1919. OBE Military Div LG 30/5/1919. Returned to Singapore. Divorce 1933.
Lieutenant Robert Forbes Mansergh 17th Bttn (22/11/1896) Merchiston Pupil & OTC. 2nd Lt A Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Defended Montauban 1/7/1916. MC A/Adj 7/8/1916. Capt 02/09/1916. Relinquished appointment on att 90th Bgd HQ 2/2/1917.Lt Duncan appointed Adjt effective 2/2/1917 (WD 20/8/1917) Rejoined Bttn 3/5/1917. To UK sick 26/4/1918.
2nd Lt Cornelius Theobald Marshall Photo (b Salford 20/3/1897) Pembroke House School, Lytham in 1911. Father was solicitor. Student, Enlisted 1/12/1915 in 30th Sportsmans Reserve Bttn Royal Fusils, resident Gorton. Aproved 18/4/1916. France 26/7/1916-22/1/1917 posted to 8th, then 24th RF on 4/8/1916. Wounded 23/9/1916. Home 23/1/1917. Comm 26/6/1917. Joined 17th Bttn & taken on strength 22/8/1917. Missing PoW Lock 8 26/4/1918. Held Kalsrhue & Mainz. Repatriated 2/12/1918. Fairholme, Highfield, Gorton. Resident 123 Wilmslow Road, Withington in 1923.
Capt Robert Hargraves Megson 16th Bttn (?) Carrington House, Fettes College. Played for Manchester FC Rugby Club.
2nd Lt Charles Stanley Miles 17th Bttn Born Southsea 1881. Married with 2 children in Surrey in 1911, living separately. Lived Purley after War. Private M2/076536 ASC arrived France 21/4/1915. Comm Regiment 9/11/1916. Taken on strength 17th Bttn 10/11/1916. Bgd Operations Officer 31/7/1917. T/Capt d/10/7/1917. Reverts to Lt 30/9/1917. A/Capt 3/11/1917. Distinguished conduct 22/3/1918 mentioned in Bttn Record MiD. Missing 22/3/1918. Repatriated 12/12/1918. Awarded MC 2/2/1920. Photo Cartman
2nd Lt Ralph Marillier Miller 17th Bttn (?) Related to Major Larpent. Resident Berwick. Glenalmond School. Formerly RASC. Comm 25th Bttn July 1915. Returned to France 29/6/1916 and arrived with Bttn soon after. Father was at Pembroke College, Cambs. Killed by gas shell at Guillemont assembly trenches 29/7/1916. Ralph’s mother of Maj Lionel William Peppe de Hochepied-Larpent
2nd Lt Ben Holt Mills 5th or 6th Bttn att 17th. Born Heywood 17/3/1895. Queen St Sch & Bury Grammar 1906-11 + OTC, Employed Lancs & Yorks Bank. Enlisted 27th Bn prior officer training. Joined as Pte 5759 Inns of Court OTC 21/8/1915 6th & 5th Plns and commissioned in Regiment 21/12/1915. Trained in 3/5th Bttn and initially att 6th Bttn overseas before att to 17th Bttn, arriving 27/10/1916 . Wounded 23/4/1917. DoW 26/4/1917.
Lt Hubert Hopkin Morgan, born in 1896, came from Nelson, Wales, where his father owned a coal mine. He was educated at the Penarth Tutorial School and Bloggs School of Commerce, Cardiff, and like the rest of the family, he was a member of the local Baptist Church.When the First World War broke out, Morgan, aged 18, enlisted as a trooper 3523 in the 1st Life Guards, and was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment on 5th October 1915. That same year he took the opportunity of a period of leave to marry. T/Lt 1/9/1916. Joined Bttn 7/6/1917. Lt 01/07/1917. Morgan served throughout the war in a variety of roles, including acting Adjt at then end of Aug 1917 and instructor at the 5th Musketry School in France. In spring 1918 he was ordered to the front to help repel the German offensive. He was killed by a German shell on the morning of 30 March.
Lt D E Morgan Transport Disbandment Camp 13/5/1918. Poss 4125 David Ewart Inns of Court Com 25/London either 25/12/1915 LG or 16/6/1916 IoC. Kenya in 1923.
Capt Roger Arthur Mostyn-Owen Born 1888. Left Eaton College 1906 DSO, Pre-War Captain, (temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) Rifle Brigade, attached The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), and Staff, wounded, mentioned in despatches three times. France. Joined 17th Bttn as 2IC 10/4/1917. Struck off strength 26/4/1917 having joined 18th KLR.
2nd Lt Joseph Nanson 17th Bttn Born 1894 Llangollen. Mostyn House & St Bees Pupil. Comm 21/4/1915. A 2nd Lt J Nanson joined 22nd Bttn for duty from 30th IBD on 1/5/1916. With 2nd Lt H R Cook. KiA 1/7/1916.
