Pte John Haney-Manchester Regiment

[Peter Bennett]

I am trying to find out more about this soldier;

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...casualty=377624

he does not seem to be listed in SDGW

He died at the Military Hospital in Ashton-Under-Lyne, but was not a local man according to a report which I found in library archives.

[John_Hartley]

Peter

There's not much to go on from the CWGC info, but I can't find a Medal Index Card for him on-line. That, his date of death and a bit of number-crunching round SDGW leads me to the speculate that:-

He was not an original "Pal". His service number is probably not early enough. I'd have thought that he probably hadnt been in the army for long before he died in 11/15. The SDGW number-crunching only records a handful of "near numbers" - soldiers allocated to 12/Manc or 19/Manc. His lack of a Battalion on the CWGC might suggest that his death was very early in his service and he hadnt been allocated to a Battalion. As you say, there doesnt appear to a SDGW record of him. All this makes me think that he might have died very soon after joining - whilst still in training - probably natural causes (possibly accident)

He doesnt appear in the employers listings in the City Battalions Book of Honour - not a guarantee, of course, but it lends weight to your research that he wasnt a local man.

Does this support whatever you've found from the library archives? Was this a newspaper report? If so, I'm a bit intrigued as to why a newspaper should report on the simple death of a man who doesnt come from the Ashton area.

John

[Peter Bennett]

Peter

There's not much to go on from the CWGC info, but I can't find a Medal Index Card for him on-line. That, his date of death and a bit of number-crunching round SDGW leads me to the speculate that:-

He was not an original "Pal". His service number is probably not early enough. I'd have thought that he probably hadnt been in the army for long before he died in 11/15. The SDGW number-crunching only records a handful of "near numbers" - soldiers allocated to 12/Manc or 19/Manc. His lack of a Battalion on the CWGC might suggest that his death was very early in his service and he hadnt been allocated to a Battalion. As you say, there doesnt appear to a SDGW record of him. All this makes me think that he might have died very soon after joining - whilst still in training - probably natural causes (possibly accident)

He doesnt appear in the employers listings in the City Battalions Book of Honour - not a guarantee, of course, but it lends weight to your research that he wasnt a local man.

Does this support whatever you've found from the library archives? Was this a newspaper report? If so, I'm a bit intrigued as to why a newspaper should report on the simple death of a man who doesnt come from the Ashton area.

John

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dear John, thanks for your interest.

The name John Haney is on my local RC Church Memorial in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire as having died in November 1915 (No Date) we could not work out the connection with Ashton, until I visited the Library yesterday and found just a small insert regarding his funeral, he was obviously not a local man, as there were no photos or mention of a family. The article did report that the regiment turned out and gave him a big send-off.

Wrongly it seems, I deduced that he might have been wounded at Loos or Gallipoli, as you will know there were a lot of Manchesters engaged at the latter. Wherever he was from, he just had the bad luck to die in the Military Hospital in Ashton. Perhaps there are surviving records of the Hospital.

[John_Hartley]

Peter

When you mention "the Library", do you mean the one at Ashton? If so, and the newspaper is the Ashton one, then I'm even more confident that he was probably in training (technically, I reckon with the 3rd Bn). It would make perfect sense that he was in hospital in the town and the other troops, based at the Depot, turned out for his funeral. Does the newspaper cutting give any details at all (of anything halfway useful)?

John

[John_Hartley]

Peter

I've found a fairly tenuous coonection. The City Battalions book only list one Haney (F Haney) The book has an entry from the Bradford Dyers Association ( a trade association with member companies on both sides of the Pennines). Haney worked for Thornton, Hannam & Marshall Ltd which was in Brighouse - just down the road from you. Relative, perhaps?

John