Sergeant William T Almond

18th Battalion Manchester Regiment

No: 15599
Died: 12 October 1916. Age: 30.
Cemetery: AIF Burial Ground, Flers, Somme, France

Sergeant Almond was born in Northampton where the 1901 Census

shows him still living, working as a gardener. By 1911 he had moved to
Gatley to continue his work and was boarding with the Kinsey family at
a house on Stonepale—now the Styal Road end of Park Road.

William arrived in France during July 1916 and went on active service as
one of the drafts replacing men killed during the opening Somme
battles.

On 12 October, an attack was ordered on a position held by German

marines, south of Ligny-Thilloy. The attack was scheduled for 2pm and
was preceded by an artillery barrage of the enemy trenches. As the men
were preparing to go over the top, they saw the Germans leave their
trenches and run back 100 yards to avoid the shellfire falling on their
front line. As the barrage lifted, the marines ran back to their trenches
and manned their machine guns. William and his comrades now had 300
yards to cross. It was an impossible task. Many were simply cut down by
the devastating fire.

Those that made it to near the German lines were pinned down by
enemy artillery fire. They had to take cover in shell holes and hope for
the best. They stayed like this throughout the night before they could get
back to their own lines. Of the 350 who started out, 250 were killed,
wounded or missing.

William is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery just

behind the British trenches. His headstone is inscribed ‘Mors est Janua
Vitae’ - Death is the Entrance to Life.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Frank Dunning
1/6th Battalion Cheshire Regiment
No: 266431
Died: 31 July 1917 Age: 21
Cemetery: Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper, Belgium

Frank was the son of James and Annie Dunning, who lived at 31 Gatley
Green. The 1901 Census records James working as a bleacher's finisher.
Both parents were born in the Gatley area. Fourteen year old Frank, the
oldest of the six children, was working as an office boy.

Frank enlisted in Stockport to the local Territorial battalion. His original

service number, 3813, confirms he was not an early volunteer, probably
not joining until 1915.

The British had long planned a major offensive in Flanders, intended to

smash through the German lines near Ypres and drive towards the coast
to destroy the submarine bases. The attack, meticulously planned,
became known officially as the Third Battle of Ypres, more commonly
The Battle of Passchendaele after the village that was intended to be
captured on the first day.

The Cheshire's were deployed to overlap the leading troops once these
had captured the initial objective of the village of St Julien.

The history of the Battalion records, ‘On arrival at the Boche front line, the
casualties had been fairly heavy, but the advance was maintained.
The Steenbeck was crossed at 10am and the Battalion was re-organised for the
final objective, intermittent fire being maintained whilst this was going on.’

A downpour had turned the ground to deep mud. Despite this, the final
objective was taken and The Cheshires reached their objective exactly on
schedule.

The position had been secured, at a terrible cost in dead and wounded.
Out of 60 officers and 1800 men only two officers and 57 Cheshires were
left, together with 11 Black Watch and eight Hampshires. They had come
three miles. The battalion had effectively been destroyed in what was to
be Stockport’s worst day in the war. Frank died in the attack.

.
Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk
 Private Frederick Fallows
Grove Park Motor Transport Depot Army Service Corps
No: M274449
Died: 27 December 1916 Age: 37
Cemetery: Cheadle and Gatley Cemetery

Frederick Fallows was a native of Gatley. His parents, Thomas and

Margaret, lived at 61 Church Road. Between January and March 1899,
Frederick married Florence Barlow in a civil ceremony at Stockport.
They lived at 9 Duchy Street in Edgeley and had a son, also called Fred.
Florence must have died because Frederick married again to Maude,
who moved to Blackpool, after the War,

Frederick was a tram driver, so it is no surprise that when he enlisted, in

Stockport, he was sent to the Army Service Corps. Grove Park, in south
east London, had originally been a workhouse and hospital. Taken over
by the army in September 1914 it quickly became the main drivers'
training depot; where it was not unusual for 400 men to report in a single
day. Those already able to drive were sent to the front quickly. Each
soldier had to be able to drive four different types of vehicle and it is
likely that Frederick would have needed some instruction from the
100 London bus drivers conscripted as trainers.