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Captain John Milner Oliver 16th Bttn (24/7/1882) Family lived at Bowdon. Member of Bowdon scouts. Educated Bowdon College, Manchester Grammar (1897-1901) and Maths at Corpus Christi, Oxford (1901-1905). Solicitor 1909 and partner Tatham Worthington & Co, Manchester. Commissioned Sept 1914 and Lt when Bttn arrived in France 1915. Killed Trones Wood 9/7/1916.
2nd Lieut William Kirkpatrick Orford 17th Bttn Att 90th Bgd TMB. Born Prestwich 14/5/1895. Educated Winchester (OTC) with Gerald Sproat & entered Clare College, Cambridge in 1913. Enlisted in 20th PSB Bttn 7/9/1914. 6 feet 4 1/4 inches tall. Commissioned General List 4/1/1915 and posted to 17th Bttn 11th January 1915. 2nd Lt C Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Killed in Action with 90th TMB, 1st July 1916, aged 21.
Capt William Boyd Orr Commissioned 19th Bttn 26/9/1914. France November 1915 with 19th Bttn. Trained as OC Lt V Pln of 19th Bttn in England. Not present with 19th Bttn on 1st July 1916. Joined 17th Bttn 8/1/1917 and took command of B Coy. MC Award at Polygon Wood 31/7/1917. Returned from Hospital to resume Command of D Coy 11/5/1917. Att No 2 Canadian Tunneling Coy Lille Gate 28/6/1917. OC D Coy Ypres 31/7/1917 – wounded at duty. MC under Orders 22/8/1917 – the inscrpition confirms this relates to ‘Menin Road 31/7/1917’. Later posted to 51st Notts & Derbys. Born Ayrshire 1889. Brookfield Academy, Cumberland (Quaker School) boarder 1901. Student Manchester University 1907-10. Resident Prestwich with family 1911. Medical Student Glasgow University 1910 and 1917. Resident Rusholme and Drysalter in Sedgeley Park in 1932.
2nd Lt Frederick Arthur Orritt 17th Bttn (1881) Born Ormskirk. Employed Williams Deacons Bank. Previously 3rd VB and Pte 513 9/KLR 1908/09. Pte 7804 Inns of Court OTC on 24/11/1915. 5&6 Plns. Comm 5/9/1916. 142 Sussex Road, Southport. Joined Bttn from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. Wounded as Reserve 23/4/1917 and attended by RSM H Coates. Struck off strength 13/10/1917 due to ill health.
2nd Lt Stanley John Owen 17th Bttn Comm 25th Bttn from Cpl 4241 28th London (Artists Rifles) OTC 15/1/1916. Possibly teacher from London. France 15/7/1916. Gassed 30/7/1916. Promoted Lt and transferred to Labour Corps and Minstry of Labour. Resident Tooting 1921.
2nd Lt Henry Owens Officer Served as Pte 2759 24th Sportsmans Btt Royal Fusiliers. Disch 31/7/1917. Cadet Comm Manchesters 1/8/1917. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 1/10/1917. Wounded 22/3/1918.
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2nd Lt Sidney John Page Gen List. 17th Bttn University of London OTC. LLB King’s College. France May 1916. Wounded 9/7/1916. Later Border Regiment & 29th MGC. MC. Residence Carmalt Gardens SW15 AVL. CB in 1949. Comm 14th Bttn 24/7/1915. Wounded 9/7/1916.
2nd Lt Walter Harvey Palmer PHOTO 17th Bttn 21/7/1897 Resident W Didsbury. Father was manufactures agent in cotton trade. Mother was Education Committee. Hulme Grammar School to 1915. Enlisted Pte 6861 Inns of Court OTC 15/10/1915. 6 & 4 Plns. KiA 23/4/1917 aged 19. Comm 4/9/1916. Arrived 17th Bttn from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. Wounded Jan 1917. 2nd Lt in A Coy, KiA Heninel 23/4/1917.
2nd Lt Alfred Parkes France 20/10/1917. Enlisted 764661 Artist’s Rifles. Comm 21st Bttn 29/8/1917. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 31/10/1917. Transf 21st Bttn 12/11/1917. Resident Stretford in 1920.
2nd Lt William Ronald Meldrum Parry (Q3 1895 Cheadle) taken on strength and posted to B Coy 3/7/1917. School boy in Stockport 1911. Manchester University 1913 & OTC. Had served in 20th Public Schools Bttn of Royal Fusiliers PS 5436, GS 47349 & GS 47456. France 14/11/1915-23/7/1916. Comm 25/4/1917. Wounded B Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Later Lt in 3rd Bttn. Married in Kensington May 1918. SWB 18/2/1919. Resident Hampstead NW3 in 1921. Comm Lt in RAOC in WWII.
