3rd Manchester Rifles
The 3rd Manchester Rifles, later the 7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment was a unit of Britain's Volunteers and Territorial Force raised in Manchester. It served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front in the First World War.
Volunteer Force
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One such unit was the 3rd Manchester Rifles, which soon had five companies at 'Henry's', Cheetham Hill, Knott Mill, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, and Newton Heath. 'Henry's' Company was raised by employees of A. & S. Henry, with Major John Snowdon Henry as the first commanding officer of the 3rd Manchesters. In December 1859 men connected with newspapers and publishing formed a Manchester Press Company, which enlisted 200 men, and another company was formed at Prestwich. The 3rd Manchesters were formally adopted on 29 February 1860 as the 40th Lancashire RVC, and the whole unit paraded at Chetham's College Yard in April, when Major Henry announced that its motto would be 'Defence not Defiance'.Many of the original volunteers were warehousemen and clerks; however, some mill owners refused to let their employees join, and by 1862 the unit's composition was 77 gentlemen and professionals, 129 tradesmen, 62 clerks, 347 artisans from foundries and 21 labourers. Together with the 1st and 2nd Manchester Rifles and the Ardwick Artizan Rifles the unit made up an unofficial Manchester Brigade at the Volunteer reviews.
The Hon Algernon Egerton, younger son of the Earl of Ellesmere, and at the time Member of Parliament for South Lancashire, was commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel of the new unit on 16 May 1860. He later became its Honorary Colonel, and in 1875 his nephew, Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere became lieutenant-colonel commandant.
The unit's original headquarters was at 11 Deansgate, Manchester, and it used the top storey of a large loom warehouse for drill. It moved its drill hall to 134 Deansgate in September 1881, but this was still unsatisfactory so the Earl of Ellesmere bought land in Burlington Street, Greenheys, where it could build a combined HQ and drill shed. A five-day 'Grand Bazaar' was organised in 1884 to raise funds for the construction, and the Burlington Street drill hall was opened in 1885.
In 1880, following disbandments and amalgamations of less successful units, the corps was renumbered as the 16th Lancashire RVC. Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' introduced by the Cardwell Reforms, the 16th was linked with other Manchester-based RVCs, Militia regiments and the Regular 63rd and 96th Foot into Brigade No 16. The 63rd and 96th Foot were amalgamated as the Manchester Regiment in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, and the 16th Lancashire RVC was formally attached to it on 1 July. The unit was redesignated as the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment, on 1 September 1888. The uniform had been scarlet with Lincoln green facings, but now it adopted the white facings of the Manchesters. At this time the unit's strength was 12 companies. Under the mobilisation plan introduced by the Stanhope Memorandum in 1888, the Volunteer Battalions of the regiment constituted the Manchester Brigade.
Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the 4th Volunteer Battalion became the 7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. The Manchester Brigade formed part of the East Lancashire Division of the TF.First World War
Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war, the division was at its annual camp when the order to mobilise was received at 05.30 on 4 August. The units returned to their drill halls to mobilise, the men being billeted close by. On 20 August, having volunteered for overseas service, the division moved into camps for training, and on 9 September it entrained for Southampton to embark for Egypt.On 31 August 1914, the formation of Reserve or 2nd Line units for each existing TF unit was authorised. Initially these were formed from men who had not volunteered for overseas service, and the recruits who were flooding in. Later they were mobilised for overseas service in their own right. From now on, the original battalion was designated the 1/7th Manchesters, and the 2nd Line the 2/7th; later a 3rd line battalion was formed.
1/7th Battalion
The East Lancashire Division began to disembark at Alexandria on 25 September and the Manchester Bde went into garrison in that city. However, three companies of the 7th Bn were sent via Port Sudan to garrison Khartoum. Later, half of the company left at Alexandria was sent on to Cyprus. At first the division's role was simply to relieve Regular troops from the garrisons for service on the Western Front, but on 5 November Britain declared war on Turkey and Egypt became a war zone. In January the Manchester Brigade was concentrated at Cairo and initially the East Lancashire Division was assigned to guard to Suez Canal before being selected for the Gallipoli Expedition.Gallipoli
On 3 May the 1/7th Manchesters under the command of Lt-Col H.E. Gresham embarked on the Ionian and landed on 7 May at 'V' Beach at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It moved forward that night to positions west of Krithia Bridge, and then on 11 May it took over the firing and support trenches in the Krithia Nullah sector. On 12 May the brigade made a feint attack to attract attention away from a movement elsewhere, and the following day two platoons of the 1/7th advanced but were unable to hold the ground and were forced to withdraw during the night.On 25 May, the East Lancashire Division was formally designated 42nd Division, and the Manchester Brigade became 127th Brigade.
