2nd Lieutenant John Mayall Wade

John (Jack) Mayall Wade was born in Ashton-under-Lyne on September 28, 1894. He was the only son of Lt. Colonel Doctor Herbert Wade and named after his grandfather Mayall Wade.

2/Lt J.M. Wade

In 1911 he was attending Ashton Grammar School living with his mother, father and younger sister on Mossley Road, Ashton-under-Lyne. He entered Manchester University that same year and gained a B.Sc. Engineering in 1914. He was a member of the Manchester University Officer Training Corps from 1911 to August 1914.

He was commissioned into the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on September 2, 1914 along with several others. He joined the Battalion while they were in camp at Bury and sailed with them to Egypt in September 1914 serving with them there throughout their training and preparation for action. He landed with the 1/9th in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 as a platoon commander in “C” Company.

“C” Company was 242 strong, including Officers, when the landing took place. Captain HAMER was in command, Captain OKELL second in command, and Lieuts. LILLEY, STRINGER, CONNERY, and WADE were commanders of 9, 10, 11, and 12 Platoons respectively.

After dark on 7th June 100 men of “C” company of the 9th Battalion, along with two Companies of the Chatham Battalion of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, Royal Naval Division engaged in a frontal assault of the Turkish front line trenches.

Capt. GEORGE HAROLD OKELL and Lieut. ALBERT EDWARD STRINGER led the charge against one trench, and Capt. FRANK HAMER and 2/Lieut. JOHN (JACK) MAYALL WADE against the other trench. Capt. HAMER fell before reaching the trench. Lieut. STRINGER succeeded in reaching the trench but was subsequently killed by the enfilading fire from a machine gun.

Published in the Ashton Reporter 3rd July 1915.
LIEUT. J.M. WADE Wounded in the Fighting in Dardanelles.
COMMANDING OFFICER’S SON.
Second-Lieutenant J.M. WADE, son of Lieutenant-ColonelD.H.WADE, the commanding officer of the Ashton Territorials now at the Dardanelles, is officially reported to have been wounded in action. Lieutenant WADE displayed great courage in the bayonet charge on the Turkish trenches, which cost Captain HAMER and Lieutenant STRINGER their lives. His wound is not serious. It consists of a bayonet wound in the wrist. The information is conveyed in a cablegram which Mr. John Neal received from Col D.H.WADE on Saturday morning, from Alexandria. Lieut. WADE, who has taken his B.Sc, with honours, was studying for his M.Sc, when the war broke out. He was gazetted to the Ashton Territorials on September 2nd, 1914. He speedily became popular with the men, and his courage on the night of June 7th has earned for him the wholesale respect and admiration of the men. It is a curious trick of fate that both father and son should be put out of action at the same time.

Captain O’Kell assumed command of “C” Company but less than two weeks later he was invalided to hospital suffering from exhaustion and was subsequently repatriated to the UK. 2/Lt. Wade now assumed command of the Company which he was belatedly recognized for in his subsequent promotion to Lieutenant (Gazetted September 11, 1917).

“B” Company made an attempt on the 18th June to clear the Turks out of two small trenches, but they found the Turks in such great numbers that they had to retire, and the Turks charged our trench, which was held by a few of “C” Company and a number of the 10th Manchesters, and gained a footing in part of it. Both Lieut. WADE and Lieut. CONNERY took part in “B” Company’s attack, volunteering for the job, and led portions of the men. Lieutenant JACK WADE, jumped into a Turkish trench with six other men. They were never seen again.

Published in the Ashton Reporter January 17th 1915.
LIEUT. J.M. WADE.Officially Reported Missing.
In the official casualty list published on Thursday, Second Lieutenant J.M. WADE, son of Lieut-Colonel D.H. WADE, the commanding officer of the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, now in the Dardanelles, is reported to be missing. The official notification reads – “Previously reported wounded, now reported missing”.

Lieut. WADE has been missing since June 18th, when he took part with the Ashton Territorials in a night attack on a strong Turkish position. According to letters received, he was seen to spring over the parapet of a Turkish trench, but was not afterwards seen. He was a fine young English gentleman, with a brilliant career before him, combining, as he did, all the fine intellectual qualities that a good education can give. His father is lying in hospital at Alexandria, as the result of wounds received in the operations at the Dardanelles.

The hope is entertained that Lieut. WADE has been taken prisoner by the Turks, and that, cut off as he would be under such circumstances, some time would necessarily elapse before his whereabouts could be communicated. Although wounded twice, the first time accidentally and the second by a Turkish bayonet thrust in the wrist, which latter was still bandaged, he pluckily volunteered to take part in a night attack on a Turkish position. “C” Company, with which he was connected, charged the enemy’s position, and succeeded in reaching the first line of trenches. Lieut. WADE displayed great bravery and personal heroism. He was seen alone on the edge of the trench, which was stated to be packed with Turks. Without a moments hesitation he leaped down amongst them, and, fighting with great courage, he accounted for several of the foe. What happened after that it was difficult to say, as the accounts given are conflicting. A letter, which was received by Mrs. WADE from Major R.B.NOWELL, who is at present in command of the battalion, may be taken as authentic. He writes –