2nd Lt Dick Pickstone 14th Bttn att 17th. Born Radcliffe 7/1895. Son of Eli and Mary. Resident 162 Ashton New Road, Beswick in 1911. Attended Central High School for Boys on Whitworth Street. Student at King Alfred’s teacher training college in Winchester from 1913. Comm 14th 31/7/1915 from serving at home as Cpl 2187 in 4th Hants Reg. Joined Bttn from base with 19 OR on 29th August 1916. Killed in Action 12/10/1916, Flers. Thiepval. School and College Memorials.
Capt Hugh Tunbridge Pomfret Born Tonbridge Wells 1874. Arrived France at Lt 18/12/1914. MiD with Reserve of Officers att 2nd Bttn LG 22/6/1915.3rd Bttn att 17th Bttn arrived from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. T/CO 17/11/1916. To Aldershot for Snr Officers Course 6/4/1917 & Later struck off strength. Returned posted to C Coy 3/7/1917. Liaison with adv Div HQ Ypres 31/7/1917. T/Major 29/6/1917. To England sick 20/9/1917. Transferred to 37th Div 26/9/1917. Posted to 8th E Lancs. MC 1/1/1919. Returned to 17th Bttn 14/1/1918. T2iC in absence of JJW then -EF. T/CO 17-20/2/1918 then 2iC (Absent EF). Att XIII Corps Liaison 4/3/1918. Returned as CO 31/3/1917. 2iC when EF returned 10/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops of 2/140 Infantry at Guerville 26/5/1918. Proceeded to LaHaie Chateu to assist with training of 3/140 IR USNG. Sub-Cadre at La Haie relieved 15/6/1918. Transferred to Base when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918. Later Lt Col CO of 11th Bttn 28/9/1918, aged 45. CO 8th Northumberland Fusils 8/3/1919. (9005 Blundell SR) Photo Cartman.
1891 Articled clerk to auctioneer, resident 8 Richmond Place, Islington. Comm 2/Lt 1st Cinque Ports Militia 25/12/1895. . Residence in Hasting 1899. Wounded in SA as Lt XIV Imperial Yeomanry 13/10/1900. Lt in 1st Cinque Ports VRC 3/2/1900. 1901 Census Capt SA Corps, married to Evelyn Agnes (Thaine) Pomfret (m 1896), resident Wales. 12/4/1902 Capt 5th V Bttn from Cinque Ports VRC and 27th Imp Yeo. Boer War KSA & QSA (Clasps for Wittebergen and Cape Colony) as Lt QM with XIV Imperial Yeomanry Aldershot. 1902 Capt 5th V Bttn. Residence Eastbourne in 1920. Died in S Africa 1951.
Lt Geoffrey Fildes Potts 17th Bttn (1893) Manchester University & OTC. Father was an architect and member of Reform Club. Comm 23/9/1914. 2nd Lt D Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. HQ Coy as Lt 23/4/1917 & KiA Heninel 23/4/1917 attended in shell hole by RSM Henry Coates.
Pte Horace Taylor Prentis KLR later 2nd Lt 17th Bttn (26/1/1892) Born Wimbledon. Freedom of City of London Goldsmiths Guild. Furniture salesman resident Stoke Newington in 1911. Served overseas as Pte in 1/8th KLR. Disch Comm 11/1/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 3/10/1917. Missing KiA 27/4/1918
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Major George Bentham Leathart Rae 10th KLR att 17th Bttn (Official Record) Gazetted DSO 3/6/19. Deed and date unknown. Service with Bttn not recorded in WD. Later nominated in 1947 as a Sheriff of Cheshire, resident at The Lodge, Malpas and showing rank as Brevet Colonel.Birth 19th October 1884 George Bentham Leathart Rae was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, United King dom in 1884 to Margaret Leathart and Edward Rae. m 1914, Helen Margaret, d of Edwin A. Beazley, JP, Willaston, Wirral, Cheshire. CO Liverpool Scottish 1921-23 & 1927-30.
2nd Lt Victor Edward Rallison.PHOTO Born Newry, Ireland 20/6/1887. Father was a veteran soldier with E Lancs and SWB from the Afghan War 1878-1880 and Colour Sgt with S Wales Borderers in 1917. Victor attended Risca School from 7/4/1891. Soldier with 7 1/2 Yrs Service in 1911. Police Constable with Warwickshire Constabulary for 2 1/2 yrs service in 1914, prior to being called up from Reserve. France as Pte with BEF 1st E Lancs at Le Havre 22/8/1914. Commissioned from Sgt 7662 (Probably enlisted 1903) 1st E Lancs 24/10/1916. Joined 17th Bttn 16 or 25/10/1916. KiA 7/4/1917 while patrolling near Neuville Mill with 2nd Lt Hobbs. Family in Risca, S Wales. Married Evelyn Sheffield 9/1916. Family Commemorated on family grave in Risca. Mrs J Stagg, West Hill, Portishead, Nr Bristol. Victor is commorated on the Warwickshire Constabulary Memorial Roll of Honour
2nd Lt Leonard Rathbone Born Ramsbottom 27th March 1890. Officer Cadet comm 2nd Lt 6th December 1916. Joined 17th Bttn on 20th January 1917. 2nd Lt D Coy Heninel 23/4/1917. Lt 01/07/1917. Returned to 17th Bttn 22/8/1917. T/Capt 13/02/1918. Transferred to UK sick 21/3/1918. Leonard was captured at the Spoil Bank on 25/4/1918 (26th in WD) D Coy and was held as a PoW in the Citadel Mainz with 2nd Lt Cannon & Ringham. He had addresses in 5 Appleton Road, Hale & Stoke Newington in 1923. He had lived in the Hale house with his family in 1911, employed as a furniture salesman.
