Gallipoli NCOs of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment

On August 14, 1914 the ‘Reporter’ group of local newspapers published the nominal roll of men in the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment. We know that this list was not one hundred percent accurate since it has some obvious typos and one or two slightly out of date ranks. Additionally, it does not provide any service numbers which 110 years later presents some challenges in corroborating all of the men listed. Nevertheless, it does provide a strong basis for understanding the organization and constitution of the companies and their Non-Commissioned Officers who deployed to Chesham Fold Camp in September 1914 and subsequently to Egypt and then Gallipoli in 1915.

Over 100 men joined the battalion in late August and early September before they departed for Egypt, and some of those men, such as 2117 Titus Cropper, became NCOs by the time the battalion landed at Gallipoli on May 9, 1915. Many of the men who enlisted during this period had prior military service and so were natural potential additions to the ranks of the NCOs.

On September 5, 1914 the men were asked to volunteer for overseas service, which was not a requirement under the terms of enlistment for the Territorial Force, and after some initial hesitation the overwhelming majority of them signed the required Army Form E.624 paperwork.

From the list published on August 14 we can identify with some certainty the NCOs who deployed to Egypt and then Gallipoli. However, when the battalion landed in Egypt, they switched from the old pre-war eight company formation to the new four company formation. In a four-company battalion, each company was made up of approximately 250 men in 4 platoons with each platoon consisting of 4 sections. At full strength, the battalion had a Regimental Sergeant Major and Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant. Additionally, each company had a Company Sergeant Major, a Company Quartermaster Sergeant, 8 sergeants and 10 Corporals. The companies were labeled ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ and were formed by combining two of the old companies, thus the old ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies were combined to form the new ‘A’ company, the old ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies were combined to form the new ‘B’ company, and so on. In each new company, one of the two Colour Sergeants of the old company was appointed Company Sergeant Major and the other was appointed Company Quartermaster Sergeant.

And just to further complicate matters, on 28 January 1915, Army Order 70 of 1915 was published creating the new rank of Warrant Officer Class II, (WO II), becoming the rank from which a man would typically be appointed to become Regimental Sergeant Major which was a Warrant Officer Class I rank. Company Quartermaster Sergeants did not carry the WO II rank but Regimental Quartermaster Sergeants did. Thus, Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Boocock was variously referenced in military records and newspaper reports as Q.M.S., Colour Sergeant and C.Q.M.S. all of which were effectively the same rank.

Nevertheless, by reviewing the published nominal roll of August 14th we know which new companies each of the NCOs and men belonged to – at least before the expediencies of combat caused some men to be moved around.

In the lists below, ranks are those held in August 1914. Men whose names are struck out with no service number did not travel overseas. Except otherwise noted, those men whose names are struck out but with service numbers traveled to Egypt in September 1914 but did not serve in Gallipoli.

Permanent Staff

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Sgt Major	2716	Joseph		Fowler
Col Sgt	2673	James		Holt
Sgt	228	James		Craig

Notes:

Two out of the three members of the permanent staff deployed overseas but only one deployed to Gallipoli.

Sgt. James Craig

Prior to joining the 9^th Battalion Manchester Regiment as Sergeant on the permanent staff, James Craig spent 12 years in the Regular Army serving in South Africa, the Channel Islands and Ireland (with brief interspersed spells in England) with the 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment.

He did not serve in Egypt or Gallipoli, instead he remained in the UK serving with the 2/9^th Manchesters as Company Sergeant Major throughout 1915 and until at least August 1916. He later transferred back to his former regiment, but this time with the 1^st Battalion, as Quartermaster Sergeant, deploying to Mesopotamia where he died from heat stroke and gastritis in Baghdad on July 14, 1917 leaving a wife and four young children.

Col. Sgt. James Holt

Colour Sergeant Instructor James Holt deployed to Egypt with the battalion but was invalided back to the UK from Egypt in March 1915, arriving in Ashton in early April, where he was treated at Whitworth St, Hospital.

RSM Fowler — Regimental Sergeant Major Fowler

He did not serve in Gallipoli and spent the remainder of the war on home service. He was later commissioned into the Labour Corps on May 12, 1917. The departure of Colour Sergeant Instructor Holt in Egypt left a serious gap in the battalion’s operational effectiveness and efficiency, consequently Sergeant Instructor John Alexander Christie of the 5^th East Lancs Regiment was permanently attached to the 1/9^th Manchesters and provided exemplary service.