126th Infantry Brigade, 42nd Division, June 24th 1915. “Dear Mrs. Wade, I am extremely sorry to have to tell you that JACK has been missing since the 15th inst. Better news than I can send you may reach you before this does. I sincerely hope it has. JACK was engaged in attack operations on the 18th, and was seen to jump into a Turkish trench. It was subsequently rumoured that he had been hit, and was seen walking down to the hospital. I have made exhaustive enquiries, but have been unable to get any information tending to confirm this. He may have been taken prisoner, and I keep hoping against hope that this was the case. Some facts I know – The trench was literally crammed. I know JACK to be a very gallant boy, one of the coolest and gayest in danger, and I much fear that the idea of putting up his hands would not occur to him until it was too late. I wish that I could put this less bluntly to you, but one’s own mental outlook here is scarcely normal. I trust that you may hear from him, but, in any event, his services as a trained officer and a most valued leader on account of his coolness and personal magnetism are lost to the battalion and country during the war. I can only add the almost unnecessary assurance of the sympathy of all of us in this state of anxiety and doubt for his mother. I have the honour to remain, sincerely yours, R.B. NOWELL, Major“.

Lieutenant John (Jack) Mayall Wade was killed in action on June 19, 1915. He was just 20 years old. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.

The Empire (or Cape Helles) Memorial
Copyright: Harvey Barrison

Lieutenant John (Jack) Mayall Wade is also commemorated on:

  1. Ashton-Under-Lyne Civic Memorial.
  2. University of Manchester War Memorial, Main Quadrangle.
  3. Manchester University Engineering Department War Memorial, George Begg Building.
  4. Ashton-Under-Lyne Secondary Day School Roll Of Honour WW1.
  5. St Michaels Church Roll Of Honour WW1, Ashton-Under-Lyne.

2nd Lieutenant Hugh George Shatwell

Hugh George Shatwell was born on January 31, 1889 in Openshaw, between Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester. By 1911 he was living with his older brother William and is listed conversely as a student and a teacher at Owen’s College. Owen’s College was the original name of Victoria University of Manchester.

Shortly after the outbreak of the war Hugh George Shatwell was commissioned into the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on September 2, 1915 while the Battalion was at camp in Bury.  He sailed with them to Egypt in September 1914 serving with them there throughout their training and preparation for action and landed with the 1/9th in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915.

He is not mentioned in the Battalion or Brigade war diaries in Gallipoli but he was promoted to temporary Lieutenant with precedence from July 1, 1915. There is some anecdotal evidence, from letters published in the Ashton Reporter, that he served as platoon commander in A company.

He served with the Battalion in Egypt and on September 16, 1916 became Company commander of D Company and was simultaneously promoted to temporary Captain. He reverted to temporary Lieutenant on October 30, 1916 when he relinquished command.

He landed with the 1/9th Battalion in France on March 11, 1917 and on April 25th commanded two platoons of D company in an attack on German positions. In May he attended a week’s Gas training course at Divisional Command. Later that month he became temporary assistant Quartermaster when Lieutenant Thomas Grimshaw Hyde went on leave to the UK.  In June he returned to the Divisional gas School but this time as an instructor, shortly after being promoted to full Lieutenant. In July 1917 he was again promoted to temporary Captain, relinquishing his command on September 26, 1917.

On January 11, 1918 he was seconded for duty with the Royal Engineers and was struck off the strength of the battalion. He left the army as a full Captain and in July 1922 married Louise Ashworth in Chorlton, Manchester. By 1939 they were living in Middlesex and he was working as a Chemist.

Captain Hugh George Shatwell died in January 1959 in Middlesex and was survived by his wife. He was 70 years old.

Lieutenant Oliver Jepson Sutton

Oliver Jepson Sutton was born in Stretford on July 29, 1882. His father Charles William Sutton was the head librarian of Manchester from 1879 to 1920. His mother, Sarah Hannah Winder Sutton, died when he was 7 years old and his father married Maria Pocklington just over 2 years later.

He had 3 brothers and one half brother.  Charles Evans Sutton, John Francis Sutton and Albert Bernard Sutton. His half-brother George William Sutton was born in January 1893.

Oliver was educated at William Hulme’s Grammar School, Manchester.  By 1911 he was working as a librarian at John Rylands Library in Manchester and living with his father, step mother and half-brother (who was also a librarian) at 323 Great Clowes St, Higher Broughton.

A former private in the 6th Manchester Regiment, he was commissioned into the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on September 2, 1914 along with several others. Around the same time, his younger half-brother George William Sutton was commissioned into the 1/8th Lancashire Fusiliers. Both brothers joined the 42nd East Lancs Division at Chesham Fold Camp at Bury; Oliver to the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment of the 126th Brigade and George to the 1/8th Lancashire Fusiliers Battalion of the 125th Brigade. They sailed with their Battalions to Egypt in September 1914 serving with them there throughout their training and preparation for action. On February 9, 1915 Oliver was promoted to Lieutenant. Oliver landed with the 1/9th Manchesters in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915, his half-brother William a few days earlier. But William didn’t last long, as on June 6, 1915 he was wounded and medically evacuated to England.