2nd Lt Frank A Rayner/Raynor unidentified taken on strength att from N Staffs R. to 17th Bttn 9/11/1916. 2nd Lt B Coy Wounded Heninel 23/4/1917. Promoted Lt 5/3/1918. survived no SWB. BWM/VM from Manchesters. Issued in 1935.
2nd Lt Rodney Francis Richardson PHOTO Born Q3 1898. Educated at St Cuthbert’s College, Worksop. Officer Cadet Comm Regiment 7/12/1915. Joined 17th Bttn on att from 3rd Bttn for duty 10/6/1917. C Coy Ypres Missing assumed dead 31/7/1917. Poss DofW. Son of Rev Mark and Evelyn Richardson, of St. John’s Vicarage, Huddersfield.
Captain Rupert Edward Roberts 16th Bttn (?) Jesus College Cambridge. Former Merchiston Master and OTC Officer. Capt OTC 1/12/1911.
2nd Lt Charles William Robertson 17th att from 3rd Bttn. (1892) Accountant. Brought up in London. Formerly 3/14 London (Scottish) Regiment. Gazette 15/11/1915. Wounded shest & left arm and captured 9/7/1916. Died as PoW 22/8/1916. 5 Clarence Square, Cheltenham.
2nd Lt Henry James Robinson Comm 8/11/1915 from Pte 2997 in Regiment. France 14/10/1916. Joined 17th Bttn 27/10/1916. Struck of strength having proceeded to England sick 25/2/1917. Later promoted to Lieut. 86 Wellington Road South, Stockport after war. Had been law clerk in 1911, resident Stockport. Born Q2 1893. Baptised 24/5/1893.
2nd Lt Frederick Ruddy MC DCM. Fred had previously been awarded a DCM prior to his commission on 25/9/17, while serving as 2058 Lance Corporal in the 11th Royal Fusiliers – 25/11/16. Joined 17th Bttn from II Corps Reinforcements Camp and taken on strength 19/7/1917. T/Adjt Vice J Duncan 20/2/1918. Trench Raid with 2/Lt Leach 13/4/1918. Command of composite A & B Coys succesfully holding the flank at Lock 8 25/4/1918. Later MC in 16/91918. Composite Coy att HQ 16th Bttn with 2nd Yorks 29/4/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops 26/5/1918. Promoted A/Capt 31/5/1918. Leave in England 4/7/1918. Transferred to 13th Bttn when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918. Photo Cartman.
2nd Lt Charles Sadler 17th Comm from L/Cpl Sussex R (France30/5/1915) 2/8/1915. Promoted Lt 3/7/1916. Wounded Guillemont as OC C Coy (retuned to duty 19/8/1916) & Flers. Capt (13/10/1916) with 90th Bgd HQ. Returned to Bttn 13/5/1917 and took command of B Coy. 2oC Dec 1917. OC C Coy 31/12/1917. Att 90th Brgd as Transport Officer 8/1/1918. Returned 10/5/1918. Formed Training Cadre for American Troops 2/140 Infantry US National Guard from Missouri 26/5/1918. Transferred to 13th Bttn when Cadre disbanded 30/7/1918.Won MC.
2nd Lt Ronald Sant. Born Essex Q3 1897. Father clergyman. Resident Saffron Waldon Grammar in 1911. Pte 7987 in Artist’s Rifles. Comm 4th Bttn 19/12/1916. France 2/1917. Joined 17th Bttn 3/5/1917. Wounded in action B Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Later 4th Bttn Lt. MC 3/6/1919. Discharged SWB 29/3/1920.
Lt James Nasmyth Wedgwood Sidebotham 17th Bttn (1891) Charterhouse School 1905-09, Clare Coll, Cambs, graduating 1913 and obtaining Masters in 1915. Family had lived in Altrincham and brother resided at Bowdon. Comm. 3/10/1914. Lt A Coy Lewis gun section when arrived in France, 7th November 1915. Promoted Captain 2/7/1916. Commemorated Bowdon KIA Flers 12/10/1916. His cousin John Oake Sidebotham had served with 1st Cheshires in Maricourt. Brother of Mr. F. N. Sidebotham, of Raleigh House, Ottery St. Mary, Devon.
