The following articles were published in the Ashton Reporter at various times throughout 1914 and 1915 regarding the Officers of the 9th Battalion Manchester Regiment.
MILITARY WEDDING AT ASHTON
Lieut. A. G. Birchenall and Miss Knight
Saturday September 12, 1914:
A military wedding took place quietly at Albion Congregational Church, Ashton on Saturday the bride being Miss Winifred Knight, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Knight Arncliffe, Smallshaw, Ashton and the bridegroom Lieutenant Alfred Gordon Birchenall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Birchenall, Brookfield House, Longsight, Manchester. Owing to the exigencies of the war, the arrangements originally made in connection with the wedding were cancelled, and in consequence the nuptials were of a semi-private character. Illness prevented the bridegroom from leaving for foreign service with the 9th (Ashton) Battalion Manchester Regiment Territorials in which he is a lieutenant, and this was a sore disappointment to him, inasmuch as he had volunteered for foreign service. He was, however, consoled with the prospect of joining the Ashton Battalion in Egypt at the first available opportunity. In order to complete the establishment, he had been deputed to take temporary charge of the Armoury, Old Street. His onerous duties required his presence at the Armoury and his leave of absence for the wedding amounted to a little over an hour, after which he returned to his duties. Only the immediate members of the two families and a few personal friends were present at the ceremony which was performed by 12:30pm by the Rev H. Parnaby, pastor of the church. The bridegroom was in khaki uniform and the bride was given away by her father, was attired in a neat and plain navy blue costume, and she wore a white rose, the gift of the bridegroom. Mr. Harold Knight, brother of the bride, acted as best man. Among the few present were Mr. and Mrs. Geo Harrison and Dr. and Mrs. Keighly. A repast was afterwards served at Arncliffe. A large number of wedding presents were received. Lieutenant and Mrs. Birchenall took up their residence at One Ash, Smallshaw.
Mr. IRVINE DEARNALEY
Promoted to Captaincy in Ashton Territorials
Saturday, January 30, 1915:
Mr. Irvine Dearnaley has been promoted from the rank of second-lieutenant to the of captain in the 9th Battalion (Reserve) Manchester Regiment, Ashton Territorials. Captain Dearnaley joined the battalion soon after the outbreak of the war. His promotion will occasion much pleasure among his many friends. He is the son of the late Mr. Irvine Dearnaley, who for a good number of years was organist at Ashton Parish Church, and was a pianist of considerable distinction. Captain Dearnaley is in business as a yarn agent in Chapel Walks, Manchester. Previously he had held the position of secretary and salesman at the Minerva Mill, and had also held the position of secretary at the Texas Mill, and also at the Cedar Mill. He has taken a prominent part in the political and musical life of Ashton. He is chairman of the Ashton branch of the Junior Imperial and Constitutional League, is a gifted cellist and was a prominent member of the Parish Church Operatic Society. He has been house secretary of the Ashton Golf Club since its formation.
ASHTON TERRITORIALS
Saturday, February 6, 1915:
Mr. Harold H. Knight, who has been promoted from second-lieutenant to lieutenant in the 9th (Reserve) Battalion Manchester Regiment, is a son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Knight of “Arncliffe”, Henrietta Street, Ashton. Mrs. Knight, prior to her marriage, was Miss Harrison, and sister of Mr. George Harrison of the Firs. Lieut. Knight has been engaged in his father’s business of cotton wool brokers and mill furnishers in Cavendish Street. He expresses himself as highly delighted with his new profession.
Mr. John M. Robson, who has been gazette second-lieutenant in the 9th (Ashton) Reserve Batt. Manchester Regiment, Territorials, is a son of Mr. G. Robinson, B.A., headmaster of Christ Church Gatefield School, of Blandford House, Ashton. Prior to joining the Reserve Battalion, he was agent for a shipping firm in Manchester. An ardent athlete he has performed various feats in long distance cycling, and as an enthusiastic golfer he won the Lady Aitken Cup at the last competition in connection with Ashton Golf Club. He speaks German fluently.