Frederick is recorded as having ‘died’. This designation by the military

authorities usually suggests natural causes and other records show he
died of pneumonia. Frederick never served abroad.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Charles Garlick
1/7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment
No: 291522
Died: 28 March 1917 Age: 28
Cemetery: Jerusalem Memorial, Israel

The Garlick family are thought to have originated in Stafford, and by the
time war broke out had not been in Gatley for very long. Henry Garlick,
a commercial traveller, his wife Amelia and their six children lived at 169
Gatley Road. Charles worked as a stationer until he enlisted in
Manchester, probably in late 1915/early 1916. In 1917 he was sent abroad
with The Cheshires to Egypt.

The beginning of 1917 was a quiet time for the Cheshires, officially
‘resting’ they were in fact working very hard sinking wells in the sand
near the coast. Orders were received for a major attack on Turkish
positions on 26 March. The Cheshires’ role was to advance on Mansura
Ridge, some 2½ miles south east of Gaza, ready to support the 158th and
160thBrigades. It took far longer than expected to march the three miles,
due to hostile shelling and when the Brigades arrived at the ridge the
attack was underway..

The 1/7th Battalion remained in reserve while the 1/4th Battalion were
order to attack. As soon as they left the shelter of the ridge they came
under heavy artillery fire. Advancing through a cornfield, they came
under rifle fire from Turkish troops behind a cactus hedge and from
snipers and machine-gunners on a hill to the right. The advance
continued with a series of short rushes and the various units gradually
got to within 200 yards of the enemy.

All the available reserves, including the 1/7th Cheshires, were now
thrown into the assault. The extra troops allowed the front line to storm
forward and capture the positions and secure the area by about 4pm.

As seemed to happen often on this front, the senior British commander

then gave an inexplicable order to withdraw and, as the Regimental
History records ‘At about 8pm....to the amazement, indignation and wrath of
all ranks, a withdrawal of infantry began’.

Charles Garlick died of his wounds on 28 March.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private William Hankinson
13th Battalion Cheshire Regiment
No: 34862
Died:21 October 1916. Age:21
Cemetery: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

At the time of the 1911 census William then aged 18, was living with his
parents and six siblings at 56 Church Road in Gatley. His father, Samuel,
had been born in Cheadle but the family lived in Lancashire for some
time and then moved to Gatley in the mid-1890s. William earned his
living as an assistant to the local grocer.

He enlisted on 9 December 1915. A few pages of his service file survived

a fire in the 1940s and these confirm he was just less than 5’ 8” tall and
had a 34” chest when fully expanded. We also learn his family had
moved next door to 58 Church Road, a house previously occupied by
professional actress Irma Blood.

William was placed in the reserve and did not start training until
February 7 1916. He joined the battalion in France on 16 July 1916, as part
of the replacement troops for those who had died in the early days of the
Battle of the Somme, which had started on July 1st.

By late October the battle was reaching its final stages. The Cheshires
were involved in an attempt to wrest the high ground from the Germans.
Capture of the ridge would allow the British strategic control in the
sector. On October 20 the battalion assembled in Hessian Trench, prior to
an attack on Regina Trench. The next day the British artillery barrage
started, rolling across No Man’s Land before falling on the German front
line trench. The Cheshires followed closely behind, advancing in three
waves, and took their objective without much difficulty.

The attack had been successful but costly. Three officers and 74 men
died. 120 were wounded. William was amongst the dead.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Clifford Harding
4th Battalion Guard Machine Gun Regiment
No: 2488
Died: 29 September 1918 Age: 24
Cemetery: Terlincthun British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

John Harding, joiner, married Henrietta Chandley in the late autumn of

1887 in a civil ceremony at Stockport. In the 1901 census they were living
at 67 Church Road, Gatley and had four children - William (13), Robert
(9), Clifford (7) and Leonard (2 months). Also living with the family was
Henrietta's brother, Fred Chandley.

Clifford Harding lived all his life in Gatley until he enlisted in

Manchester, and originally joined the Cheshire Regiment (service no.
40673). This service number is consistent with him enlisting in the early
part of 1916. However, his medal entitlement records at the National
Archives confirm that he never served abroad with the Cheshires and
was, probably, transferred to the Guards on completion of training.