On the evening of July 10, 1915 Lt. O.J. Sutton volunteered to make a reconnaissance of the new trenches being dug by the Turks. He went out under cover of darkness with Sergeant Harry Grantham and the following night went out again to verify their observations.  Sgt. Grantham later described the event to the Ashton Reporter:

“Lieut. Sutton and myself went out two nights in succession, July 10th and 11th. We each took a piece of rope with us, attached to our wrists and to the parapet of our trench. We pulled it along with us until we reached the Turkish trenches, and so were able to measure the distance between our trenches and theirs. The Turks saw us, but we ran about five or ten yards, and then lay flat on the ground among dead Turks. It was somewhat exciting, especially when they fired at us, but luckily we were missed.  Both General Prendergast and General Douglas congratulated us.”

The Battalion went into the trenches again on Aug 7th and two platoons under Lt. Sutton proceeded to reinforce the firing line on the right at 2:30pm. Shortly after arrival, Lt. Sutton was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel and eventually had to go back to the Casualty Clearing Station. He was subsequently evacuated to hospital in Cairo where he remained for 75 days before rejoining the Battalion in Gallipoli on October 21, 1915. Upon his return he was immediately appointed temporary Captain while the Battalion was in the trenches. 3 weeks later, his brother William rejoined the 1/8th Lancashire Fusiliers having recovered from his wounds.

On January 28, 1916 Lieutenant Sutton, who was now serving with the battalion in Egypt, was mentioned in despatches of General Sir Ian Hamilton and awarded the Military Cross on February 1st for his reconnaissance work of July with Sgt. Harry Grantham (who had been awarded the DCM).

In May 1916 he was awarded 33 days leave in the UK returning on June 19, 1916. By September 1916 he was temporary commander of C Company relinquishing command to Major T. E. Howorth in December upon Howorth’s return to the Battalion.

He sailed with the Battalion to France, arriving March 11, 1917 and in June 1917 was promoted to Captain with precedence from November 9, 1916. On May 3, 1917 he was appointed temporary adjutant. He took 14 days leave to the UK from June 5 – 19. He took 5 days leave in Paris from August 14-19 and 13 days hone leave in the UK from October 20th to November 2nd.

On March 21, 1918 the 9th Manchesters were serving in the in the 198th Brigade of the 66th (2nd/East Lancashire) Division. The 9th Battalion were in the support line at Hervilly, East of Péronne, on the evening of March 20, 1918. The entire divisional front came under an intense artillery and gas bombardment starting at 4.40am and the Battalion was quickly moved up towards the front and by 4pm on the afternoon of March 21st, 2 Companies of the 9th Battalion were in front of Trinket redoubt. The following is excerpted from a report on operations March 21/22 by Lt. Col. EC Lloyd, Commanding Officer of the Battalion at that time:

“March 22, 1918. At about 10:30am a barrage was put down in the rear of the trenches, which was at first taken to be that of the enemy, but it increased in volume and two direct hits came on the Battalion Headquarters killing one company commander [Capt. DB Stephenson] who was there and severely wounding the Adjutant [Capt. OJ Sutton]. … A pigeon basket was luckily found and despatched to ask our artillery to cease fire.”

Around noon the battalion was forced to retire from their position under heavy enemy machine gun fire from both flanks. Captain Oliver Jepson Sutton, M.C., was reported wounded and missing in action on March 22, 1918. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France. Captain Sutton was 35 years old.

Pozieres Memorial

Lieutenant William Hampson Lillie

William Hampson Lillie was born in Wimbledon, Surrey on October 9, 1888. His father, William, owned a Cotton Cloth Finishing business. By 1901 the family had moved to Marple.

William Hampson Lillie attended boarding school at Adlington Hall, in Cheshire. At the turn of the century Adlington Hall was briefly a “School for Backward and Delicate Boys” and in 1901 it was run by schoolmaster Reverend Oswald E. Hayden, a vicar’s son, and a fresh Oxford Christ Church graduate.  Only five pupils are listed as boarders in the 1901 census. After that he attended Manchester Grammar School.

Lillie was commissioned as 2/Lt. in the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on September 3, 1909 and promoted to full Lieutenant on January 1, 1910. But on November 15, 1913 he resigned his commission. In his civilian life he was back living with his parents in Marple and working as an assistant cloth finisher in the family business.

He was re-commissioned into the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on September 2, 1914 while the Battalion was at camp at Bury preparing for war service.

He sailed with the Battalion to Egypt in September 1914 and served with them there throughout their training and preparation for action. He was promoted to Lieutenant, along with several other junior officers, on November 4, 1914 while serving in Egypt. While in Egypt he was temporarily assigned as Military Liaison Officer (MLO) to the Indian Expeditionary Force, Suez and the Australian & New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Alexandria. He landed with the 1/9th in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 as a platoon commander in C Company.

He survived the intense fighting that C Company in particular was involved in, in June, and was subsequently transferred to Brigade Staff where he served as Staff Captain. He was evacuated to hospital in Alexandria on August 9th and is noted in the Brigade war diary as returning from detail camp at Mudros in November 1915. In fact, he rejoined the Battalion on November 17th and was promoted to temporary Captain upon his return.

On February 8, 1916, while the Battalion were in Egypt, he was granted 56 days leave in the UK. He rejoined them on April 4, 1916.