ASHTON TERRITORIALS
Officers in the Reserve Battalion
Saturday, February 20, 1915:
Lieutenant Gilbert Greenwood is the eldest son of Councillor H. T. Greenwood, of Harwood, Mossley Road. He joined the Reserve Battalion of the Ashton Territorials on its formation soon after the outbreak of the war and was appointed to the rank of lieutenant. He was educated at Elmfield College, York, and until joining the Territorials was in business with his father, being the manager of the Office at Stockport. At college he gained distinction in all sports, being captain of his school cricket and football teams.
Lieutenant William Marsden Barratt, of the Reserve Battalion Ashton Territorials, now stationed at Southport, is the eldest son of Mr. Herbert Barratt, of Richmond House, Ashton. He was formerly engaged in the private office of Mr. W. B. Hibbert, the chief audit accountant of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, head office, Hunt’s Bank, Manchester. He was a member of the old Ashton Nomads A.F.C., and was latterly a member of the Ashton Lacrosse Club. He was also a prominent member of the Dukinfield Operatic Society, and took an important part in many of the recent productions.
THE TERRITORIALS
Ashton Battalion Officer Reported Wounded
Saturday, May 29, 1915:
The “Rochdale Observer” of last Tuesday prints the following: –
News was received in Rochdale during the weekend that Second-Lieutenant Harold E. Butterworth, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. James Butterworth, of Laurel House, Manchester Road, Rochdale, had been wounded. A telegram, which was received from the Record Office, Preston, on Saturday, was in the following terms: –
Regret to inform you that Second-Lieutenant H. E. Butterworth, 9th Manchesters, was wounded on the 15th May, degree not stated. Further information when received will be notified you as soon as possible.
He was in Egypt when he sent his last letter home. That communication reached Laurel House a week ago, and stated that at the time of writing they had been ordered to be in readiness to move, but he was not in a position to say where. It may however be assumed that it was to the Dardanelles.
Second-Lieutenant Butterworth joined the 9th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, Ashton Territorials, last August and received his commission on September 3rd. Very soon after he left for Egypt, where he has been in training. He is in his 27th year, and is a smart, well-built young officer, full of enthusiasm for his military duties. His father is an old army man, and one of the best-known members of the Army and Navy Veterans’ organization.
LIEUT.-COL. CUNLIFFE
Death of Ashton Territorial Officer
Saturday, May 29, 1915:
We regret to announce that Lieutenant-Colonel T. H. Cunliffe, commanding officer of the 2/9th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, Ashton Territorials, died suddenly at Haywards Heath, Sussex, on Tuesday. Colonel Cunliffe, who was a comparatively young man, was taken ill about seven o’ clock on Monday evening. Colonel Patterson, Major Heywood and Lieutenant Whitehead, RAMC, were called in, but despite every attention Colonel Cunliffe breathed his last at 12:40am. He only went to Haywards Heath last week, and had a house on Muster Green. On Sunday he attended the drum-head service on the Green and his fine bearing made a marked impression on the crowd. He was out riding on Monday afternoon, and later watched his men play football on Muster Green.
Apoplexy was the cause of death. He was an architect by profession and leaves a widow and two children. He was extremely popular with his brother officers, and with the men of all rank, for he possessed sound judgement, a genial disposition, and much tact. His death is a great loss to the Battalion.
Lieutenant Colonel Cunliffe was formerly in command of the 6th Manchester Battalion, but he had been on the retired list from 1911 until his appointment to the Ashton command. He resided at Whalley Range, Manchester. Since the outbreak of the war he had been acting inspector of hospitals for East Lancashire. Under his command the strength of the new reserve battalion at Ashton quickly grew to the requisite 1,000 men, his genial personality winning the esteem and respect of all ranks. All classes flocked to the colours in response to his appeal, and the battalion was described as the finest body of men ever recruited in Ashton.
During the time he was at Stretford Road he was highly popular with all ranks and he was recognized as a thoroughly efficient officer.
Though he went on the retired list some time ago, when war broke out he again decided to make sacrifice; and he was gazetted temporary Lieut.-Colonel on September 28, 1914 and given the command of the 2/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment whose headquarters are at Ashton.
Along with Lieutenant-Colonel D. H. Wade, in command of the 1st Battalion in Egypt, and Major F. Garside, in command of the depot at Ashton, Colonel Cunliffe played a commendable part in recruiting of close upon 1,000 “Terriers” from the Ashton district for active services.