Clifford died of wounds received while (presumably) being treated at

the hospital adjacent to where he is buried. It cannot be established when
he received his wounds but the Guards saw regular action in the month
before his death, including the second Battle of Bapaume (31 August - 3
September), the Battle of Havrincourt (12 September) and the Battle of
the Canal du Nord (27 September). In this period 22 other members of
the Battalion were killed; most connected with the action at the Canal du
Nord.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private James William Hewitt
2nd Battalion Leinster Regiment
No: 15297
Died: 6 April 1918 Age: 30
Cemetery: Le Cateau Military Cemetery, Nord, France

William Hewitt was born at Heyland, Cheshire. It is not known when he

moved to this area but, in 1914, he married Lilian Wood in a civil
ceremony registered at Altrincham. They lived at 78 Church Road,
Gatley. William enlisted at Stockport, originally into the Kings
Shropshire Light Infantry (service number 24407). It is not known when
he transferred to the Leinsters.

During March 1918, the 2nd Leinsters (part of the 16th Irish Division) were
entrenched near the village of Epehy, north of the town of St Quentin. In
Martin Middlebrook’s book ‘The Kaiser's Battle’, a Captain E Hall
describes how they had taken over part of the front line from another
battalion. ‘The trenches were poor and shallow and the wiring in front
consisted of a single strand of barbed wire held by screw-iron stakes and, in
stretches, this was on the ground forming no defence at all. All we had in the
company front line trench was a pair of sentries about every hundred yards on a
long stretch of front. To impress the enemy of our great strength, we had orders
that the officer on trench duty was to take a Lewis gunner with him and put the
gun over the parapet and fire a few rounds every 25 yards or so. He would go
one way and then travel back a few yards, fire again.......I do not think the
enemy was very impressed. I openly complained and stated that Jerry would
come over one morning and walk through us.’

On the morning of 21 March the Germans launched a massive and

unstoppable assault along a 40 mile front around St Quentin. Many were
killed, injured or taken prisoner and over the following week the British
were driven back many miles, losing all the gains made since 1916.

James is recorded as having died from wounds, probably on 21 March,

and will have received treatment in a German military hospital - the
British retreat will have meant he could not be evacuated and was taken
prisoner. Originally buried in a German cemetery he will have been re-
buried in his final resting place, probably after the Armistice

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private George Arthur Holden
D Company, 1/6th Battalion Manchester Regiment
No: 2176
Died: 4 June 1915 Age: 22
Cemetery: Helles Memorial, Turkey

George was born at Harpurhey and lived with his

parents at Brook Lea, Milton Crescent – just before
the Gatley and Cheadle boundary of the Micker
Brook. He was educated at Manchester Grammar
School and Rydal Mount, Colwyn Bay. He was a
director of Messrs Smethurst and Holden (of
Manchester and Crewe) — his father was managing
director — and is commemorated in the company's
entry in the Manchester City Battalions’ Book of
Honour.

The 6th Manchesters was a pre-war Territorial battalion which recruited

from the middle class employees of the city centre’s major firms. When
war was declared a number of young men in the area joined up. Many
were local lacrosse players or friends of players and George is believed
to have been among this group.

The battalion left for Egypt on 10 September 1914 – George did his basic
training ‘on the job’. They carried out garrison duties in Alexandria and
Cairo until the beginning of May when they went into action. George
was killed in the Charge of the Manchesters at the third Battle of Krithia
fought on the Gallipoli peninsula, the final in a series of Allied attacks
against the Ottoman defences.

Private Ridley Sheldon, C Company, 6th Battalion, later described the

morning. ‘Shells in thousands were dropped, blowing part of the Turkish
trenches to atoms and completely blowing away the barbed wire entanglements.
Every shell that dropped seemed to tell - for we saw, hurled up into the air -
legs, arms, heads, bodies, parts of limbs. It was an awful and fearful sight.’

His friend Private J S Cragg wrote to the family, ’His death occurred
during a big engagement in which a great many laid down their lives for their
country and home. I learn from a friend that he was in the forefront of the fight
and his end was instantaneous without the slightest suffering.’

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Sergeant Victor Lucas
Army Service Corps (attached to Siege Park, Canadian Corps)
No: M2/121777
Died:1 September 1918. Age: not known
Cemetery: Achicourt Road Cemetery, Achicourt, Pas de Calais, France

The Gatley war memorial wrongly ascribes Victor’s middle initial as

‘E’— army records confirm his middle name as Frederick. Victor lived at
43 Beech Cottage on Gatley Green with his wife. He originated from
Clapham, London and had enlisted at Wilmslow.