A Company NCOs:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Col Sgt	257	John		Williamson
QMS	160	Thomas		Burgess
Col Sgt	344	Joseph		Chadderton
Sgt	22	Walter		Hawkins
Sgt	–	S		Hill
Sgt	969	Harry		Grantham
Sgt	287	Charles		Spencer
Sgt	643	Squire		Ellor
Sgt	313	George	Grayson	Mellor
Sgt	–	T		Lord
Sgt	27	James		Nolan
Sgt	64	Alfred		Smith
Sgt	164	Alfred		Scott
L/Sgt	83	Thomas		McDermott
L/Sgt	1271	James		Taylor
Cpl	921	Harry		Bolter
Cpl	121	John	William	Tasker
Cpl	–	J		Litchfield
L/Cpl	1188	William	Henry	Martin
L/Cpl	180	Samuel		Bayley
L/Cpl	596	Harry		Whitehead
L/Cpl	1192	Harry		Trunkfield
L/Cpl	1289	Gerald		Massey
L/Cpl	497	Alfred		Parkins
L/Cpl	1194	William		Chorlton

Notes:

QMS Thomas Burgess deployed to Egypt but did not serve in Gallipoli.
Sgt 27 James Nolan was the battalion’s master cook.
L/Cpl. 497 Alfred Parkins deployed to Egypt but likely did not serve in Gallipoli.
L/Cpl 596 Harry Whitehead was deprived of his stripe in Heliopolis on February 10, 1915 and reverted to Private.

B Company NCOs:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Col Sgt	540	William		Birchall
Col Sgt	339	Mathew	James	Buckley
Sgt	236	George		Turner
Sgt	526	Thomas		Moss
Sgt	104	Harry		Ingham
Sgt	65	Joseph		Fearns
Sgt	1128	Harry		Earle
L/Sgt	845	Albert		Royle
L/Sgt	–	W H		Thorp
L/Sgt	1008	Michael		McHugh
L/Sgt	1171	George		Eyre
L/Sgt	1495	Thomas		Knight
L/Sgt	1205	Samuel		Eyre
Cpl	1010	Sidney		Wood
Cpl	–	J		Atherton
L/Cpl	–	S		Gibson
L/Cpl	1425	Edward		Brown
L/Cpl	787	George		Stringer
L/Cpl	1676	Tom		Littleford
L/Cpl	1734	Herbert	Wilfred	Mathews
L/Cpl	1452	Alvin		Sumner
L/Cpl	1669	Joseph		Wilde
L/Cpl	379	Thomas		Ghenty
L/Cpl	1123	Wil		Marsh
L/Cpl	1233	John	William	Smith
L/Cpl	1306	Reuben		Tyson
L/Cpl	1326	Harold		Shaw
L/Cpl	1464	George		Bromley
L/Cpl	1478	Benjamin		Love
L/Cpl	1486	Charles	Ernest	Wood

Notes:

L/Sgt 845 Albert Royle was invalided home from Egypt and likely did not serve in Gallipoli.
L/Sgt 1008 Michael McHugh did not travel overseas and was discharged with Phthisis on May 16, 1915.

C Company NCOs:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
QMS	5	George		Boocock
Col Sgt	237	Henry		Stringer
Col Sgt	154	George		Newton
Sgt	220	Albert		Fletcher
Sgt	128	Thomas		Langan
Sgt	76	James		Lawton
Sgt	445	John	Albert	Simcox
Sgt	427	Thompson		Tym
Sgt	469	Harry		Illingworth
Sgt	1125	Noel	Duncan	Braithwaite
Sgt	1126	Joseph	Cox	Harrop
L/Sgt	–	J W		Morrison
L/Sgt	–	S		Still
L/Sgt	1244	Walter	Steuart	Eaton
L/Sgt	41	James		Stopford
Cpl	–	S		Kelley
Cpl	1551	Fred		Jones
Cpl	1550	Thomas		Winded
Cpl	243	Thomas		Valentine
Cpl	1480	James		Horsefield
Cpl	54	Arthur		Berisford
Cpl	1520	Frank		Morton
Cpl	1310	Herbert		Morris
L/Cpl	1044	Thomas		Gorman
L/Cpl	1313	James	William	Ramsdale
L/Cpl	1358	George	James	Silvester
L/Cpl	1364	Frank		Howard
L/Cpl	–	R		Adams
L/Cpl	174	John	Henry	Shawcross
L/Cpl	1415	William		Mason
L/Cpl	1423	Albert		Burgess
L/Cpl	1773	Alfred		Binns
L/Cpl	1307	Robert		Constantine
L/Cpl	1246	John		Hampson
L/Cpl	1487	Ernest		Rimmington

Notes:

Cpl 1551 Fred Jones was actually a Sergeant by August 14, 1914. He was commissioned on September 30, 1914 and landed at Gallipoli as one of the battalion’s officers where he was killed in action.
L/Cpl 1307 Robert Constantine chose to revert to Private while in Egypt in 1914 and continued to serve as private.