MAJOR CONNERY
Wounded in Action a Second Time
TOLL OF OFFICERS
Saturday, July 31, 1915:
Major M. H. Connery, in a letter received this week, says that he was slightly wounded in the leg on July 12th. This is the second time he has been wounded.
Com. S. M. Joe Connery is under orders to proceed as quartermaster to the Dardanelles in relief of his father, Major Connery.
Major Connery writes, “Thank God I am quite well again. I got slightly hit again on July 12th. We are not safe anywhere.
Only about three of the officers out of the 11 that left Ashton with the 9th remain. The others are either killed, wounded or away sick.
Quartermaster Stuart of the 8th Manchesters was on the way to the firing line with food when they were shelled in a gully. He came into my dug-out, which is six feet underground for safety. There … on the dug-out, but a bullet … When the boys at the base heard about it they … more sandbags to make my dugout safer.
My present wound is slight. It is not as bad as the old one. I hope God spares … with what is left of the dear old 9th. They have played the game very well out here.
We have done very well out here during the last few days, no doubt you will have seen it in the papers.”
Writing on July 14th he says: “I was hit in the right leg on July 12th. The same day my servant, Hall, was hit on the leg. He was sent to hospital. To-day Quartermaster Sergt. Boocock was hit. The bullet went through his foot. He goes on the hospital ship tomorrow”.
Lieut.-Col. D. H. Wade
IN WHITWORTH STREET HOSPITAL, MANCHESTER
Saturday, July 31, 1915:
Lieut.-Colonel D. H. Wade, commanding officer of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, has returned wounded from the Dardanelles, and on Tuesday night was admitted to the Whitworth Street Hospital, Manchester, where he is now under treatment. Yesterday (Friday) he was reported to be progressing satisfactorily. He was visited on the night of his arrival by his wife, and also by Captain R. Lees, who is in charge of the Depot, Ashton Armoury. He was visited on Thursday night by his father-in-law, (Mr. John Neal), who found him to be in the best of spirits.
ASHTON OFFICER’S STORY
Vivid Account of the Dardanelles Fighting
MAGNIFICENT DEEDS BY TERRITORIALS
Saturday, August 14, 1915:
A graphic account of the operations at the Dardanelles, and of the splendid part played by the Ashton Territorials, has been received during the week by a prominent Ashton gentleman from an officer who is in a position to give a faithful and adequate record of the progress made. He writes under date July 23rd as follows: –
“Reading the ‘Reporter’ giving casualties and publishing letters from individuals killed, wounded, or killed out here, makes one’s mind go back to incidents and experiences of the Peninsula. I will try and relate some of my experiences and of the 9th over there for six weeks.
As I have said before, anyone arriving there, they are shelled and are under shell fire until the leave. Nobody got hit at the first two bivouacs, but we could not sleep at night much for the cold and the roar of the guns. The next bivouac we were in the reserve trenches and had the French troops immediately on our right. Here we were subjected to a lot of shrapnel fire, also snipers’ fire and stray bullets, and we had Andrew Gee killed and several wounded. Next we moved to fresh ground on the left, where we had to dig dugouts, and here we were subjected to the same fire And we had Private Favier killed and several wounded, including Private Butterworth.
Next we moved further still to the left, and this place we made headquarters, and it is a devil of a place for shrapnel and common shell fire as it is near a battery of French 75’s, and the Turks are always trying to find them. Here Private Jennys, Lance-Corporal Barker, Private Redfern, D Company, died from wounds received, and many others wounded. Here also Major Connery got a slight wound.
All the time we were in these various bivouacs there was always a party of the battalion out digging night and day. I have been out at all times with parties in the firing line, sapping forward, making roads, and improving and making communication trenches.
When the battalion went in the firing line for the first time it was exciting. A Company and part of B were in the fire trench, the remainder of B bivouacked nearby along the gully, C and D just a few yards behind, entrenched. D Company’s sole work was sapping forward, and it was continuous, so it was carried on by reliefs, four officers with four parties. It was a risky game, but we came out very well indeed. One morning we had finished the stand too of one hour before dawn, and it was Jones’ turn to take charge of the sapping. He had only been on duty a short time when he was shot straight through the head by a sniper as he was walking along the trench. It was a great shock to us, especially the officers of D Co., as we slept and dined together.