On 28 May, 1/7th Bn in conjunction with 1/8th Bn took part in a small operation that moved the line forward, and B and D Companies dug in during the night. The lines were now within assaulting distance of the nearest Turkish trenches, and a new attack was launched on 4 June. After a bombardment starting at 08.00, the assault was launched at noon. The Manchester Brigade led 42nd Division's attack, with A and C Companies of 1/7th Bn on the right, and in this sector all went well to begin with: despite intense rifle and machine gun fire the brigade took all its first objectives, the second wave passing through and parties advancing up to into the Turkish fourth line. The Official History records that 'The Manchester Territorials, fighting like veterans, were all in high fettle'. There was almost nothing between them and Krithia, and beyond that the ultimate target of Achi Baba. However, things had gone disastrously wrong for 127 Bde's neighbours, and the Turks were counter-attacking both flanks. 1/7th Battalion's position on the right was quite untenable and the brigade was ordered to withdraw. Although the Manchesters held on to the first Turkish line they had captured, casualties had been severe: the battalion lost its CO, Maj Staveacre, who had been acting since Lt-Col Gresham was evacuated to Malta on 28 May. The Manchesters consolidated their position on 5 June and held off a Turkish counter-attack on 6 June before being relieved next day and going into reserve.
On 12 June the Manchester Brigade was withdrawn from the Gallipoli Peninsula and went to the island of Imbros for rest. It returned to Cape Helles on 22 June and 1/7th Bn went up to the firing line in the Krithia Nullah sector on 24 June. They held the Turkish trench they had captured while the formations on either flank attempted to improve their positions. The 1/7th Manchesters then spent the next six weeks alternating in the line with 1/5th and 1/8th Bns. On 5 July, 1/7th Bn helped to repulse a fierce Turkish attack on the neighbouring 29th Division, inflicting heavy casualties.
A new attack at Helles began in August. 29th Division attacked on 6 August, and 1/7th Manchesters was ordered to keep in contact with its right flank. Captain Fawcus, commanding the first line of the 1/7th, was unable to find any of the 29th Division, except a few stragglers whom he brought back to the British lines after dark.42nd Division delivered its main attack at 09.45 on 7 August, but despite the bombardment and assistance from machine guns and trench mortars, the leading troops of 1/7th Manchesters could only get forward about 50 yards. By 19.15 that evening the Manchesters were back in their old positions. 127th Brigade was temporarily unfit for service and its total strength was only that of a single battalion, though it relieved 125th Brigade in the firing line near Krithia Nullah on 8/9 August. After a short rest and receiving a few drafts and returning casualties, the division was put back into the line on 19 August, still badly under strength and suffering from sickness.
In September the battalion was engaged in fatigues and trench digging. These new trenches were given names such as 'Burlington Street' and 'Greenheys Lane' reminiscent of the battalion's HQ. The battalion continued to take casualties from enemy fire and mines, and from sickness. Between 6 May and 4 November the battalion lost 163 officers and men killed, 402 wounded and 93 missing. It was finally evacuated from 'V' Beach for Mudros on 29 December.
Romani
The Gallipoli Campaign was shut down at the beginning of January, but 42nd Division remained on Mudros until the middle of the month before returning to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and the Suez Canal defences. From February to 1916 it was stationed at Shallufa, base for the Southern Sector of the defences, broken by spells of training in the desert. In June the division was moved to the Central Sector, between Ismailia and Qantara, where the 1/7th Manchesters were attached to 52nd Division. In July, 42nd Division became part of a Mobile Column formed to counter a threatened Turkish thrust across the Sinai desert before it reached the canal. 127 Brigade was the advanced brigade of this force, and 1/7th Bn rejoined. On4 August artillery fire was heard as the Battle of Romani began, and 127 Bde was rushed by railway up to Pelusium where 1/6th Manchesters were preparing defences. The newly arrived battalions passed through 1/6th Manchesters to support the Anzac Mounted Division, which was heavily engaged. The Manchesters marched rapidly through the desert in the hottest part of the day, 1/7th Bn leading on the left, but the battle was already over when they arrived. Camels carrying vital water and supplies only reached the front line troops at the end of the day. During 5 and 6 August the brigade pursued the defeated Turkish force, suffering badly from extreme heat and lack of water, with many men falling out through exhaustion, until it reached Qatiya.
During the Autumn the railway and water pipeline were pushed forward, and 42nd Division participated in the EEF's Advance to Wadi el Arish, which began in late November 1916 and completed the Sinai Campaign in January 1917.