He landed with the 1/9th in France on March 11, 1917 and was appointed temporary Captain during a Company reorganization that same month relinquishing the temporary rank in August 1917. On May 12, 1917 he was granted 16 days leave in the UK rejoining the Battalion on May 28th. On June 11, 1917 he was attached to the 126th Brigade HQ and remained there for 69 days where he served as Staff Captain and Assistant Brigade Major. During this period he was promoted to Captain with precedence from July 5, 1917. He was wounded in action (Gassed) on September 6th at Ypres and spent 37 days in hospital before rejoining the Battalion on October 13, 1917.  10 days later he attended a 4th Army Gas School and upon completion was sent to the UK and struck off the strength of the Battalion on November 1, 1917.

On November 6, 1917, he was seconded to the British Military Mission to the USA and subsequently traveled to California where he was stationed at Camp Kearny.  Camp Kearny was a training camp for the National Guard regiments and inducted men who would comprise the 40th “Sunshine” Division. The 40th occupied the camp from August 1917 – July 1918 before being sent overseas, to France, on August 3, 1918 where they were re-designated as the 6th Depot Division. In this capacity they received, equipped, trained, and forwarded replacements to other Divisions. Captain Lillie served as their Anti-Gas Instructor. He was demobilised in 1919.

After the war, orders to reform the 9th Battalion were received in October 1920 and Lt-Col D. H. Wade was appointed Commanding Officer. On February 24, 1921 William Hampson Lillie was appointed Captain in the Territorial Force Reserve and joined the newly reformed battalion.

In civilian life he married Mary Ida Ruston Fitter in Warwickshire, on March 27, 1920. Their son Kenneth Charles Lillie was born in February the following year and a daughter, Ida Sonia Lillie, was born in November 1922. At this time they were living in Hazel Grove, Stockport and William had taken over the family business.

He continued to serve with the battalion until his 50th birthday on October 9, 1938 when he was obligated to retire due to reaching the age limit, retaining the rank of Captain. After the outbreak of war, he submitted his application for Application For Registration in the Army Officers’ Emergency Reserve, for Appointment to a Temporary Commission in His Majesty’s Land Forces on Mobilization and rejoined the Army as Lieutenant on April 8, 1941.  He went on to serve for 2 1/2 years before relinquishing his commission on December 23, 1943 just after he turned 55. His son served as an officer in the Royal Army Service Corps, reaching the rank of Temporary Captain and was awarded the Oder of the Bath in 1945, while his daughter in the Women’s Land Army, in Anglesey.

Captain William Hampson Lillie died in 1972. He was 83 years old.

Lieutenant James Alfred Parker

James Alfred Parker was commissioned into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 8th May, 1914.

He sailed with the Battalion to Egypt in September 1914 and served with them there throughout their training and preparation for action. He was promoted to Lieutenant, along with several other junior officers, on November 4, 1914 while serving in Egypt. He landed with the 1/9th in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 as a Platoon Commander in “B” Company.

He is  not mentioned in the Battalion or Brigade war diaries but anecdotal evidence from letters published in the Ashton Reporter indicate that Lieutenant Parker was involved in the bayonet charge of June 18th and temporarily assumed command of B Company upon the wounding, and subsequent death, of Captain Harold Sugden.

Regimental records report that he was invalided to Alexandria suffering from Enteric Fever on July 6, 1915.  He spent the next six months in hospital and recovering before rejoining the Battalion in Egypt on January 21, 1916. Just 4-days later he was charged with Disobeying an Order from his Company Commander and detained pending a Field General Court Marshal. The Court Martial convened on February 14, 1916 in Shallufa where he was found guilty and sentenced to 12 weeks hard labour and then to be cashiered. His custodial sentence was commuted to 56 days served and he left Egypt for the UK on March 22, 1916 where, upon arrival, he was cashiered from the Army.

The Battalion evacuated the Gallipoli peninsula on December 28, 1915 and arrived in Alexandria on January 18, 1916 where they entrained for Cairo and then moved to Mena Camp, 10 miles from the centre of Cairo. The 1/9th Battalion war diary states that the Battalion received orders to move to Tel-El-Kabir, 110 km north-east of Cairo, on January 24th, the day before Lt. Parker’s “incident”. Perhaps Lt. Parker was struggling to come to terms with his return to military life in a combat zone, after his experiences in Gallipoli followed by his long absence recovering from his bout of enteric fever, and upon being ordered to move from the safety and security of camp in Cairo decided that he could no longer continue. Whatever the case, it was a sad and ignominious end to his otherwise fine Army service.

WO90/6 Judge Advocate General’s Office: General Courts Martial Registers Abroad provides the following additional details:
Lt. J. A. Parker 1/9th Bn The Manchester Regt (TF)
Trial Date: 14th Feb 1916.
Where Held: Shallufa
Nature of Charge: Disobeying CC
Sentence: Cashiered & 84 days Hard Labour
Remitted: 56 days

The London Gazette of the 5th April, 1916 has the following entry:
Manchester Reg’t. Lieut. James A. Parker is cashiered by sentence of a General Court-Martial. 29th Feb, 1916.

Lieutenant Thomas Grimshaw Hyde

Thomas Grimshaw Hyde was born in Chorlton on March 30, 1896. His father, Thomas Hyde, was a Master Brewer and the owner of Hyde’s Brewery Ltd. Thomas was educated at Gresham’s School in Holt, Norfolk and is shown as a boarder there in the 1911 census along with his younger brother Alfred Neal Hyde. After he left school he worked in the family brewing business.