I was next for duty, so I took on his job, and I got orders – (by the way, I forgot to tell you that C Company went out from the trench during the night and dug themselves in about 150 yards out in front; this was to advance, and make a new firing line) – to make strenuous efforts to get one of the six saps forward to C Company, to relieve them. So I concentrated the men on one sap. This seemed a risky business, but of course, it had to be done, and it was just after dawn.
Well, I got 16 men out safely, and I was anxious about them. Later someone shouted that they wanted spades, so I got some spades, and a fellow, Private Summersgill, helped me to carry them to the sap. Here an R.E. man rushed out with some, and arrived safely, although the Turks kept potting away.
Summersgill then said to me, ‘Shall I take these other spades, sir?’ I replied, ‘Please yourself.’ Well, he said, ‘I am not frightened; I went out there last night when I was sapping.’ So he put his pipe in his pocket, and took up the spades, climbed the trench and ran out. I was anxiously watching him, when suddenly down he came, shouting, ‘Oh, I am hit,’ He was between the sap and C Company’s trench, and it was too dangerous for anyone to venture towards him, as the Turks had a machine gun trained along the space. However, Private Hare, one of the men that had gone out from the sap went to his assistance, but was shot stone dead. Summersgill managed to wriggle near to the sap, and we dug frantically towards him, and got him in. The poor chap was badly wounded and he still lives, I am pleased to say.
The men got back to the firing line in the afternoon quite pleased with the good work they had done, but C Company did not get relieved until late on, and they were drenched with the rain that fell in the afternoon and flooded all the trenches. I was wading about in stocking feet. The next day we returned to our headquarters, and the brigade was split up, and attached to different regiments.
Our A and B Companies went to the Inniskillings, C South Wales Borderers, D King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and a few to the Border Regiment. We were only with the K.O.S.B. two days, but we all enjoyed being with this fine Scottish Regular Battalion.
I am sorry to say that only one officer and a few men are left of the original battalion. We again returned to headquarters, and started digging up the Peninsula.
The Digging Song
Digging, digging, digging,
Always digging;
When we are dead and I our graves
We will dig no more
On one expedition I was in command of two parties that were out from 10pm to 2am improving roads, and one party was at Clapham Junction corner. This is a corner on the way up to the trenches at the confluence of two streams that flow, one down a large and steep gully and the other a small gully, and up these gullies the troops go to the trenches. This corner is a deadly place, or was; it may not be so now. The Turks’ spent bullets used to drop all about, and many got laid out there. On this particular night we could do very little digging, as the Turks kept firing, and all we could do was get under cover.
Lance-Corporal Lee got a bullet in his neck, and it stuck there. He said he was finished, but we could see he was not, and he did curse the Turks, as they all do when wounded. It is very laughable at times. At the same corner returning from sapping the next day shrapnel dropped around my party like heavy rain. Luckily I was not hit, but Corpl. Allott and Boon got arm injuries, and some other men got killed and plenty wounded. I was always thankful when I was past the corner.
Another episode: One morning early I was walking along the trench of a defensive position, and got to a traverse. Private bailey was about a yard in front of me, and I was looking at him as he was walking in front round the traverse, when all of a sudden the blood spurted out of a wound in the top of his head and he sank gradually down on the ground. I looked at his head (he was unconscious), and a bullet had gone in at the side and come out in the centre, and I at once got a field dressing and bandaged him up. He died later, I thought he would with such a bad head wound.
The sights of the wounded coming in after an engagement are awful, some look so pitiful, some bravely smoking cigarettes, others rambling. One poor fellow I shall always remember. He was a fine man, about 6ft high, and his face and hair was clotted and matted with blood, and he was blind. The poor man could walk all right with plenty of rests, but he could not be made to bend his head going along the trench as the blood would ooze out of his wounds. I thought he would get shot again as he went along the trench. He rambled, and asked for his clogs, and wanted to go back.
I have read in the papers about the action when Captain Hamer, Lieutenant Stringer, Sergeants Braithwaite and Lawton were killed. D Company were on the other side of the gully, and did not hear about it until the morning. They have caught it rough C Company. I can imagine what a gloom would be cast over Ashton-under-Lyne when the news of the casualties arrived there. I do not think that that damnable Achi Baba hill will be long before it is taken by us. It has been a a stiff proposition so far.”