Victor served with 402 Company, Army Service Corps. This was a motor
transport unit which, in 1918, was engaged in the delivery and
movement of ammunition for the heavy artillery that formed the Siege
Park, a couple of miles south of Arras.

The company's war diary notes that on 1 September, the enemy shelled
the area resulting in the total destruction of three Dennis lorries. Victor
must have been near the lorries when the shells landed.

The small cemetery where Victor is buried is reached by a narrow grass

path leading from the road and is surrounded on all sides by the back
gardens of the neighbouring houses. A quiet, peaceful spot in what is
now a suburb of Arras.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Albert Minshall
11th Battalion Cheshire Regiment
No: 49533
Died: 16 February 1917 Age: 32
Cemetery: Pont-de-Nieppe Communal Cemetery, Nord, France

Born in Gatley, Albert lived in the village, most probably with his
parents at 76 Church Road. He worked in Old Trafford and enlisted,
at Chester, in April 1916.

On the day he died Albert was in the front line trenches at Bizet, a small
village just across the border into Belgium, north of Armentieres. There
had been a long period of frost, but it was now starting to thaw, causing
conditions in the trenches to become very bad.

There was a common belief amongst the high command of the opposing
armies that the stagnation of trench warfare led to a ‘laissez faire’
attitude amongst the men. To maintain an aggressive posture, the trench
raid became a regular feature. Small groups of soldiers would be ordered
across No Man's Land to the enemy trench with the intent of capturing
some prisoners (to gain intelligence) and to kill anyone else they found.

Not only was this thought to improve the morale of the raiders, but it
also meant the enemy could never completely relax.

At 3am on 16 February, the Germans fired a heavy barrage of trench

mortar shells on to the sector occupied by the 11th Cheshires. Under
cover of this, the enemy succeeded in raiding the trench, capturing three
men. The Battalion's War Diary notes that ‘they did not remain more than
five minutes, but succeeded in capturing three men of a post which was
isolated.’

It would seem Albert was seriously wounded by the mortars. After his
death, Private Pimblott wrote to the family saying that he had carried
Albert out of the firing line, under heavy fire. However, he died a few
hours later in an ambulance.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Albert Potts
8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment
No: 36396
Died: 3 May 1917 Age: 31
Cemetery: Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Albert was born and lived in Gatley. In the 1901 Census he was 17 years
old, living at 27 Gatley Green with his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth. He
was the middle of three brothers, the others being Herbert and Harold,
and had a younger sister, Bertha.

He enlisted at Stockport, originally serving with the Royal Army

Ordnance Corps (service number: 3504). At some point, he transferred to
the infantry. This is likely to have been after a lengthy period away from
his unit recovering from illness or wounds. When he was fit enough to
return to duty the Army will have decided that the Leicesters were in
greater need of replacements.

On 2 May, Albert's Battalion was in trenches near the village of Fontaine-

les-Croiselles, to the south west of Arras. The Battle of Bullecourt was to
start in the early hours next morning along several miles of front line.
The attack started whilst it was still dark and the Leicesters had over
1000 yards of No Man's Land to cross. It seems as though the Germans
were expecting the attack for as the British artillery shelled the German
front line the enemy immediately responded by accurately shelling the
on-coming troops.

The Battalion's War Diary describes the start of the advance ‘The
Battalion was disposed in two waves of two lines each, with a wave of moppers-
up behind. From right to left ‘A’ Coy, ‘B’ Coy, ‘C’ formed the line of attack, each
company having a two platoon frontage. ‘D’ Coy was drawn up in two lines, 60
yards in rear. The formation was two waves, each of two lines, 10 yards between
lines and 60 yards between waves, with ‘D’ Coy as moppers up.’

The Leicesters managed to capture Fontaine Wood and Cherisy, but they
could not hold them and had to withdraw in the face of a strong enemy
counter attack. Some took four hours to cover the 1000 yards back to the
safety of their trenches, crawling from shell hole to shell hole to avoid
enemy fire. Many were taken prisoner and losses were heavy. Albert was
one of 97 members of his Battalion who were killed in the attack.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 2nd Lieutenant Leonard Pritchard
218 Squadron Royal Air Force
Died: 29 September 1918 Age: 18 (based on 1901 Census)
Cemetery: Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Leonard’s full name was Joshua Leonard Pritchard. The 1901 Census
records him as being the only child of Joshua and Rachel Pritchard of 101
Gatley Road, Gatley. His father was in business as a wholesale druggist
and was sufficiently successful for the family to employ a live-in servant,
Margaret Brocklehurst.