Thomas’s mother Margaret Hyde, (née Neal), was the younger sister of the 9th Battalion’s Commanding Officer Lt.-Col. D.H. Wade’s wife Ada and no doubt because of this family connection Thomas was commissioned into the 9th Battalion on April 27, 1914 when he was just 18 years old. The London Gazette listing reads as follows:

9th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment. Thomas Grimshaw Hyde (late Cadet Lance-Corporal, Gresham’s School Contingent, Junior Division, Officers Training Corps) to be Second Lieutenant. Dated 27th April, 1914.

He sailed with the battalion to Egypt serving with them through their training and preparations for action. Whilst in Egypt he was promoted to full Lieutenant on November 4, 1914 along with several other junior officers. He is not mentioned in the Battalion or Brigade war diaries in Gallipoli but regimental and service records indicate he landed with them on May 9, 1915 and remained there until June 16th when he was attached to the rest camp on Imbros as a staff member. On July 22nd he reported sick to the 25th Casualty Clearing Station and was evacuated from there where he was diagnosed with Jaundice. They quickly evacuated him to the Military Hospital Tigné, Malta disembarking the H.S. Gloucester Castle on July 29th. After a couple of nights there he embarked H.M.A.T. Ceramic arriving at Devonport on Aug 7, 1915.

In the UK he was treated for Jaundice and Varicocele and pronounced fit for duty on December 7, 1915 by a medical board at the 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester.

He rejoined the Battalion in Egypt arriving from the UK, with a draft of 66 other ranks on May 19, 1916. The London Gazette notes that he was appointed temporary Captain with precedence from January 3, 1916 (which often means that this was the date he assumed command of a Company). He attended a 10-day course of instruction in Zeitoun in early June and was appointed acting Battalion Quarter Master upon his return in mid June.

He is mentioned again in the Battalion war diary of 1917, when they were in France, noting that he went on leave to the UK on May 24, 1917. He was promoted to Captain on June 7, 1917 and accepted as an RFC Flying Officer (Observer) on Probation on Aug 28, 1917 and permanently left the Battalion on September 2, 1917. He trained at the Wireless and Observers School in Winchester and was Appointed as Flying Officer (Observer) and posted to No 4 Squadron, France on Dec 23, 1917.  He was subsequently posted to 42 Squadron on March 24, 1918. On May 20, 1918 he left for a month’s instruction in flying and after attending Air School was posted to No 37 Training Depot Station to gain experience.

Sadly, his brother Alfred Neal Hyde was killed in action in France on September 21, 1918 while Thomas was at flight school. Second Lieutenant A. N. Hyde of R.A.F. 205 Squadron B.E.F. was killed in action returning from a bombing raid on Busigny, France.

Thomas was in hospital for 10 days in early November and upon his discharge rejoined No 37 Training Depot Station. But by now the war had ended and so on November 27 he ceased instruction on aviation and proceeded home on dispersal. He resigned his commission on January 29, 1919.

After the war, Thomas Grimshaw Hyde married Rose Margaret Miller, the daughter of John Cambre Miller, the Modern Languages Master at Gresham School, in April 1924 in Norfolk. Their first son, Alfred Neal Grimshaw Hyde named after his late brother, was born in 1926. Christopher Grimshaw Hyde was born four years later on April 28, 1930.  By this time Thomas was working in the family brewery business and was living at “Gresham House” in Moss Side, Manchester.

By 1939 Thomas was a Master Brewer and Managing Director of Hyde’s Brewery, Ltd. and was living with his wife, her widowed mother and his youngest son in Hale, Cheshire.

Captain Thomas Grimshaw Hyde died on April 2, 1947. He was buried in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester and was 51 years old.

Lieutenant Robert Gartside Wood

Robert Gartside Wood was born in Stalybridge on June 10, 1890. His father, Robert Wood, was a licensed victualer (landlord of a pub) and later became an alderman of Stalybridge. In 1911 Robert Gartside Wood was living with his family at the Fox Tavern on Ridge Hill Lane and working as a clerk at a cotton mill but by 1914 he was working at the Stalybridge Gas Works.

He was commissioned into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on February 20, 1914 and sailed with the battalion to Egypt serving with them through their training and preparations for action. Whilst in Egypt he was promoted to full Lieutenant on November 4, 1914 along with several other junior officers.

Lieutenant Wood landed with the Battalion in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 and the 1/9th went into the line for the first time on May 21st. Divisional orders were to advance the line 100 yards by digging new fire trenches at night, under cover of darkness. The 1/9th achieved their goal but the 1/10th Manchesters, immediately to their left, failed and so were compelled to try to achieve the same goal but now in broad daylight. Major Richard B. Nowell in a letter to Alderman Wood described what happened and it was published in the Ashton Reporter on November 13, 1915.

The letter stated that Lt. Wood went from his own lines to the assistance of a man wounded in the forward trench of the 10th Manchesters, which was under construction. He reached it in safety, though the approach was swept by machine gun fire, but was shot in the leg immediately after he got out the wounded man. He succeeded in rolling back into the trench, where he in his turn was rescued from drowning in the liquid mud by Private Burke and Private Smith. He was subsequently brought away by these two men, and carried to hospital.