LIEUTENANT CONNERY
Saturday, August 21, 1915:
Lieut. Arthur Connery, of the 1/9th Manchester Regiment (Ashton Territorials) who was wounded on July 3 at the Dardanelles, arrived home from Malta on Monday. He is on sick leave and is making excellent progress. He informed a “Reporter” representative that the 9th Manchesters had done splendidly and he was sorry to leave them. They had been in some of the hottest fighting there.
“It was on July 3 about a quarter to eight that I got wounded”, he said. “I was issuing out food to the men at the time, in the trenches, when about eight shrapnel shells burst over us. A bullet struck me in the top lip and went through into my mouth.”
Lieut. Connery said that during the fighting most of the notes he had taken had been captured. He mentioned that on one occasion No. 11 Platoon of the 9th Battalion greatly distinguished themselves. The Officer himself was in command of the platoon.
“We held a redoubt trench and the Turks were using lyddite shells. They completely demolished the parapet four times, and greatly damaged the trench itself. All the time, the Territorials calmly and coolly built up the parapet again, and made good the damages. They were under a hot fire but the Ashton men succeeded by means of the use of sand bags in raising the parapet again.”
As regards the general military situation on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Lieut. Connery said that good progress is being made but it is taking time and men. The whole army at the Dardanelles, however, were confident that victory was only a matter of time.
Ashton Territorial Officer’s Marriage
Saturday, August 21, 1915:
A pretty military wedding was solemnised on Wednesday at St. Werburgh’s Church, Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The bridegroom was Captain H. Fane Brister of the 2/9th Manchester Regiment, second son of Mr. J. C. Brister, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, and the bride was Miss Florence Withers, also of Chorlton. Captain Brister belongs to a well-known Chorlton-cum-Hardy family, which has long been connected with the Army. His great-grandfather fought at the battle of Waterloo, and his father, who was born in the Army, has taken a prominent part in the recruiting campaign in the Manchester district, addressing numerous open-air meetings.
The ceremony attracted a large number of people. Captain Brister was supported by his younger brother, Lieut. B. H. Brister, of the same battalion, as best man. The bride was given away by her uncle, (Mr. Deakin), and the bridesmaids were Misses Winifred and Kathleen Brister, sisters of the bridegroom. It had been arranged for about half a dozen officers of the same regiment as the bridegroom to be present, but owing to a general’s inspection they could not obtain leave of absence. After the ceremony the happy couple left for Old Colwyn.
Lieut.-Col. D. H. Wade
VISITS TO ASHTON DURING THE WEEK
Saturday, September 4, 1915:
Lieut.-Col. D. H. Wade, who was in command of the Ashton Territorials in the Dardanelles, left the Whitworth Street Military Hospital on Saturday. He has not quite recovered from his wounds but has made wonderful progress. Together with Mrs. Wade and Capt. and Mrs. R. Lees arrived in Ashton on Saturday afternoon, and many people were delighted to see him once again in town after twelve months’ absence. He is full of pride at the way the Ashton Territorials have distinguished themselves and brought glory and prestige to Ashton, and his only regret is that he is not with them, leading them on to victory.
During the week Colonel Wade has visited many of his friends in Ashton, and has been given a warm welcome, tempered with sympathy for him in his paternal anxiety over the fate of his son, Lieut. J. M. Wade.
Colonel Wade visited the Armoury on Sunday and inspected the men of his battalion who have returned from overseas. He delivered a short, encouraging speech, and asked the men to give Captain Ralph Lees, the officer in command of the headquarters of the Ashton Territorials, their loyal support.
ASHTON NOTES
Saturday, December 4, 1915:
The news of the death of Captain Irvine Dearnaley in action has called forth universal expressions of sorrow. His early death is more than usually pathetic. Irvine Dearnaley was one of the strenuous young men who seemed destined to play an important part in the life of Ashton. He had already done much good work on its social, political, and religious side. He was also well known in the cotton circles of Ashton and Manchester. When the war broke out he was one of the first to take up a commission in the 1st Reserve Battalion of the Ashton Territorials for foreign service. In doing so he gave up a most promising business, which he had only recently ventured in as a yarn agent in Manchester. Life for him held out rosy prospects, and he might have gone on advancing his position in life and looking forward to doing some great public service for his town. His engagement to Miss May Mills, of Stalybridge, had only recently been announced. It seems but a few weeks since he was in Ashton on his last leave before leaving for the front. He looked especially smart in his uniform and seemed the picture of young and robust health. He will be greatly missed.