D Company NCOs:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Col Sgt	108	Robert		Jackson
Col Sgt	266	Albert		Green
Sgt	–	T		Grimshaw
Sgt	31	Thomas		Lomas
Sgt	341	John		Lee
Sgt	136	Henry		Harrison
Sgt	58	Arthur		Bashforth
Sgt	806	Cornelius		Finch
Sgt	680	Thomas		Hargreaves
Sgt	1151	John		Lawler
Cpl	400	James		Chapman
Cpl	724	Joseph	Edward	Appleby
Cpl	1484	John	William	Hughes
Cpl	–	S		Spruce
Cpl	1457	Thomas		Goley
L/Cpl	109	Samuel	Charles	Whitton
L/Cpl	447	Ernest		Eyres
L/Cpl	885	Frank		Goddard
L/Cpl	553	Albert		Bromley
L/Cpl	1119	Percy		Borsey
L/Cpl	1112	William	Emmanuel	Hawley
L/Cpl	–	S		Ingham
L/Cpl	1120	Thomas		Forrest
L/Cpl	–	E		Abbott
L/Cpl	1920	William		Mitcheson
L/Cpl	–	T		Lee
L/Cpl	–	S		Stevenson
L/Cpl	1286	William		Bennison

Notes:

Sgt 58 Arthur Bashforth was a Pioneer Sergeant.
L/Cpl 553 Albert Bromley was discharged due to sickness on November 2, 1914 and did not travel overseas.
L/Cpl 1112 William Hawley was deprived of his stripe at Chesham Fold Camp for being drunk.
L/Cpl 1120 Thomas Forrest was promoted to Corporal on January 11, 1915.

Machine Gun Section:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Sgt	526	Thomas		Moss
Cpl	1364	Frank		Howard

Signallers:

Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
Sgt	136	Henry		Harrison
L/Cpl	447	Ernest		Eyres

Senior NCOs of the 1/9th Manchesters

The two most senior NCOs of a four-company battalion were the Regimental Sergeant Major and the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant.

Regimental Sergeant Major:

Colour Sergeant Joseph Fowler of the permanent staff was appointed Acting Regimental Sergeant-Major (A/RSM) on September 1, 1911. On April 8, 1915 he was appointed 1^st Class Warrant Officer by Divisional Orders confirming his A/RSM appointment. On July 21, 1915 he reverted back to Colour Sergeant when he left Gallipoli for good upon being wounded and medically evacuated to the UK, returning to Ashton in October 1915. In England he joined the 3/9^th (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment and was appointed Company Sergeant Major (CSM) of the “Additional (Overseas) Company, 9^th (Reserve) Battalion” March 28, 1916, (vice CSM Buckley who had just left to rejoin the battalion in Egypt). He was discharged on July 3, 1916 being no Longer Physically Fit for military service after 26 years 280 days service.

Sergeant Instructor John Alexander Christie (attached) was promoted to Company Sergeant Major (WO Class II) and simultaneously appointed Acting Regimental Sergeant Major (WO Class I) in June 1915 when RSM Fowler was wounded. He was confirmed Acting Regimental Sergeant Major on July 21, 1915 when RSM Fowler was medically evacuated to the UK. Christie remained as A/RSM until August 3, 1915 when he was himself medically evacuated to Alexandria suffering from pneumonia. On August 4, 1915 CSM Albert Green (D Company) was appointed A/RSM (vice Christie) and remained in this position until October 20, 1915 when Christie returned to Gallipoli and assumed the Acting Regimental Sergeant Major position. Christie retained this position until the evacuation of the Peninsula and remained with the battalion until late 1918.

Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant:

Colour Sergeant George Boocock was appointed Acting Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (RQMS) when the battalion disembarked in Egypt on September 27, 1914 and converted to the new four-company organizational structure. As such he reported directly to Major Connery, the battalion’s Quartermaster, and there is ample anecdotal evidence that the two men, the oldest of the battalion that deployed to Gallipoli, had a close and highly effective working relationship. On July 13, 1915 RQMS Boocock was wounded in the foot by a stray bullet and medically evacuated to England. Company Quartermaster Sergeant Henry Stringer, formerly of C Company, was immediately promoted to Acting Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (A/RQMS) and was confirmed in the position of RQMS (WO Class II) on August 13, 1915. RQMS Stringer, (2/Lt. Ned Stringer’s cousin), remained in this position for the remainder of the battalion’s time in Gallipoli. In fact, he retained this position until he left the battalion in early 1918.