2nd Lt Geoffrey Bernard Penberthy Shapland 17th Bttn (Brecon 5/3/1897) Enlisted Pte 2223 in S W Bords. Comm S Staffs R 21/9/1915. Joined Bttn 31/7/1916. Att 19th Bttn 11-14/8/1916. Went to fantigues to 1st TM School at Clarques 14/8/1916. Taken off strength 17th Bttn 4/4/1917. Att. KOYLI. SWB address in Brecon. Retired as Lt 10/4/1918. Died 1924. Father was master Taylor.
2nd Lt Peter Shenton Joined 17th Bttn for duty 16/6/1917. Wounded B Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Rejoined Bttn from 16th Bttn 18/10/1917. Evacuated to England and struck off strength 15/1/1918. Poss Born 1877 & Stretford Builders Clerk in 1911.
2nd Lt Henry George Smith Born Dukinfield 1889. Altrincham in 1901. Architects Assistant resident Hale in 1911. Served as Pte 1945 in 23rd (Sportsmans) Bttn Royal Fusiliers arriving France 16/11/1915. Comm Manchesters 25/4/1917. Joined Bttn 17/6/1917. Father lived in Hale in 1922.
2nd Lt William Henry Smith Born Durham 1/11/1879. Joined 17th Bttn 6/5/1917. D Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Captured PoW 28/4/1918 (26th WD). Held Karlsuhe, Mainz -13/5/1918. Repatriated 2/12/1918. 15 Wellesley Avenue, Hull Resident Hull 1920.
2nd Lt William Proctor Smith Born Cheetham 20/12/1891. Actuarial Student in Ashton on Mersey in 1911 living with father who was Insurance Company Manager. Enlisted 6912 Artists Rifles. Commissioned 5th Bttn 26/9/1916. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 3/1/1917. Wounded 23/4/1917. SWB List 21/12/1918 as Lt resident father’s house. JP in Cheshire 1933. Served in WWII breeding pigeons. William of Orange won Dickens Medal. Knighted 1959 for services in Cheshire.
2nd Lt Edward Hamilton Southcomb b Tulse Hill Q3 1895. Attended PHOTO West Buckland School in Dorset 1904-10. Shrewsbury School 1910 -12. College student resident with Mother in Cheltenham 1911. In October 1912, when he was 17 years old, he went to work for National Provincial Bank of England as an apprentice at its Cheltenham branch. He was promoted to a clerkship there in October 1915. In 1916 Southcomb left the bank to join the army, initially in the Gloucestershire Regiment. In November 1916 he was commissioned into the Manchester Regiment, and he was posted to France the following March. commissioned in 4th Special Reserve Bttn 25/3/1916 Joined att from 3rd to 17th Bttn 3/5/1917. C Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. KiA (sniper) att 24th Bttn (this must be an error) from 3rd Bttn 31/7/1917. Menin Gate. Photo Cartman
2nd Lt William Spencer. (b 1/4/1894) Solicitors Clerk in 1911. Enlisted Pte 764106 Artist’s Rifles. Comm 3rd Bttn 27/6/1917. att 17th Taken on strength 23/8/1917. Transferred to RFC 4/1/1918. 82 Sqn. Admitted to Hosp twice. 143 Fildes Street, Grimsby. Demob 16/4/1919. Home & birth address East Cowton, Northallerton, Yorks.
Lt Gerald Maitland Sproat 11th Bttn att 17th. Wounded Gallipoli with 11th Bttn. Winchester School, with William Orford and then Magdalene College, Oxford 1912. Cheshire resident. KiA 1/7/1916 defending Montauban with C Coy. Twenty two year old Lieutenant Sproat obtained a commission in the 11th Battalion Manchester Regiment in September 1914 and in July 1915 sailed for the Dardanelles. He took part in the landing at Suvla Bay in August but was invalided home that September. He had then been attached to 17th Battalion. The Army List shows he was posted to 11th Battalion on 29th September 1914. Kenneth Callan-MacCardle’s diary reported that he was blown up in the attack and other records describe he was struck by a shell while walking up and down the line under heavy fire directing his men where to dig themselves in.. Gerald was the son of a solicitor, Thomas Sproat and Mary Caroline, of 1, Rock Park, Rock Ferry, Cheshire. He had attended Winchester School 1906-12, with William Orford. He became a Prefect, played in College XV and in 1912 won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating in 1912. Gerald’s younger brother James survived the Montauban assault as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 17th Kings Liverpool Regiment. James was killed by artillery fire at Trones Wood on 11th July. He was an alumni of Rugby school attending at the same time as Alan Holt.
2nd Lt Cyril Ridgeway Stephens Inns of Court OTC 18/1/1915. L/Cpl 2733 in F Coy. Comm Manchesters 3/6/1915. 17th Bttn Born Newport, Wales. France 11/1915. (1890) Student resident ConM 1911. Resident 2 Argyle Ave Victoria Park in 1922. Accountant in 1927. Comm 3/6/1915. 2nd Lt C Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Defended Montauban with C Coy 1/7/1916. Wounded 30/7/1916.