MAJOR CONNERY
Declines Promotion to Stick With “the Dear Old Ninth”
Saturday, December 25, 1915:
The many friends of Major M. H. Connery, the idolized quartermaster of the Ashton Territorials, will be pleased to hear not only that he has been offered promotion to Provost-Marshal, but that he has requested “to be allowed to remain with the boys of dear old Ashton”.
{A Provost-Marshal is an officer appointed in an army in the field to preserve order as head of the military police and perform various duties appertaining to discipline – Ed. “Reporter”}
In a letter dated December 8th, to Mr. E. Byrne, Major Connery writes in a very hopeful strain. He says: –
“Things are very quiet here just now. I do not think it will last much longer. A few Turkish prisoners came in the other day and said all they had to eat was a slice of bread and six olives a day, and a man cannot last long on that. Well, God is good and we must only hope for the best, and with God’s help I will be spared to return home with the dear old Ninth. We all miss Col. Wade very much. He trained the boys well in Egypt who have done so well out here. Best wishes for a merry Christmas and may we all meet before long”.
Lieut.-Col D. H. Wade
TO RETURN TO THE DARDANELLES
Saturday, January 8, 1916:
Colonel D. H. Wade has received a telegram from the War Office stating that his services are required with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Colonel Wade is awaiting orders for embarkation. It may be assumed that Colonel Wade will again take command of his battalion at the Dardanelles.
Colonel Wade visited the 3/9th Manchester Regiment at Codford during the weekend. He has since returned to his home in Manchester. Colonel Wade was in Ashton this week and called on a number of friends. He appeared in the best of spirits and eager to rejoin his battalion.
At the meeting of the Ashton Education Committee, on Monday, the Chairman, (Coucillor J. H. Wood), informed the members that he had seen their secretary, Lieut.-Col. D. H. Wade, of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment, during the weekend, and that Col. Wade had informed him he had received orders to hold himself in readiness to proceed to his battalion at the Dardanelles.
Councillor J. H. Wood expressed the hope that Colonel Wade would again prove useful at the front, and would return safe and sound – (Hear, hear).
MAJOR HOWORTH
Territorial Officer’s Return
ASHTON MEN WERE IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHTING
Saturday, January 22, 1916:
Major T. E. Howorth of the 1/9th Manchester Regiment, and son of Mr. D. F. Howorth, 24 Villiers Street, Ashton, has returned home on sick leave. Major Howorth has been in the Ashton Territorials for about 16 years. In conversation with a “Reporter” representative he said: –
“I can tell you the Ashton Territorials in Gallipoli were absolutely first class, and if I had to pick from those men I should pick my own men. We were all very sorry when our commander, Colonel Wade, got hit, and had to leave us. We were all fond of the Colonel. I have been under him from the beginning, and he is a first class officer. Besides being a capable commander he was very considerate to all his officers and men. Major Connery is another fine fellow. It is remarkable the way he has stuck to it all the way through, although he has been wounded. He was always cheerful, and was kindness itself to everybody.”
“The Ashton men were in the tick of the fighting, and they were splendid. They performed their tasks quite as well as anybody, and the regular troops expressed their admiration and astonishment at them. You see there are a lot of quiet fellows amongst them, but they did well all the way through, and stuck to their work. Ashton has done its duty in this war. I shall be glad to get back to our fellows again, and I am only sorry there are not more of them to get back to.”
It was at the end of July that I had an attack of enteric. It is an eastern kind, and extremely severe. You can imagine how it affected me when I say that for five weeks I was unconscious. I was at Malta for some time, and afterwards in hospital at Birmingham. Everybody in hospital was exceedingly kind to me, and I feel very grateful to them all. I am getting along nicely, but, of course, I am still weak, and the doctors tell me it is only a question of time.”