Colour Sergeants:

All 10 Colour Sergeants on the August 14, 1914 Nominal Roll served overseas and, not surprisingly, all 10 were Old Volunteers, (men who had served with the Volunteer Force before April 1, 1908).

Colour Sergeant and QMS Thomas Burgess deployed to Egypt with the battalion in September 1914 and served with them until he contracted nephritis in early 1915. He was treated at the Citadel Hospital, Cairo and subsequently at the 2^nd Western General Hospital, Manchester. He was discharged on June 26, 1915 being no longer physically fit, at age 51. Remarkably, he re-joined the 3/9th Battalion the following day for home service, light duty, until he was once again, this time permanently, discharged on May 4, 1917.

When the eight-company battalion was converted into a four-company battalion, one of the two Colour Sergeants forming each of the new companies was appointed Company Sergeant Major (CSM) while the other was appointed Company Quartermaster Sergeant CQMS). The following table shows which Colour Sergeant was holding which role in the new companies when the battalion landed in Gallipoli.

A Company:
Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
CQMS	257	John		Williamson
CSM	344	Joseph		Chadderton

B Company:
Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
CQMS	540	William		Birchall
CSM	339	Mathew	James	Buckley

C Company:
Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
CQMS	154	George		Newton
CSM	1773	Alfred		Binns

D Company:
Rank	No.	First	Middle	Surname
CQMS	108	Robert		Jackson
CSM	266	Albert		Green

Discussion

By reviewing the Medal Rolls of the battalion’s NCOs we can see the highest rank they achieved and consequently we know which of them made the rank of Colour Sergeant or Warrant Officer Class II. These men were then “candidates” to be appointed Company Sergeant Major or Company Quartermaster Sergeant to either temporarily or permanently replace the original holders of the positions. The Medal Roll however, does not provide a date of achieving and holding the rank and consequently the data does not necessarily apply to their time in Gallipoli.

However, the several surviving service records and references from the Ashton Reporter allow us to construct, with a reasonable degree of certainty, the likely holders of the top NCO positions in each Company during the battalion’s time in Egypt and then Gallipoli. Those sections below that involve a certain amount of speculation are presented in italic font.

A Company CSM:

When the battalion landed in Egypt on September 27, 1914 Colour Sergeant Joseph Chadderton was appointed Company Sergeant Major (CSM) of A Company. On January 30, 1915 he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class II (WOII) and confirmed as CSM. He remained with the battalion in this role until he was medically evacuated to England on October 8, 1915 possibly having left the peninsula some time before. He remained in the UK for the remainder of the war serving as Regimental Sergeant Major of the Command Depot from where he was discharged on March 5, 1918.

CSM Chadderton’s enforced absence left a gap which needed to be filled. There were only two possible candidates in A Company: Sgt 27 James Nolan and Sgt 64 Alfred Smith. There are no surviving service records for these men. However, Sergeant Nolan was the battalion’s Master Cook and so we can reasonably presume that taking care of the men’s stomachs took precedence over any other appointment. That only left Sgt 64 Alfred Smith and so the assumption is that he was appointed Acting CSM and promoted to Acting WO II.

A Company CQMS:

Colour Sergeant John Williamson was appointed CQMS of A Company when the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914. He deployed to Gallipoli but was wounded and medically evacuated to England on July 5, 1915. The Ashton Reported published an interview with him upon his arrival in Ashton and indicated that he was the first man of the 9th Manchesters that served in Gallipoli to arrive home.

CQMS Williamson’s enforced absence left a gap which needed to be filled. There were only three possible candidates in A Company: Sgt 313 George Grayson Mellor, Sgt 164 Alfred Scott and Sgt 83 Thomas McDermott. There are no surviving service records for these men. However, the August 14, 1915 edition of the Ashton Reporter published a letter from the Sergeants of A company to the fiancé of Sgt 1271 James Taylor who died of wounds on July 12, 1915. The names of Thomas McDermott and George Mellor are both missing from the list of signatories. The implication is that they were temporarily or permanently absent from Gallipoli which leaves only Sgt 164 Alfred Scott as the possible candidate. Consequently, the assumption is that Sgt 164 Alfred Scott was appointed Acting CQMS.

Regardless of who temporarily filled the CQMS role for A Company after CQMS Williamson departed, on November 6, 1915 Sgt 1244 Walter Steuart Eaton was appointed acting CQMS. He held this role for approximately six weeks before being promoted to CQMS on December 6, 1915. He then held this position until May 24, 1917 when he left the battalion prior to being awarded a commission.

