In addition to the enlisted men of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, five Territorial Force (TF) Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) enlisted men from the 1/2nd East Lancs Field Ambulance were attached to the battalion and accompanied them to Egypt and Gallipoli. These five men were, for all intents and purposes, regular members of the battalion posted to a Company but who reported to the battalion’s Medical Officer, Surgeon Major Albert Hilton, RAMC.
Lance-Sgt. 176 Henry (Harry) Cooper, Pte. 179 Richard Cooper, Pte. 177 Joe Bridge, Pte. 270 Richard Handley and Pte. 317 Joseph Rothwell were all from Ashton and Dukinfield and were all former members of the battalion who had subsequently been posted to the RAMC. In their late twenties at the outbreak of war, at least three were former Old Volunteers (and one missed being an Old Volunteer by just a few weeks). Four of them also worked together at New Moss Colliery, Ashton and had done so for some years.
L/Sgt. 176 Henry (Harry) Cooper
Harry Cooper was born on July 4, 1886 in Dukinfield, Cheshire. His father Horatio Cooper was a Colliery engineer and by 1911 Harry was married with a son and a daughter, living in Dukinfield and employed as a below ground filler at New Moss Colliery. Harry was an Old Volunteer, serving with the 3rd Volunteer Battalion Manchester Regiment, and joined the Territorial Force on April 11, 1908 and was given the service number 176. At the outbreak of war, Harry Cooper was a Lance Sergeant in the RAMC and attached to the 9th Manchesters for war service. He deployed to Egypt in September 1914 and landed in Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters on May 9, 1915.
The Saturday 04 September 1915 edition of the Ashton Reporter carried the following article:-
GALLANT DEEDS BY TERRITORIALS.
Two Dukinfield Men Honoured.
COUSINS CONGRATULATED.
Divisional Officer Commends Brave Action.
ATTENDED WOUNDED WHILE UNDER FIRE,
Touching Story of Men Found Lying in Dug-Out.
Lance-Sergeant Harry Cooper, Royal Army Medical Corps, who resided at 21, Peel-street, Dukinfield, and was a miner at New Mom Colliery, and became attached to the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Territorials with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles, has distinguished himself by brave conduct in the firing line in a letter to his wife, dated July 27th, he says
“Twenty men and one officer arrived here from Ashton this week, but I only knew one, still it made one think of home. I see you have got it in the Reporter’ about Colonel Wade and the other two officers, but they are not the first, and, sorry to say, not the last. Up to now people at home have no idea what war is like, or some of the young men would hurry up, and so end it sooner. The sights I saw after one bombardment I shall never forget. All night and all day at our medical aid post the medical officer, Dick Rothwell, Bridge, and myself worked without any rest dressing wounded British, and also Turks who had surrendered. It’s first come first served. Since then, there have been two other big engagements, but not like the first, and I hope it will soon be over, and that with God’s help I may return home safe again. Enclosed is a certificate. Put it by for me, and keep it clean; you can have it framed if you like.”
“The General Officer commanding the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division congratulates Lance-sergt. Harry Cooper, RAMC., on the gallant action performed by him on June 7th, 1915.- William Douglas, Major General, commanding 42nd East Lancashire Div.”
“I got it along with Dick Cooper (his cousin, Private Richard Cooper, R.A.M.C., who resides at 2, Ogden-street, Dukinfield, now with the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Territorials in the Dardanelles) for going and dressing wounded.”
“I was asked if I would like to go and drees some wounded men. I went, and Dick followed me. We had to crawl on our stomachs along the open in front of the enemy’s lines under fire. We got in a dug-out, and found an officer and a sergeant wounded. They had been there three days. We dressed their wounds, but could not bring them back with us. I shall never forget how they cried after we left them. They begged us to take them out, but it was impossible, so we had to leave them, but as they had had nothing to eat or drink from being wounded, I went out again to them with something to eat and drink. Two days afterwards they got a road to them. The officer had died that morning, but the sergeant was alive, and is now in hospital.”
This card (certificate) was presented to us in recognition for what we had done, and I have only one regret, and that is that the officer died after all.
Note: The letter home was almost certainly written on June 27, 1915 not July as stated in the Reporter.
Harry was promoted to Sergeant effective June 1, 1915 perhaps, in part, for his actions that day. Since this created the need for a Corporal, Pte Joe Bridge was simultaneously promoted to Corporal.