EMBASSY ENQUIRIES
Turkish Foreign Office Has No Information
Saturday, January 22, 1916:
Inquiries by the American Embassy in Constantinople as to the fate of Second-Lieut. J. M. Wade, of the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment (Ashton Territorials), son of Lieut.-Colonel D. H. Wade, commanding officer of the battalion, have elicited the reply that the Turkish Foreign Office has no information as to what happened to the gallant young officer, who took part in the fighting with the Ashton Territorials in the Gallipoli Peninsula, and has been missing since August 18.
Lieutenant Wade took part in a night attack on a strong Turkish position. He was last seen to leap over the parapet of a Turkish trench, said to be packed with Turks, and without hesitation to attack them vigorously. At that time his father, Lieut.-Colonel Wade, was lying wounded in the hospital. Colonel Wade has since recovered and been home, and has now resumed duty.
AMERICAN EMBASSY’S ENQUIRIES
Mrs. Wade, wife of Colonel Wade, who resides at Holly Bank, Birch Polygon, Rusholme, Manchester, has received the following letters: –
American Embassy Constantinople
December 29, 1915
“Dear Madam, – With reference to your letter of October 8th, 1915 requesting information as to the whereabouts of your son, I very much regret to inform you that this Embassy has received an official communication from the Turkish Foreign Office, under date of December 25th, 1915 stating that nothing is known of the fate of Second-Lieut. J. M. Wade, of the 9th Manchester Regiment.”
Yours Faithfully
For the Ambassador
(Signed) H. OFFMAN PHILLIP
LETTER FROM COLLEGE CHUM
HMS Duke of Albany
(Address c/o G.P.O. London)
Monday, Dec 27th, 1915
“Dear Mrs. Wade, – It is impossible for me to express in this letter the feelings of regret and sympathy which I have experienced on, and since, the receipt of your letter this morning. These feelings are intensified by the knowledge that my persistent efforts to trace Jack’s whereabouts may have caused you and Ida unnecessary pain. I do most sincerely hope that the view held by the papers regarding the possibility of his having been taken prisoner, may in the near future become a realized fact.”
“As I was probably Jack’s most intimate friend at college I feel that I am privileged to express to you the extent of the admiration in which he was held by all his fellow students, and he was undoubtedly the most popular man of our year. It was an honour to be his friend.”
“The ‘right’ of war is a tremendous mystery to us all, and I am sure that we boys, although we feel for those at home more than for ourselves – I say this as the natural feeling of every British boy – cannot realise the great anxiety and grief experienced by those at home. The mothers, wives, and sisters are, indeed, fighting this war.”
“In addition to the strain imposed by Jack’s absence, you have to bear the knowledge that Mr. Wade is also away from home, and has already been wounded. I do not wish to create illusions, but I earnestly hope that every day may bring better news of Jack.”
“May you find all possible consolation in the fact that both jack and his father have been upholding our glorious national traditions; we are certain that these sacrifices on the altar of civilization and Christianity, however great, are not all in vain, and will never be forgotten.”
“I should be glad if you will express these sentiments to Ida.”
Yours most sincerely.
(Signed) T. H. BAINES
MAJOR NOWELL’S LETTER TO COL. WADE
Outwood House, Handforth. Cheshire
10th December, 1915
“Dear Colonel, – I have this morning received a letter from Lewis, of the Egyptian Army, who was attached to us in the Peninsula. He sends a message, which I will quote to avoid error: –
“If you happen to see Colonel Wade will you tell him that although I had not the pleasure of knowing him, I knew his son. Young Wade was a splendid type of a young and brave Englishman. His presence with his company was invaluable and he was appreciative enough to recognise that looking after his men was necessary for success. As far as I could judge, he knew no fear. When I saw him last he looked quite fit and hard except for a tired look in his eyes. But we all had that.”
“His loss was a blow to me personally, and to you as well. To any battalion headquarters he would have been an addition of strength. I trust he may not be dead, and it would be a supreme moment for his family if news of his whereabouts were forthcoming.”
“I do not know whether the second paragraph was part of the message but it is to the point. I propose to take the liberty of thanking him on your behalf when I reply.”
“For myself I regret that my health has necessitated and extension of leave. For more than a week past I have been confined to the house, and have been almost completely paralysed with rheumatism. I trust you are keeping well, and increasing in fitness.”
Kind regards to yourself and Mrs. Wade
Sincerely yours, R. B. Nowell