2nd Lt Frederick Charles Sturman. (b Harlesden 1896) Watford in 1911. Clerk L&NWR Enlisted RE 14/7/1915. Cpl 109083 in RE. France 23/11/1915. Comm 31/7/1917. Joined 17th Bttn for duty 3/10/1917. Admitted Field Amb 5/11/1917. Disch F A 15/11/1917. Fd Amb 20/11/1917. Evacuated to UK and struck off strength 30/12/1917. SWB entitled. 22/4/1919 resident Blackpool. 1921 Golders Green.
2nd Lt William Frederick Swift (b Altincham Q3 1896). Father was Fruit Merchant resident Timperley 1901. Attended boarding school in Altrincham. Comm 19th Bttn 23/2/1915 – not shown in BofH. Joined 17th Bttn from Base 18/2/1917. OC A Coy on 8/4/1917. Wounded and Captured POW 23/4/1917. Held Strohen 23/6/1917 & Bad Colberg 9/2/1918. Repatriated 4/1/1919. Resident Hampton Corner, Evesham, Worcestershire.
Lt Col C J Steavenson Formerly KLR. Took command of 90th Bgd 10/8/1915.
2nd Lt Cyril Ridgeway Stephens (04/08/1890) Resident Didsbury. Manchester Grammar and Jesus College, Oxford 1912. Commissioned 03/06/1915. Overseas with C Coy in November 1915. Lt in Spring 1916. Wounded at Guillemont 30/07/1916. Amputated leg. Invalided with SWB.
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Capt Arthur Taylor 16th Bttn (?) Carrington House, Fettes College. Worked with William Tonge. Manchester Councillor and Organising Committee for City Bttns before Staff Captain for Brigade. Serving as 90th Bgd Staff Captain in August 1916.
2nd Lieutenant Harry Vivian Taylor MC (25/2/1894) Harry was entitled to a 1914-15 Star for entry in France prior to 19/12/1915. A Harry Taylor was commissioned in the Infantry (Large group PBS?) on 3/4/1915 (LG 2/4/1915) Harry Taylor was gazetted for his MC on 26/5/17 for action with 2nd Bttn. MC 26/5/1917 for action at Manchester Hill with 2nd Bttn on 02/04/1917. Lt 01/07/1917. Harry was later promoted to Captain d/20/7/1917. Harry was taken on strength as 2/Lt in 17th Bttn on15/8/1917. A/Capt appointed 2iC 20/9/1917.A/major as A/2iC 5/10/1917. He was originally posted missing and presumably assumed killed on 22/3/18 near St Quentin. He is buried in Savy Cemetery. Aged 24, Harry was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Taylor, of “Netherly,” Rivington Road, Pendleton. Born 29/1/1894. Harry has originally enlisted Pte in the 20th (Public Schools) Battalion Royal Fusiliers Number 5746. Attended Salford Municipal School for Boys. He was Chemistry Student resident Pendleton in 1911. He is commemorated on the Memorial Plaque at St James Church Hall, Eccles Old Road, Hope. Also Old Salfordians Memorial. To England for Instructors Course in Aldershot 16/11/1917. Missing KIA 22/3/1918.
2nd Lt William Russel Tonge (Q4 1893 Derbys) 17th Bttn Carrington House, Fettes College. A Coy 2nd Lt when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Killed by sniper 12/1/1916.
Major Henry Charles Webb Theobald DSO (26/71876) Cheltenham College. att 17th Bttn 26/6/1917. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Gloucestershire Regiment on the 4th May 1898. DSO in S Africa. 2nd Bttn Capt DSO disembarked 14/18/1914. Wounded Le Cateau. Service from 1898. Capt in Manchesters 1901. 17th Bttn 27/1/1917. Att as 2iCto 19th KLR 20/7/1917. CO of 18th Bttn on 27/10/1917. Resident Calne, Wilts in 1919.
2nd Lt Frank Thorp was an officer cadet commissioned on probation in the 8th Reserve (3/8th) on 26/9/1916. The rank was confirmed on 6/2/1917 (same date as Wilfred Owen). He arrived 17th Bttn 13th January 1917 and struck off strength 22/4/1917. BWM/VM as Lt. Frank had previously served as a Pte 3293 in 1/7th Bttn, disembarking Gallipoli 18/8/1915. After the war Frank lived at Mawdesley Manor, Ormskirk.
Capt Norman Vaudrey 17th Bttn Bilton Grange & Rugby School. His father had been Mayor of Manchester. Cheshire Resident. Comm 28/9/1914. Capt 2iC D Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. KiA 1/7/1916.