Without a surviving service record we do not know the details of Harry Cooper’s remaining war service but we do know that he survived the war and did not apply for a war pension.
Pte. 179 Richard Cooper
Dick Cooper was born on February 21, 1887 in Dukinfield. His father Edward Cooper was a below ground miner and was the older brother of Harry Cooper’s father Horatio. By 1911 Dick Cooper was married with two sons, living in Dukinfield and employed as a hewer at New Moss Colliery. There is no surviving service record for Dick Cooper but based upon his Territorial service number of 179 he must have attested with the Territorial Force on or around April 11, 1908, with his cousin Harry, and was very likely himself an Old Volunteer. Dick Cooper had a younger brother, James Henry Cooper, who joined the 9th Battalion on Saturday February 14, 1914 on the evening of the Smoking Concert at Ashton Town Hall which was the culmination of a highly successful recruiting drive. The two brothers deployed to Egypt in September 1914 and landed in Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters on May 9, 1915; Dick as a private in the RAMC and James Cooper as a private in C Company.
The Saturday 04 September 1915 edition of the Ashton Reporter article ended with:-
Private Richard Cooper, R.A.M.C., of 3, Ogden-street, Dukinfield, has also received a similar certificate from Major-General Douglas. In a letter to his wife, he says:
“Our James has been wounded, and he was sent away from here. I was told that his wound was not serious, but I do not know, for I did not see him, because I was in the other trenches dressing the wounded. I am sending a card (certificate) with this letter, and I want you to take care of it, because I want to have it framed. The officer says it will not be all that I shall get. It was for going out in the open and dressing five men, one sergeant, and one officer. Me and Harry (Lance-Sergeant Harry Cooper mentioned above) went out together, and we got a card apiece.”
Private Cooper was also attached to the 1/9th Manchester Territorials, and, like his cousin, was a miner at Moss Colliery before going out to the war.
Clearly the letter home from Dick Cooper was written before June 20, 1915 because the Saturday 03 July 1915 edition of the Ashton Reporter carried the following sad news:-
DIED OF WOUNDS
Ashton Territorial Leaves Wife and Two Children
Official intimation has been received that Private James Henry Cooper, whose wife lives in Church- street, Ashton, and his mother and father in Peel-street, Dukinfield, has died from wounds received on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Private Cooper was in the Ashton Territorials. He has two other brothers in the Army, one in the R.A.M.C. Division of the Ashton Territorials, and the other in Kitchener’s Army. He leaves a wife and two children.
On Sunday morning the family and relatives attended St. Mark’s Church, Dukinfield, and also a number of men from the Armoury, as a mark of respect. The Rev. W. King, curate, delivered an appropriate sermon. In the evening a service was held at the Hill-street Mission, Dukinfield, when Mr. Kendrick, who had known Private Cooper from boyhood, delivered an address.
Prior to the outbreak of the war Private Cooper was a collier at the Ashton Moss Colliery, and had already been in the 9th Battalion 12 months. The last Mrs. Cooper heard from him was a week last Tuesday, when he wrote that he was quite well, and hoped she and the “kiddies” were the same. He added that he had seen some horrible sights since they had landed in the Dardanelles, and the bursting of shells all around and over them was terrible. The official intimation stated that he died on the 20th June.
Without a surviving service record we don’t know the details of Dick Cooper’s remaining war service but we do know that he survived the war and was granted a war pension for some minor disability caused by his war service.
Pte. 177 Joe Bridge
Joe Bridge was born on July 21, 1888 in Ashton under Lyne. His father Joseph Bridge was a minder at a Cotton Mill. By 1911 Joe was living as a boarder with the Mason family in Ashton and working as a piecer in a cotton mill. Joe eventually married Lilly Mason, the Mason’s oldest daughter, in early 1918 but in 1911 he was still single. Joe joined the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on May 13, 1908, having not previously served with the Volunteers, and was given the service number of 362. Six months later he transferred to the RAMC, Territorial Force but remained attached to the 9th Manchesters. With them he attended the summer camps each year (skipping the one at Aldershot in 1913) and re-enlisted for an additional four years on June 25, 1912. At the outbreak of war, he was a private in the RAMC and attached to the 9th Manchesters for war service. He signed his Territorial Force Agreement to Serve Overseas (form E.624) on September 1, 1914 at Chesham Fold Camp and deployed to Egypt with the battalion. Here he committed a couple of minor infractions in December 1914 (not complying with battalion orders) and March 1915 (absent without leave from camp overnight).