B Company CSM:

When the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914, Colour Sergeant Mathew James Buckley was appointed Company Sergeant Major of B Company. On January 30, 1915 he was promoted to WO II, retaining the position of CSM. He deployed to Gallipoli and served in this position until he was wounded on June 17, 1915 and was subsequently medically evacuated to England on July 1st. Sergeant 65 Joseph Ferns was reported to be acting CSM right after the June 18^th bayonet charge confirming that he at least temporarily replaced CSM Buckley. Sergeant Ferns was himself wounded on September 15, 1915 and subsequently repatriated to England.

It is not clear who, if anyone, filled the CSM role when Sgt Ferns left Gallipoli as there were no other candidates left in B Company.

On November 25, 1915 Sergeant Thomas Hargreaves was appointed acting CSM. On Christmas day 1915 he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class II and confirmed in the position of CSM. A position he held until he left the battalion in August 1916 upon being awarded a commission.

B Company CQMS:

When the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914 Colour Sergeant William Birchall was appointed Company Quartermaster Sergeant of B Company. CQMS Birchall was reported to have been slightly wounded in the chest but remained with the battalion throughout their entire time in Gallipoli. He died of wounds on September 25, 1917 in France while serving with the battalion.

C Company CSM:

When the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914 Colour Sergeant Henry Stringer was appointed Company Sergeant Major of C Company. But on January 30, 1915 instead of being promoted to WO II, as the other CSMs were, Henry Stringer relinquished the CSM position and was instead appointed CQMS. It is likely that this was to fill the gap created by QMS Thomas Burgess’s illness and consequently his responsibilities would have been primarily to support RQMS Boocock’s section. After the battalion landed in Gallipoli, CQMS Stringer was appointed acting RQMS on July 13, 1915 when George Boocock was wounded and repatriated. He was subsequently promoted to RQMS, and promoted to WO II, on August 13, 1915.

It is likely that L/Cpl. 1773 Alfred Binns was appointed CSM of C Company on January 30, 1915 (vice Henry Stringer) and remained in this position until May 4, 1916 when he reported sick to hospital. Prior to joining the Territorials, Alfred Binns served 12 years in the Regular Army as an NCO with the 1st Derbyshire Regiment and the 10th and 18th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales’s Own). He was a Boer War veteran and joined the 9th Manchesters at the February 14, 1914 recruiting night when he was 31 years old. Eminently qualified, he was rapidly promoted in Egypt as the battalion went through training and was clearly the best candidate to replace Henry Stringer as CSM in late January 1915.

C Company CQMS:

Colour Sergeant George Newton was appointed CQMS of C Company when the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914 and remained in the CQMS position until May 4, 1916 when he was appointed acting Company Sergeant Major, (and promoted to acting Warrant Officer Class II), when CSM Alfred Binns reported sick. He was confirmed in the position and formally promoted when CSM Binns was medically evacuated to England on June 20, 1916. CSM Newton retained this rank until he left the battalion upon being awarded a commission.

D Company CSM:

Albert Green was one of those lucky few that survived Gallipoli unscathed. He was appointed CSM of D Company when the battalion landed in Egypt in September 1914 and served in that capacity in Gallipoli. On August 4, 1915 he was appointed acting Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) temporarily replacing RSM John Alexander Christie who had been medically evacuated to Alexandria with pneumonia the day before. CSM Green retained the RSM position until RSM Christie returned on October 20, 1915. In order to fill the gap in D Company, Sergeant Cornelius Finch was appointed acting CSM on August 4, 1915, (vice CSM Albert Green). Sgt Finch retained this position for seven weeks until Sept 27, 1915 when he too was medically evacuated, in his case to the UK via Malta suffering from dysentery. Albert Green resumed his position as CSM of ‘D’ Company approximately 3 weeks later on October 20, 1915 upon the return of RSM Christie.

It’s worth noting that when Sgt Cornelius Finch was medically evacuated from Gallipoli he effectively relinquished the acting rank of CSM and reverted back to the rank of Sergeant when he boarded the ship home but administratively this reversion of rank did not occur until much later. Back in the UK, in 1916, he was still considered to be holding the rank of (acting ) CSM and consequently was referred to as such by the local newspapers.

D Company CQMS:

Colour Sergeant Robert Jackson was appointed CQMS when the battalion landed in Egypt in 1914 and remained in the CQMS position until he was medically evacuated from Gallipoli, arriving in Ashton in late October 1915. The only viable candidate from D Company available to replace him was Sergeant 341 John Lee. And indeed the Ashton Reporter referred to him as CQMS Lee when he returned home on furlough in 1916.