2nd Lt Richard William Leslie Wain 17th Bttn (5/12/1896) Born Penarth. St Bees Pupil. Comm from Public Schools Battalion 16/7/1915. Joined Bttn 12/3/1916. Wounded at Montauban 1/7/1916. Returned to duty from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. Promoted Capt 12/11/1916 in command of a Company. Attached to Heavy Machine Gun Corps and taken off 17th Bttn sgth 7/1/1917. Went on to win posthumous VC with Tank Corps in 1917.
2nd Lt George Frederick Ward had enlisted as Private 6697 in the 1st City Battalion on 29th August 1914. He had previously been employed as a clerk and was 19 years old when he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant 26th September 1914. George had been selected as an officer following his education at Manchester Grammar School, where he had been a member of the OTC for two years. George’s father was mining engineer and general manager of a coal mine. The family lived in Bramhall, Cheshire. In April 1915, George was OC of X Platoon. He transferred to 90th Brigade Cyclist Company in September 1915 and served in France with 30th Division Army Cyclists Corps. In 1916 he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps.
2nd Lt Philip Ward was born in Q1 1898 Leigh, Lancashire. He was sent to Leigh Grammar School in 1906. He joined Rossall School in September 1911, Philip Ward came as a mathematical scholar, and was placed on the Classical Side, but, shortly afterwards, when it was discovered that his bent lay rather in the direction of science, he was transferred to the Modern Side, where he rose steadily and rapidly to the Sixth Form, devoting the greater part of his time to the subject which was intended to determine his future career. He was one of those boys who got through their school-time without attracting much attention, not gifted in athletics, quiet and unassuming, but with a steady determination to make the best use of their opportunities. It was just these sterling qualities which marked his later career, when after preliminary training in the OTC of Manchester University, he obtained a Commission in the Manchester Regiment. Joned Btt 16/7/1917. His Company Commander depicts him ‘doing magnificent work in a very quiet way, almost most devoted to duty, and exceedingly unselfish about his work.’ His native grit, which came out in his patient endurance of a broken leg when almost a child, developed into a fine courage, of which brother officers speak in the highest terms. “A braver lad never walked; he was loved by us all and of late he has been almost worshipped by the men. He has shown himself to be as brave as a lion, and very fond of his men, who were devoted to him. He was greatly admired by us all, and only ten days ago he did splendid work in a counter-attack, for which I was only too pleased to recommend him for the MC.” Comm May 1917. Arrived 17th Bttn 16/6/1917. C Coy Ypres 31/7/1917. Att 201 Fd Coy RE 23/9/1917. KiA 27/12/1917. Photo Cartman
Lt James Watson Comm 23rd Bttn. Appendicitis in 1915. (b 17-19/7/1893) Transferred 27thBttn & att 17th Bttn July 1916. He was the son of Robert Watson JP and Elizabeth Watson. Family lived in Londonderry – Waterside Presbyterian Church. Educated at Foyle College. Worked for Belfast Banking Company. Enlisted in 10/Royal Inniskilling Regiment – Derry Volunteers.KiA 29-30/7/1916. Buried Squeak Forward Position with three OR and concentrated at Dantzig Alley. Photo Cartman
2nd Lt Herbert Alfred Webster Born Southsea Q4 1895. Schoolboy in Southsea in 1911. Father was draper shopkeeper. Comm 4th Bttn 18/4/1915. Arrived France with 20th Bttn 15/12/1916. Arrived 17th Bttn 16/6/1917. Wounded and taken off strength 20/6/1917. Later Lt & Capt in 1st Bttn.
Brigadier Lt Col H C E Westropp Former Colonel of 2nd Bttn had been CO 12th Bttn. Joined 111th (90th) Bgd in January 1915. Replaced due to ill-health 10/8/1915.
Major John James Whitehead 17th Bttn (19/8/1871) Repton School. Manchester University. Formerly Capt 2nd Volunteer Bttn & 5th Lancs Fusils. Family Hale Carr, Cheshire. Comm. 11/12/1914. 2nd Place in Officers Horse Race at Heaton Park Sports Day in April 1915. T/Major 02/01/1915. Major Bttn HQ when arrived in France, 7th November 1915. Temp CO as Major 28/3-10/4/1916 and in Aug 1916. CO on 1/9/1916 when L/Col Grisewood sick in 96th FA. In Command at Flers 12/10/1916. CO from 20/10/1916. Leave in UK 13/11/1916. CO Conference at 3rd Army HQ 7/1/1917. Returned as CO 15/1/1917. Leave & Returned with sick extension 21/3/1917. Became 2iC when H A Johnson returned date 19/4/1917. Major Whitehead received DSO for command 23/4/1917. MiD 9/4/1917 (WD 30/5/1917) DSO 3/6/1917. Took over Command 18/6/1917 when Lt Col Johnson returned to UK. CO 31/7/1917. Granted 10 days leave 16/8/2017 with Major Fearenside 2iC Capt in A Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. T/CO and Capt Pomfret 2iC. Granted extension of sick leave & struck oHis assistance with training as Adjutant is recognised in the Book of Honour.ff strength 16/9/1917. Returned as CO 6/1/1918. Course with RFC 10-13/2/1918. CO Conference with XIII Corps 17-20/2/1918. Hospital 27/3/1918. Proceeded to Boulogen 9/4/1918, pending transfer to UK. Millbank Hosp with gastritis 10/05/1918 discharged to duty after 6 weeks.