He was wounded on May 25, 1915 by a machine gun bullet to the left buttock and left tibia with compound fracture. He was medically evacuated from Lemnos to Malta sailing on the hospital ship Neuralia, embarking on May 26 and disembarking on June 4th. In Malta he was admitted to the  Blue Sisters Hospital where he remained for approximately 2 months. At Malta, he subsequently embarked the hospital ship Somali on August 2nd, disembarking at Gibraltar on August 6th. Three weeks later he embarked on the Andania finally arriving at Plymouth on August 30, 1915. Here he was medically assessed and admitted to Mrs. Burns’ Hospital for Officers, Stoodley Knowle, Torquay where he remained for several weeks, meeting the King and Queen who happened to make an official visit to the hospital while he was there.

Lt. Wood, who was by this time recuperating at home, was interviewed by the Ashton Reporter, and stated:

“When I was wounded our surgeon saw that both the ankle bones were broken, and it looked almost impossible for it to heel. He said there was no hope, and on the hospital ship that took me away from the Peninsula they asked me if they might take the leg off. I said I would wait until we got to hospital at Malta to see what they said there. At Malta I was placed under a surgeon who, before being attached to the forces, was the head surgeon in St. Thomas’ Hospital, London. I went under two operations, and after the second it was thought there was no hope of saving my foot. I lay on my back absolutely numb for three months. My foot was saved, and I am recovering very well from the injury.”

Lt. Wood was awarded the Military Cross for his actions that day (Gazetted November 8, 1915) and was later also awarded the French Croix de Guerre (Gazetted February 24, 1916). He received his Military Cross from the King at Buckingham palace on Thursday February 3, 1916.

Despite his upbeat statement to the press, his recovery was long and painful and throughout the course of the next two years he was medically assessed on a regular basis. Shortly after receiving his medal from the King he rejoined the 3/9th Battalion at Codford passed fit for light duty, (office work). This was a little optimistic and he was subsequently granted 6 weeks medical leave from June 2 to July 13, 1916.  He was again passed fit for light duty and on November 23 joined the Command Depot at Heaton Park. As a decorated officer he was a natural fit for recruiting and so on March 10, 1917 he was assigned to recruiting duties in the Manchester recruiting area.

On September 12, 1917 he was promoted to Captain with precedence from June 1, 1916 and in January 1918 joined the 8th Reserve Battalion, Manchester Regiment at Filey. Here, on March 4, 1918, he was pronounced permanently unfit for active service, the medical report noting that his operations had left him with a permanently shortened leg and that he still walked with a limp.

Somewhat remarkably, the Ministry of Labour requested his services and he was eventually transferred to the 191 Prisoner of War Company which was a Labour Corps company that used prisoners of war as skilled but forced labour.

On October 15, 1918 he married Eliza Esther Hardy, of Stalybridge, at Manchester Cathedral but there wasn’t to be much of a honeymoon as he embarked for France 4 days later en-route to a Prisoner of War camp. He was finally demobilised on November 2, 1919, with medical category B2 and joined the Territorial Reserve. He was promoted to Captain in the Territorial Reserve on February 3, 1921 and finally relinquished his commission on Sept 30, 1921 retaining the rank of Captain.

In 1923 he was accepted into the Special Constabulary, a part-time volunteer  arm of the regular police force, where he served for at least the next 19 years. reaching the rank of Inspector.  He served in this capacity during World War Two and subsequently received the Defence Medal to accompany his Special Constabulary Long Service Medal with Long Service Clasp. Throughout this time he and his wife continued to live in Stalybridge, on Mottram Old Road, where he worked for a brewery until they retired to Blackpool. Captain Robert Gartside Wood, M.C., died in 1965 in Blackpool. He was 75 years old.

Lieutenant Henry Chorlton Shaw

Henry Chorlton Shaw was born in Ashton-under-Lyne on November 19, 1890. His father Henry was an Accountant, (and future Deputy Mayor of Ashton), and his mother Mary Emma Shaw, (née Tobin), died when Henry Chorlton Shaw was very young.

By 1911 he was living with his father and older brother, James, in Ashton and working as a secretary at a cotton mill. He was commissioned into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant on February 16, 1914 and promoted to Lieutenant on September 2, 1914 the same day that Brigadier-General D. G. Prendergast, commanding the East Lancashire Infantry Brigade, visited the Battalion at Bury during their final preparations to leave for Egypt.

He sailed with the battalion to Egypt on September 10th and served with them through their training and preparations for action. He landed with the Battalion in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 assigned to D Company. He was not subsequently mentioned in the Battalion or Brigade war diaries but in January 1916 he was reported to be in hospital at Oxford after having spent some time in hospital in Malta.

After recuperating, he joined the 3/9th Battalion and was considered unfit for any additional overseas service. He was promoted to Captain on August 9, 1917 with precedence from June 1, 1916.

Sometime in 1916, he met and fell in love with Elsie May Nickson who was at the time recently married to a private serving in the Army Service Corps, and was by 1916 deployed in France. The result was that their daughter, Betty Shaw was born on June 5, 1918 and divorce proceedings were filed two months later. The decree nisi was granted in December 1918 and the divorce was made final on June 30, 1919, after a damages payment of £350. Henry Chorlton Shaw and Elsie May Wood married shortly thereafter.