By 1918, Joshua and Rachel had moved down the road to live at
Belgrange, 161 Gatley Road. At the same time, William and Jessie
Pritchard were living at 147 Gatley Road. William was also a wholesale
druggist do it is likely they were related. William’s son, Wilfrid, was at
Gallipoli and is recorded as suffering from typhoid fever at Hope
Hospital on the 4 February 1916.

On 29 September, the British launched a major offensive on the German

defences of the Hindenberg Line. 218 Squadron, flying Airco DH9
bombers, would be involved in bombing enemy strong points. Leonard
was the pilot of aircraft number D3272 and his observer was 2nd
Lieutenant Albert Smith. They took off from their base at Frethun, near
Calais. As the Squadron flew towards its target it was attacked by a large
force of German fighter aircraft. Leonard’s plane was last seen, over
Lichtervelde (some 35 kilometres south of Ostend). It was in a steep dive
with five enemy aircraft on the tail.

Two of the German pilots, Lt Kohlpoth of Jasta56 and Lt Willi Rosenstein

of Jasta 40 were both credited with victories over DH9s, but it is not
known which one shot down Leonard and Albert. Their bodies were
never recovered and identified.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Lieutenant Cyril Street
1st Squadron Royal Flying Corps
Died: 26 June 1917 Age: 20
Cemetery: Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

The 1901 Census confirms that Cyril was born at

Sowerby Bridge then lived with his parents, Charles
and Lucy, at 9 Sutton Lane, Stockport.
Charles was a bank clerk and was later promoted to
manager of the Gatley branch of the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Bank - later part of Barclays Bank. The
family lived at 2 Church Road.

Cyril attended North Manchester Grammar School

and later trained as an electrical engineer. After the
outbreak of war he received a commission in the Cheshire Regiment and
saw active service in France. On 11 September 1916, he transferred to the
Royal Flying Corps as a Flying Officer (Observer). In February 1917, he
received his pilot’s wings.

At 7.56pm, on 26 June 1917 Cyril took off from near Zonnebeke, in the
Ypres Salient at Belgium. He was flying a Nieuport 17 (No. B1649), a
very successful single-seater British fighter plane which had been
introduced the previous year. The squadron was flying on an offensive
patrol and had shot up the German second line trenches. They were soon
engaged in a dogfight with German aircraft.

A fellow officer serving with his squadron wrote to the family ‘He, with
great gallantry, led a formation of our machines in an attack on an enemy
formation of five or six machines, two of which were brought down. After the
encounter, he was missing, but later in the evening, we had a message to say
that he had come down just inside our front lines.’

He was probably shot down by Leutnant Karl Allmenroder, who

claimed a victory over a Nieuport at 9pm. Allmenroder was himself
killed the next day. Cyril’s body was never recovered and identified. He
is commemorated on a Memorial to the Missing containing the names of
more than 1000 airman who died in France and have no known grave.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Lance Corporal William Taylor
7th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
No: 22167
Died: 18 August 1916 Age: 21
Cemetery: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

William was born and raised in Gatley. His parents

ran the Prince of Wales public house on Gatley Green,
opposite the memorial where he is now remembered.
He worked at Partington's Chemical Works in Trafford
Park. He attended the local Congregational Church
Sunday School and played football for a local team.

William enlisted in Stockport on 19 February 1916 and

went on active service on 11 July. William will have actually joined his
unit at Montauban on 21 July, as one of 130 replacements for those killed
in an attack on 14 July.

Montauban had been the site of fierce fighting on the first day of the
Battle of the Somme at the beginning of the month and William will not
have seen a recognizable village. Every building had been flattened and
there will have just been piles of rubble.

On 24 July, the Battalion was relieved to a rest camp at Meaulte, a small

village two and half miles south of the town of Albert. They stayed there
until 18 August when they were ordered forward to support another
Battalion in an attack on a German position at Maltzhorn Farm.

The 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers captured the position, known to the
British as Lonely Trench. The Shropshires moved up close behind them
to consolidate the gains. William was one of 41 men from the Battalion,
killed in the attack.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Leonard Truran
1/4th Battalion King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment
No: 19315
Died: 20 September 1917 Age: 23
Cemetery: Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Leonard started married life in Longsight and later he

and his wife, Amy, moved to 37 Church Road, Gatley.
He would have caught the tram that ran from the
village to Stockport and on to Reddish where he
worked as a carter for a Mr Hunt. Leonard enlisted on
10 July 1915In Spring 1916, Amy had a son, also called
Leonard, who died a few weeks old.