Lt Frederick John Gordon Whittall (11/10/1888) Was A/Sgt 8348 2/9/1914 enlisted. Born Bowdon, 1907 Bromsgrove School Cricket 1907. 1907 went to Worcester College, Oxford University & OTC, Sale Rugby Club Cheshire Rugby. Employed as Clerk. Comm 19/10/1914. Lt in D Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Took Command of D COy in Montauban. Proceeded to 1st Army School 14/8/16. MC 26/9/1916. Wounded Flers.
2nd Lt Edgar Wigley late 17th Bttn MGC. ((10/11/1892). Sandringham School, Southport and Manchester Grammar. Institute of Chartered Accountants. Comm 24/9/1914. 2nd Lt in D Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Transf to MGC 8/3/1916, Awarded MC for action at Trones Wood in late summer 1918, where he was gassed. He remained in Army as Accountant until 1921.
2nd Lt Harold Wilks 17th Bttn Born Utoxeter 29/4/1894. Thomas Alleynes School, Uttoxeter and St. Wilfred’s College, Oakamoor, Staffordshire. Draperin Utoxeter there in 1911. Member Nottingham Union Rowing Club. Enlisted Sherwood Foresters 11/1914. Comm 11/ S Staffs R 21/9/1915. France July 1916. Joined Bttn 31/7/1916. Since he joined the battalion a short time ago he had worked very hard, and had charge of our scouts and snipers. He had done good work and was most conscientious in carrying out his duties. KIA Flers 12/10/1916.
Capt John Venables Williams 17th Bttn (03/031881) Harrow School & OTC. Resident Bowdon. Comm. 14/9/1914. Capt OC B Coy when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Transferred to Gen List 28/9/1916 for Liason Duties with French Army 19/9/1916. French Croix de Chevalier 1917.
2nd Lt Joseph Alfred Woollen (b Bridgwater, Somerset 20/11/1895) Apprentice electical instruments resident Newton Heath in 1911. Employed as clerk by Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Enlisted 1415 Royal Marine Light Infantry 16/2/1916. Disch to Commission 31/7/1917. Officer Cadet Comm Manchesters 1/8/1917. Joined att 17th Bttn 1/10/1917. Missing KiA 27/4/1918 with B Coy. Tyne Cot.
2nd Lt Ernest George Woodward Born Lewisham Q3 1884. Insurance Clerk in Blackheath in 1911. 7240 5/11/1915 6 & 1 Plns of Inns of Court OTC then Officer Cadet 11 OCB 7/5/1916, commissioned in Regiment 5th September 1916 with H J Cole & others. Arrived from 3rd Bttn 28/10/1916. Lt ,A/Cpt 24/04/1917. C Coy Ypres 31/7/1917.. PoW as Capt 22/3/1918 for which he was exonerated. Held Mainz. Military Cross. Block 2 Resident in Southampton and Blackheath 1920-21. Photos x2 Cartman
Capt John Hubert Worthington 16th Bttn (4/7/1886) Ryleys Prep. School, Sedbergh School, Manchester University (1906-11). Architect resident Alderley Edge, Cheshire. City dignitary. Played for Manchester FC Rugby Club 1903. Close friend of Wilfrith Elstob.
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Captain Tom Arthur Yarwood 17th Bttn (1872) Pension as Sgt Major 1/ E Lancs Regiment and previously 5th RF. Enlisted as Pte 3/11/1914 and promoted RQMS the same day. Commissioned Honoury 2nd Lieutenant 14th January 1915. QM Lt when Bttn arrived in France, November 1915. Resident of Broughton, Salford. Wounded 10/2/1916. Struck of Establishment 5/12/1916 (WD 1/3/1917).
2nd Lt Kenrick Yorke-Jones 17th Bttn later 17th Bttn. KiA 26/12/1917. Pupil Manchester Grammar School (1911-17) When he left the school he was in the Modern VI, and had won an Exhibition for Modern Languages at Christ’s College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he joined the Cadet Battalion, and went to France September 1917. Member of MGS the Lacrosse Team. Scout and afterwards in the O.T.C., and at home worked for the Wesleyan Sunday School at Northenden. His sincere, unassuming nature and his gentle manliness endeared him to all who knew him, and no one leaves a more stainless record of
Joined 17th Bttn for duty 4/10/1917. KiA Ypres 26/12/1917Age: 19 POELCAPELLE BRITISH CEMETERY Son of Herbert and Leila Yorke-Jones, of “Leekhurst,” Northenden, Manchester. Comm LG 29/9/1917.
Watch this space…
17th Battalion Manchester Regiment on the Somme 