Category: 2/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment

The battalion was formed at the Armoury in Ashton-under-Lyne in August 1914 after the 1/9th Battalion left for Chesham Fold Camp in Bury.

Capt. Ralph Lees Marching at the head of the 2/9th Battalion in Ashton, 1914

Copyright Imperial War Museum

The 2/9th moved from Ashton to Southport on Friday November 13, 1914, where they were billeted in digs, mainly on King Street. In May 1915 they moved to Haywards Heath, in Sussex.  A little over a month later, on June 26, 1915 they made the short move to Pease Pottage and they stayed there until September 21st when they moved again, this time to Burham Camp, near Maidstone, Kent. On October 31st they moved to Crowborough Camp.

Their original purpose was as a feeding battalion for the 1/9th, providing much needed drafts of men to replace their mounting casualties in Gallipoli.  In this capacity they supplied significant reinforcements for the 1/9th Battalion on three separate dates; July 23, 1915, August 22, 1915 and October 22, 1915 and through three much smaller drafts on June 22, June 25 and December 1, 1915.

The training carried out by the men consisted of Squad Drill, Platoon Drill, Rifle Exercise, Care of Arms, Physical Exercises, Outpost Exercise, Company Exercise (in attack and defence), Company Exercise (in Fire Control), Judging Distance and Visual Training, etc. , Entrenching, Route Marching, Bayonet Fighting. Musketry & Lectures.

June 22-25, 1915

The first draft of men to arrive in Gallipoli from England was a small group of 16 men along with 2/Lt. EDWARD BALMFORD on June 22, 1915, as reported in the 126th Brigade war diary. These men were taken on the strength of the Battalion as they embarked ship on June 4, 1915. Fourteen of the 16 men are listed below.

Shortly after this draft arrived, on June 25, a small group of other ranks also arrived. It is almost certain that these men travelled from England with the original draft and were for some reason detained for a few days at Mudros before travelling to Cape Helles and joining the Battalion.

Other men with disembarkation dates of June 1915 but who don’t exactly match the above dates are shown below:

July 23, 1915

The War Diary for the 1/9th Manchesters indicates that a draft of 222 men and five officers arrived in Gallipoli on July 23, 1915.  They left Devonport on July 3, 1915 sailing on the Transport Ship IONIAN. The following list of 215 men has been pulled mainly from the 1914-1915 Star Medal Roll and includes men with “disembarkation” dates of July 1 (when they embarked the ship), July 5 (when the men were taken on strength), July 21 (when the IONIAN arrived at Mudros) and July 23 (when they actually joined the Battalion in Gallipoli). The vast majority of men belonging to the latter group.

Another 5 men with disembarkation dates of July 1915 but whose dates do not exactly match the known dates of the July 22 draft are shown below:

August 22, 1915

Although there is no mention of this draft in the Battalion war diary, the 126th Brigade War Diary states that a batch of 4 Officers and 145 men joined the 1/9th Manchesters in Gallipoli this day. The 1/4th East Lancs and the 1/5th East Lancs each recorded the arrival of reinforcements of 120 men and 123 men on the 20th and 21st respectively). From this batch, the following 139 men includes men with “disembarkation” dates of August 2 (when they embarked the ship and were taken on strength), August 19 (when the HMT ARCADIAN arrived at Mudros) and August 22 (when they actually joined the Battalion in Gallipoli).

The 4 Officers who arrived with this draft were:

2/Lt. PERCY ASPDEN WOODHOUSE who joined the Battalion with this draft of men died of Dysentery a few weeks later on the Hospital Ship DELTA on his way back to England.

Honorary Lt. JOSEPH MICHAEL CONNERY was commissioned from the 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment and was the son of Major MICHAEL HENRY CONNERY, the Battalion QM.

The six men below all have disembrkation dates of August but their dates do not exactly match those associated with the draft. However, it is likely that they arrived with, and were part of, the draft and their dates differ due to clerical inconsistencies and errors.

October 22, 1915

On October 22, 1915 a final large Draft arrived from England consisting of 3 Officers and 134 Other Ranks. This draft of men left Devonport on October 8, 1915 sailing on the Transport Ship DEMOSTHENES. The following list of 117 men have “disembarkation” dates of September 30 (when some embarked the ship), October 8 (when the majority embarked and were taken on strength) and October 22 (when they actually joined the Battalion in Gallipoli).

One of these men, 3301 Pte. Charles Ward, has a Medal Index Card disembarkation date of October 25th but an examintaion of his service record reveals that his B.103 form was missing the disembarkation date and, upon request, the Manchester Regiment provided the next dated entry which was when he joined ‘B’ Company on October 25th. This neatly illustrates the problems inherent in compiling nominal rolls of men from inconsistently created medal rolls. Nevertheless, he was clearly a member of the October 22, 1915 draft.

October 26, 1915

On October 26, 1915 a draft of 11 Officers arrived from England, via Alexandria, along with 110 Other Ranks returning from hospital treatment in Egypt. The Officers embarked HM TS SCOTIAN at Devonport on October 13th, 1915 arriving at Mudros on October 24th, finally joining the Battalion on the 26th.

December 1, 1915

On December 1, 1915 a draft of 7 Other Ranks, (machine gunners), arrived from England.

Additionally, 3289 Pte. Charles Henry Brown has a disembarkation date of December 10, 1915.

1916

At the end of 1915, their role as a feeding unit ceased and they were brought up to strength from recruits drawn mainly from the Chester and Merseyside areas and became part of the 66th Division. On May 18, 1916 they moved from Crowborough Camp to Colchester.

1917

In March 1917 they landed in France and fought on the western front. They fought at Nieuport and in the battle of Passchendaele, in October 1917, where they achieved their objectives after suffering heavy losses and were relieved by the Australians on 13th October.

1918

On the 19th February 1918 the 2/9th were amalgamated with the 1/9th Battalion. In March 1918 the 1/9th was reduced to a training cadre and in April 1918 many of the men from the 1/9th (and 2/9th) were assigned to other front line regiments such as the 1/Sherwoods.

Note: The original text for 1916 – 1918 was taken from the www.themanchesters.org and is their copyright.