At the beginning of September 1917 Leonard's unit was

in reserve at Bonningues in northern France. The
battalion war diary notes that on the 1st September the finals of the Inter-
Company Football competition were played, with the HQ team beating
‘C’ Company 3:0. Subsequent days were spent in training for the
forthcoming attack. This quiet time came to an end on the 14th, when the
battalion moved to an area north of Ypres.

On the 19th they moved forward. The Battle of Passchendaele had been
going on since 31 July and progress had been slow and at great cost. The
front line was just a collection of shell holes. During the night, the
Battalion took up its final assault position. At 5.40am, the whistles blew
and the men clambered out of the holes to advance through deep mud.
In spite of stubborn opposition, the leading troops reached their first
objective. After regrouping they continued to advance, but sustained
heavy casualties from enemy fire. A battalion of the North Lancashire
Regiment came up to support them and leap-frogged the Lancasters to
capture more ground. Both battalions then stopped at a captured
German trench known as Schuler Galleries and prepared for a counter
attack. Losses amongst both battalions meant the most senior officer was
just a captain. Capt. Proctor assumed command and they held this line
all day, in spite on an intense enemy bombardment and fire from both
flanks. The battalion continued to be in the firing line for another three
days but, by this time Leonard had already been killed along with 57 of
his comrades. It is not known if he ever saw his son.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Charles Depree Wardle
10th Battalion Cheshire Regiment
No:34812
Died: 19th November 1916 Age: 26
Cemetery: Tancrez Farm Cemetery, Hainaut, Belgium

Charles Wardle was born in Chorlton, Manchester. He enlisted at

Knutsford, where he was working as a farm waggoner at Mere Side
farm, on 11 December 1915. At around the same time his family came to
live in Gatley at 16 Oakwood Avenue. Farm work seems an unusual
occupation for a young man who had attended a boarding school in
Harrogate and whose family had moved into one of Gatley’s newly built
middle-class homes.

His service number suggests that, as a fairly late recruit, he went to

France on July 16 1916, as part of a group of replacements for troops
wounded or killed in the Battle of the Somme during the summer of
1916.

The battalion had been in action during October but had then gone into
reserve at Pont de Nieppe. Nieppe is a village four kilometres north west
of Armentieres. On 13 November they went forward into trenches at
Despierre Farm (thought to be near Frelinghien, north east of
Armentieres), where they stayed until 19 November. The battalion's war
diary records that there was good weather and little activity. There were
no casualties.

The opposing sides tended to know when battalions were being relieved
and it was a favourite time for the artillery to shell the incoming or
outgoing troops. 19 November seems to have been no exception and, as
the Cheshires were leaving, Charles and another soldier were killed.

The cemetery in which he is buried is next to where a first aid post was
operating. Had he died here his records would normally show that he
had ‘died of wounds’. Charles' record shows he was ‘killed in action’
(normally meaning killed outright). It is possible to speculate, therefore,
that his mates brought him here but he had died on the way.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk

 Private Thomas Wood
1/5 Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
th

No: 242945
Died: 27 September 1917. Age 21
Cemetery: Longuenesse (St Omer) Souvenir Cemetery.

When the 1911 census was taken, Florence Wood and her four children
were living at 65 Church Road. Her husband, sixty-four year old John
Wood was at the original family home in Newton Heath—with a thirty-
eight year old woman described on the census as a housekeeper – often a
polite euphemism.

Thomas, the eldest son, worked as an apprentice in a mechanical

engineering firm. He and his siblings were all born in Newton Heath.

Thomas originally served with the 1/4th battalion, Suffolk Regiment, His
service number suggests that he did not go overseas until at least the
beginning of 1917, and he may have been transferred to the
Gloucestershire regiment very soon after arriving in France, probably
while still at base camp.

Military records note that he ‘died’—a designation usually suggesting

death from illness or accident unconnected with combat.

By the time the War Graves commission had collated its casualty
information in the 1920s, Florence had returned to Newton Heath and
was living with John at 22 Gaskell Street.

Original research by John Hartley http://www.stockport1914-1918.co.uk