He landed in Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters on May 9, 1915 and came through the campaign unscathed being promoted to Corporal, (effective June 1, 1915), upon the promotion to Sergeant of Harry Cooper. He remained with the battalion in Egypt in 1916 and once again committed a couple of minor infractions in April 1916 (not complying with battalion orders) and May 1916 (late on Parade). He became time expired on May 13, 1916 but was compelled to serve an additional year under the terms of his engagement with the Territorials. In March 1917 he sailed with the battalion to France and on May 13, 1917 was again required to continue in the service, this time for the duration of the war, under the terms of the Military Service Act, 1916. He took a short home leave in June 1917 and another longer home leave of 31 days in January 1918 when he married Lily Mason in a registry office in Ashton under Lyne. Shortly after his return to France he was transferred to the 5th Field Ambulance and did not rejoin the 9th Manchesters again. His new unit was not quite so tolerant of his minor infractions and so on August 19, 1918 he was reduced to the rank of private for “inefficiency”. On April 17, 1919 he proceeded to the UK to be demobilised which finally occurred on May 16, 1919. In 1923 he was. Perhaps somewhat ironically, awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal implying that he may have rejoined after the war when the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment was reformed in late 1920.
Pte. 270 Richard Handley
Richard Handley was born in Ashton under Lyne on September 10, 1885.By 1911 he was married, living in Ashton and working as a below ground filler at New Moss Colliery, like Harry Cooper. Richard was a former member of the 3rd Volunteer battalion Manchester Regiment but had since left the service. He enlisted in the East Lancs Royal Army Medical Corps, Territorial Force on January 7, 1914 and was given the service number 270. At the outbreak of war, he was a private in the RAMC and attached to the 9th Manchesters for war service. He deployed to Egypt in September 1914 and landed in Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters on May 9, 1915.
Pte Handley survived the Gallipoli Campaign intact and deployed with the battalion to Egypt in 1916 and then to France in March 1917. Since he had been continuously serving overseas for around 2 ½ years he was granted a short UK leave in April 1917. He rejoined the battalion in France on April 30th and remained with them until July 1917 when he transferred to home service. In September 1918 he was transferred to Class W (T) Reserve and was finally discharged on March 28, 1919. Suffering from rheumatism linked to his overseas service he was awarded the Silver War badge and for a time collected a small war pension.
Pte. 317 Joseph Rothwell
Joseph Rothwell was born on March 4, 1886 in Ashton under Lyne. His father George Harry Rothwell was a bobbin turner (a woodworker that made bobbins for the cotton industry). By early 1911 Joseph was married with two daughters, living in Ashton and working as a Carter for a laundry. He joined the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment on July 1, 1911, (as one of a group of around 30 men that attested that day), and by this time was working as a miner at New Moss Colliery. He was given the initial service number of 1183 and reported on his attestation papers that he was an Old Volunteer, previously serving with the 3rd Volunteer Battalion Manchester Regiment. At the outbreak of war he was a private in the RAMC and attached to the 9th Manchesters for war service. Like Joe Bridge, he signed his Territorial Force Agreement to Serve Overseas (form E.624) on September 1, 1914 at Chesham Fold Camp and deployed to Egypt. He subsequently landed in Gallipoli with the 9th Manchesters on May 9, 1915.
In August 1915 Joseph aggravated a hernia, (that he was suffering from when he attested), while carrying wounded men. He reported this the battalion’s Medical Officer, Major Thomas Frankish, RAMC who authorized his medical evacuation. Joseph was operated on at the No. 5 Stationary Hospital (Queen’s University of Kingston, Ontario), Canadian Mediterranean Forces, Abbassia Barracks, Cairo. After he had sufficiently recovered, he was repatriated to the UK where he was able to spend Christmas 1915 at home with his family. Since he was due to become time expired on June 30, 1916 he elected to pre-emptively re-engage with the Territorial Force on April 29, 1916. He served the remainder of the war separate from the 9th Manchesters and was disembodied on February 15, 1919.