1st 10th Manchester

[fluffy]

Does anyone know anything about the listings for this regiment my great grandfather, George Henry Booth was numbered as 3135 on his daughter's (my grandmother's) birth certificate?

[CROONAERT]

What , specifically, is it that you want to know? I've got both the battalion and Divisional histories that cover the 1/10th Mancs, so I should be able to trace something.

Dave.

[Stebie9173]

Fluffy,

Here is George's Medal card

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...1&resultcount=1

If you pay to download it it will tell you :

1. When he entered a Theatre of War (and which one)

2. Which campaign medals he would be entitled to.

3. Possibly what date he was demobilised. This is sometimes marked Z Box or ZAR (this means he was put on standby to return to war if needed)

and very little else.

It costs £3.50 to download or can be looked up for free at the National Archives at Kew.

The Main Site of this forum has a breakdown of the regiments that fought in the war.

In this case the Manchester Regiment

http://www.1914-1918.net/mancs.htm

The 1st 10th Manchester Regiment was attached to the 126th Brigade, 42nd Division from May 1915.

The Division was sent to Egypt to defend the Suez Canal in 1914, took part in the Gallipoli landings in May 1915 and the subsequent withdrawal in early 1916, stayed in Egypt for the rest of 1916 and headed to France and the Western Front in early 1917. It arrived just in time to take part in 3rd Ypres (otherwise known as Passchendaele) on the Belgian border. They then were at the 1918 Battle at the Somme as the German's attempted to break the Allied Lines, and were part of the final battles of the War as the German's were driven back in one of the few "mobile" phases of the war.

More details on this page of the Long,Long Trail:

http://www.1914-1918.net/42div.htm

I hope this gives you a place to start any deeper research for which CROONAeRT is obviously a good source!

Hope this helps for now, Steve Beeby

[fluffy]

What , specifically, is it that you want to know? I've got both the battalion and Divisional histories that cover the 1/10th Mancs, so I should be able to trace something.

Dave.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Anything really, as I dont know if he even saw service of any kind and if there is any family information that would be good too!!

Many thanks.

[fluffy]

Hi

Reply for Stebie9173

Checked it out, as you say not much but more than I knew so....

Many thanks for pointing the web site out anyway.

Regards

[Stebie9173]

Fluffy,

His medal card tells you which Camapign Medals he would have received for his service and therefore whether he saw action. If he was in a Theatre of War and an infantry private, then there wouldn't have been much danger of him not seeing action...

From the Regiment he was in he should have received the following:

Victory Medal - given to soldiers who entered a theatre of war between 5-8-1914 and 11-11-1918

British War Medal - given to soldiers who served in an operational unit, dates as above

These two medals will often be called a "Pair".

Soldiers who were in an "operational Theatre of War" on any date between 5-8-1914 and 31-12-1915 also would have been entitled to the 1914-15 Star so George should have this one as well. All 3 medals are known as a "Trio".

If you want help with his family then I'll be glad to help but I'd need a clue or two (rough place of birth/residence in 1901, brothers or sisters, wife's christian and maiden name, etc.) Both Booth and George are quite common names!

Steve.

[CROONAERT]

If you want help with his family then I'll be glad to help but I'd need a clue or two (rough place of birth/residence in 1901, brothers or sisters, wife's christian and maiden name, etc.) Both Booth and George are quite common names!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...and for help with info on his war service, I could also do with a little more information if possible. What's the date of your grandmother's birth certificate?

Dave.

[Stebie9173]

As you have probably gathered, there is no place to just go and find out exactly what an individual soldier did in the war. However, some service records do survive on film at the National Archives at Kew (the rest were burnt in a Luftwaffe bombing raid in WWII). You do need to visit Kew to find out if these exist or employ a Researcher (like Croonaert ) to do the work for you. There is only a certain amount that people will do for free!

Kew will also hold a Battalion War Diary. These are an original set of hand-written documents that detail day to day activities of the Battalion, but will only very rarely mention any sort of exploits by the non-Officer ranks. The detail included will vary depending on the Adjutant writing them!

However, judging by George's low Regimental Number (Army Service numbers did not exist until after WW1), he would probably have enlisted late in 1914. After about six months training he would have gone into action and would more than probably have first seen action in Gallipoli. The British would not have fought there alongside the famous Australian (and New Zealand) soldiers on the west coast but landed at the southern tip of the Peninsula at Cape Helles. It looks like the 126th Brigade first saw action there on the 4th June 1915 in the 3rd Battle of Krithia.

That would probably have been George's first taste of war... and if he was later at Paeschendaele it would probably have got a lot worse...

Steve.

PS There is quite a long section relating to the early overseas service of Manchester Regiments of the 42nd Div. on this website :

http://www.certificates.fsnet.co.uk/The%20...bert/pafn04.htm

although I couldn't say for certain if the 1/10th Regiment actually took part... He probably wouldn't have been on that particular ship if he enlisted in Autumn 1914 but it would have been a similar voyage, I would imagine.

Steve