Henry Chorlton Shaw relinquished his commission on February 5, 1919 due to ill health contracted on active service, retaining the rank of Captain.

By 1939 he was living on Mottram Road, Stalybridge with his wife, daughter Betty, and son Henry. His occupation was estate agent and money lender.

Captain Henry Chorlton Shaw died in Stalybridge on July 22, 1973. He was 82 years old.

Lieutenant George William Handforth

George William Handforth was born in Ashton-under-Lyne on January 1, 1886 to Robert Handforth, a rent and debt collector, and Jane Alexandrina Handforth (née Dobie). George was educated at the Parish Church School but by the age of 15 had left school and was working as a solicitor’s clerk.

On April 18, 1902 he joined the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, the Manchester Regiment as a private. He was promoted to Corporal on January 29, 1907 and maintained his rank and seniority when the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, Territorial Force was formed on April 1, 1908 and was given service number 14. On December 1, 1909 he was promoted to Sergeant.

In his civilian life, by 1911 he was working as a clerk in the Ashton-under-Lyne Education Office and living with his widowed mother and his two younger sisters, Edith, a teacher, and Margaret who was still at school.

Based upon the recommendation of the battalion’s commanding officer he was commissioned into the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant on June 28, 1913, and promoted to Lieutenant on January 24, 1914 after passing the necessary exam.

He sailed with the battalion to Egypt and served with them through their training and preparations for action. He landed with the Battalion in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 assigned to B Company.  He took over command of C Company in June 1915 after their terrible losses that month and was officially appointed temporary Captain on June 18, 1915 in recognition of this new responsibility. He was involved in the battle of Krithia Vineyard in August, commanding 100 men of C and D companies. Later that month he reported sick to hospital after suffering from ill health for some time. He was sufficiently recovered by September 9th to take command of 102 men going to the light training camp at Imbros. Nevertheless, he reported sick to Hospital in Lemnos 10 days later, (and relinquished his temporary rank of Captain). He spent 21 days in Hospital in Malta before being invalided to the UK on October 8, 1915. Back in the UK he was awarded two months sick leave which was extended by an additional month in December, finally being passed fit for general service in January 1916.

The next official mention of him is rejoining the Battalion in Egypt, from the UK, on March 23, 1916 where he was once again awarded the temporary rank of Captain.  The battalion war diary provides no mention of his activities but he was later to be mentioned in the despatch of July 17 by General Sir Archibald Murray for his distinguished services in the Sinai with the Desert Column. He sailed with the Battalion to France in March 1917 and in August 1917 he was promoted to Captain with precedence from June 1, 1916.

In France, he attended a course of instruction for Company Commanders at Flixecourt in April before proceeding to the UK for 11 days home leave, rejoining the Battalion in France on May 5, 1917. On June 26 he attended a school of instruction with the 3rd Army, rejoining the Battalion on August 2, 1917 after 37 days. He then spent almost two weeks sick in hospital from September 23rd to October 5th. 10 days after rejoining the Battalion he proceeded to leave in the UK for 12 days, returning on October 27, 1917. On February 20, 1918 he was transferred to the 1/7th Manchester Regiment and was struck off the strength of the Battalion. He remained in France until he was demobilised on August 27, 1919.

After the war he became a Freemason and was initiated into the Fidelity Lodge at Ashton-under-Lyne on May 18, 1919.  Also members of this lodge were Frederick Arthur Makin and Robert Gartside Wood, who had joined in 1915 and 1917 respectively. He also studied and received a BA from London University.

Orders to reform the regiment were received in October 1920 and Lt-Col D. H. Wade was appointed Commanding Officer. A few weeks later the War Office confirmed the re-appointments of some old officers including Captain Handforth. He remained in the Territorials and on October 31, 1920 was awarded the Territorial Decoration for long service whilst holding the rank of provisional Major. He was confirmed in his rank of Major on January 27, 1925.

On January 28, 1926 he assumed command of the battalion, when Lt-Col. John Broadbent retired, and was simultaneously promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.  Four years later he was appointed Brevet Colonel and promoted to full Colonel on January 28, 1932 when he relinquished command of the battalion.

In April 1932 he married Dorothy Kershaw in Ashton-under-Lyne and on November 5th of the following year their first daughter, Pauline was born. Their second daughter, Susan Handforth was born in 1935.

By 1939 he was the Director of Education for Ashton and living on Mellor Road with his wife, two children and a domestic servant. During World War II he rejoined the service, finally retiring from the Territorial Army on January 1, 1943 and retaining the rank of Colonel. He was made a Deputy Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Lancaster on January 15, 1946.

Colonel George William Handforth, T.D. died on May 22, 1955. He was 69 years old.

Lieutenant Frederick Arthur Makin

Frederick Arthur Makin was born in Ashton-under-Lyne on September 25, 1874. He was educated at the Albion School & “Whitelaw’s Stamford Academy” in Ashton and joined his father’s mineral (soda) water manufacturing business as an engineer and chemist when he grew up.

On February 6, 1897 he married Hannah Ogden, a publican’s daughter, in Audenshaw and in May that year their first daughter Dorothy May Makin was born.

