Grandad's War

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This web site recounts the WW1 service of four ordinary working class men from the North of England who each volunteered to serve their country in the great war. There is nothing remarkable or unusual about any one of them, or their experiences, but their stories collectively paint a picture of what millions of others must have experienced as they too served.

This is their story, imperfectly told, pieced together from official records, narratives, photos, maps, letters and many, many other sources.

Arthur & Len

Arthur Slater

Arthur Slater was born in 1896, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. He attested on the 17th October, 1914 in Ashton-under-Lyne with a group of pals and they joined the 1/9th Manchester Regiment.

Arthur fought in Gallipoli, where he was wounded and evacuated to Hospital in Cairo for a month. He later rejoined his regiment in Gallipoli and left there for Egypt on 29th December, 1915. The 1/9th Manchesters spent 1916 in Egypt and then in March 1917 left Alexandria for France. Arthur was wounded again in France and after recovering in the UK returned to France with the 1st/Sherwoods in April 1918.

Leonard Monks

Leonard John Monks was born in 1898 in Warrington, Lancashire. He attested in February 1915 in Warrington when he was 16 years old and was assigned as an orderly to the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).

He trained at Aldershot before shipping out to Alexandria in May 1915 as part of the mobilization of the 21st British General Hospital, arriving in Egypt on May 29, 1915. From here he was assigned to the Hospital Ship VITA where he remained for the rest of the war spending time sailing between Bombay and Mesopotamia and then up and down the East Coast of Africa.

Edwin & Eddie

Alfred “Eddie” Downing

Alfred E. Downing was born in 1888 in Warrington. He attested on August 11, 1914 as a Rifleman in the 7th Kings Royal Rifle Regiment when he was 25 years old.

He was rapidly promoted through the ranks to Sergeant and subsequently fought in Ypres and the Somme (where he was wounded and repatriated, spending 68 days in hospital). In May 1917 he was awarded a temporary commission and after 3 ½ months training joined the 9^th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in France as a 2^nd Lieutenant. By May 1918 he was a platoon commander of D Company and about to take part in the 3rd Battle of the Aisne.

Edwin Slater

Edwin Slater was born in 1894 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. He attested in 1914 in Ashton-under-Lyne and joined the 11th Royal Scotts Regiment.

He deployed to France on on September 18, 1915. Around a week later he was involved in the opening phase of the Battle of Loos resulting in 381 Officers and Other Ranks killed, missing or wounded. Edwin was wounded and repatriated but in February 1916 redeployed to France again and later that year was involved in the Battle of the Somme where he was once again wounded and repatriated. He again redeployed to France in 1917 and on August 22 won the Military Medal.

9th Battalion Manchester Regiment

The 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, Territorial Force was a Pals Battalion based in Ashton under Lyne.

1914-15

Shortly after the outbreak of war the 9th Manchesters, as part of the East Lancs Division, mobilised and deployed to Egypt to protect the Suez Canal, to train and to acclimate to North African temperatures.

Kasr el Nil Barracks — Kasr-el-Nil Barracks, Cairo. Shown here from 1936 (Wellcome Library).

On May 9th, 1915 they landed at Sedd-el-Bahr under heavy fire at Gallipoli. They remained in Gallipoli for almost 8 months, leaving on December 29, 1915.

1916-17

In January 1916 the 1/9th Manchesters deployed to Egypt and spent the year there reconstituting their ranks with fresh recruits from England while guarding the Suez Canal from Turkish attack.

Bridge at Serapeum — Pontoon Bridge across the Nile at Serapeum (Australian War Museum).

In March 1917 they deployed to France where they remained for the duration of the war.

Diaries & Biographies

Personal Diaries

A number of personal letters and diaries have been transcribed and made available here. Some are from the Imperial War Museum and two were kindly provided by relatives of the authors.

They include letters and diaries of men that served with the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment in Egypt and Gallipoli. As well as the diary of Sgt. Thomas William Chisholm who was captured at the 3rd Battle of the Aisne (as was Arthur Slater).

Biographies

A number of biographies of some of the people who played a part in the narrative of the four principals of this website, (Arthur Slater, Leonard Monks, Eddie Downing and Edwin Slater), are available on this website.

They include every officer that served with the 9th Manchesters in Gallipoli, all of the 9th Manchesters that won the Distinguished Conduct Medal in Gallipoli, and many more.