On January 5, 1900 he enlisted as a private (#2711) in the Imperial Yeomanry and fought with the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Company in the 2nd Boer War in South Africa. The Imperial Yeomanry were a mounted volunteer force and Officers and men were required to bring their own horses, clothing and saddlery with the Government providing arms, ammunition, camp equipment and transport. He served in South Africa from February 11, 1900 to January 28, 1901 and was discharged by his own request after, completing his service, on March 18, 1901. For his services he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with Clasps “Cape Colony”, “Orange Free State” and “S. A. 1901”.

His first son, James Makin, (named after his father), was born on November 31, 1901 approximately 9 months after Frederick’s return to the UK. Mary Makin was born in 1906 followed by Eric Makin in 1909 and Marjorie Makin in 1910.

Frederick was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 9th Manchester Regiment effective May 24, 1913 after serving as a cadet for 3 years in the Officers Training Corp of Manchester University. He was promoted to full Lieutenant on January 24 of the following year.  He sailed with the battalion to Egypt and served with them through their training and preparations for action. He landed with the Battalion in Gallipoli on May 9, 1915. Regimental records show that he left the Battalion on June 3rd and was evacuated sick to the Deaconess Hospital in Alexandria, where he was admitted with Typhoid Fever on June 7, 1915 and subsequently invalided to the UK and struck off the strength of the Battalion when he embarked on the hospital ship Asturias, at Alexandria on August 15, 1915. He arrived at Southampton on August 26th and was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth.

He is not mentioned in any of the Battalion or Brigade war diaries but the following article appeared in the Ashton Reporter on September 4, 1915:

Lieut. FREDERICK A. MAKIN, of the 1/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, Ashton Territorials, returned to his home, The Nest, Taunton Road, Ashton, on Monday, having arrived at the Wandsworth Hospital, London, on Thursday week. He is still very weak as a result of an extremely severe attack of typhoid fever contracted while fighting in the Dardanelles. He is still confined to his bed, but is making steady progress towards recovery. He gave a Reporter representative an interesting account of his experiences on active service.

“We Territorials occupied trenches on the middle of the front. The village of Krithia was on our left, and Achi Baba right in front. There are few places where the shells do not reach, and even when we were bathing in sheltered positions near the beach the shells would come flying over and splashing into the water. Achi Baba is a very strong defence position, and the Turks and their German officers have made it almost as impregnable as Gibraltar itself. Under such circumstances frontal attacks are death traps, and that is where our losses have been caused. The Turks have some splendid marksmen, and hundreds of their snipers have been caught and shot. We had some very narrow escapes from these sharpshooters.

In Gallipoli it is very hot at times, and then it rains heavily, so that you are up to the knees in water in the trenches. After a few days rest you often find your dugout when you return to it full of water, and you have to sleep on the edge of it.

The Ashton Territorials have been in the thick of the fighting during the whole time they have been there. There was no choosing of soft jobs for the Territorial Regiment. The quartermaster is in as much danger as the man in the firing line, because he is well within the line of shells, which come flying through the camp all the time. They skim along the ground from the way they fire them, and these are especially dangerous. The Turkish losses have been terrific. They are fatalists, and they think that if they are to be killed they will be killed, and so they rush on full tilt.

I was on the Peninsula only about a month, when the doctor ordered me to go to Lemnos for a few days rest. I had boarded the ship, and I was watching some of our cruisers giving the Turks a rousing up by shelling them on Achi Baba, when I fell unconscious, and remained so for a week. I never remembered anything more till I woke up a week later in the Deaconess Hospital, Alexandria. Somehow it seems to be my luck to get into hospitals. During the South African War I had malarial fever, and had to go in hospital there. Now I shall have to have another bar to represent another hospital. I would like everybody to know how well the sisters and the doctors and the orderlies look after the sick and wounded. The way the members of the R.A.M.C. work is wonderful.

I was sorry when I knew I had to leave my comrades, and that I was forced to leave them, because you could not imagine a better set of pals than were the officers of the 1/9th, every one of them. We kept getting split up and decimated, but for good comradeship I never found their equal. The Ashton Territorials have done well, and they think a great deal of their commander, Colonel Wade, and everybody was right down sorry when he got knocked out. It was just as if the head of the family had gone.”

He was well enough to be initiated into the Freemason Lodge of Fidelity in Ashton-under-Lyne on November 18, 1915.  Lieutenants Robert Gartside Wood and George William Handforth joining the same lodge in 1917 and 1919 respectively.

Lieut. Makin was medically assessed and assigned to permanent home service, light duty (office work) and joined the 3/9th Battalion at Codford, Salisbury Plain in March 1916. Here he traveled to Tidworth to be medically assessed and was pronounced permanently unfit for military service. He relinquished his commission on account of ill-health contracted on active service, and was granted the Hon. rank of Lt. on April 2, 1916 and awarded retired pay of £75 per year. He was later awarded the Silver War Badge in December 1916.

To his credit he did not accept the Army’s medical assessment and twice wrote to the War Office requesting to contribute to the war effort. In November 1917 he requested a commission in the Army Service Corps. Motor Transport division noting that he had been driving petrol cars and wagons for 12 years, ran his own car, and knew everything there was to know about engines. He was rejected. Unperturbed, he again wrote to the War Office in September 1918 requesting command of a Volunteer Unit based upon his prior service. He was again rejected.

Lieutenant Frederick Arthur Makin died on May 21, 1924 in Ashton-under-Lyne. He was 49 years old.