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18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment
The 18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment was raised in Manchester on the 28th of August 1914 by the Lord Mayor and City. Initially they trained at White City in Old Trafford, then at Heaton Park but moved in April 1915 to Belton Park, where they joined 90th Brigade, 30th Division. They to Larkhill in September 1915 for final training and proceeded to France on the 6th of November 1915. concentrating near Amiens. In 1916 they were in action during the Battle of the Somme, in which the Division captured Montauban. In 1917 they took part in the pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Arras Offensive and The Battle of Pilkem Ridge. In early 1918 the army was reorganised and the 18th Manchesters were disbanded at Haut Allaines on the 20th of February 1918, with the troops transferring to other units.
7th Sep 1914 Training begins.
Early Feb 1915 18th Manchesters move to Heaton Park 18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment moved from White City, Old Trafford where they had been engaged in initial training to Heaton Park Camp to join the 1st, 2nd and 4th City Battalions.
21st Apr 1915 Manchester City Battalions Brigade Sports day A crowd of 20,000 people gathered at Heaton Park to watch Manchester City Battalion's Brigade sport's day. 4th City Battalion won the Brigade steeplechase earning them the nickname Scarlet Runners.
24th Apr 1915 Manchester City Battalions move camp The four Manchester City Battalions left Heaton Park Camp for Belton Park near Grantham, Lincolnshire. 18th Battalion left Heaton park in the early morning, marching through Manchester to London Road station to entrain for Grantham. On arrival they marched 3 miles to Belton park.
17th Sep 1915 18th Manchesters move to Larkhill 18th Battalion Manchester Regiment arrive at Larkhill Camp from Belton Park.
8th Nov 1915 18th Manchesters proceed to France An unseasonably warm day, 18th Battalion Manchester Regiment departed from Larkill Camp, they marched to Amesbury station to entrain for Folkestone and depart for France.
1st of January 1916 Move 
1st of January 1916 Night-time Shelling
2nd of January 1916 Direct Hits
13th of January 1916 5th Division in Reserve
18th Mar 1916 Reliefs 7th Buffs Commenced relief of 18th Manchester Regiment in Y 3 s/sector at 7 pm relief
complete at 9.45 pm. Enemy shelled our transport. Lt F.M. Stoop and
3 O.R. wounded whilst off loading, the force of the explosion knocked
Lt Whitefield off the bank, he is suffering from shock. 2 O.R. wounded
by shell fire in 13 trench. Frank Phillips
Capt Adj
7th Buffs7th Buffs war diary WO95/2049
30th Apr 1916 Awards
1st Jul 1916 Montauban Captured
1st Jul 1916 Operations
1st Jul 1916 Ammunition
2nd Jul 1916 In Reserve
3rd Jul 1916 Reliefs
4th Jul 1916 Working Parties
5th Jul 1916 Working Parties
6th Jul 1916 Working Parties
7th Jul 1916 Working Parties
8th Jul 1916 Attack Made
9th Jul 1916 Attack Made
11th Jul 1916 Reliefs Complete
12th Jul 1916 In Camp
13th Jul 1916 Address
14th Jun 1917 Reliefs
1st Jul 1917 Working Parties
2nd Jul 1917 Working Parties
3rd Jul 1917 Working Parties
4th Jul 1917 Working Parties
5th Jul 1917 Working Parties
6th Jul 1917 On the March
7th Jul 1917 On the March
8th Jul 1917 Church Parade
9th Jul 1917 Training
10th Jul 1917 Training
11th Jul 1917 Training
12th Jul 1917 Training
13th Jul 1917 Training
14th Jul 1917 Training
15th Jul 1917 Horse Show
15th Jul 1917 Posting
16th Jul 1917 Practice attack
17th Jul 1917 On the Move
18th Jul 1917 Training
19th Jul 1917 Training
20th Jul 1917 Training
21st Jul 1917 In Camp
22nd Jul 1917 On the Move
23rd Jul 1917 On the Move
23rd Jul 1917 Orders Received
24th Jul 1917 Working Parties
25th Jul 1917 Working Parties
26th Jul 1917 Trench Raid
26th Jul 1917 Trench Raid
27th Jul 1917 Working Parties
28th Jul 1917 Reliefs Complete
29th Jul 1917 Holding the Line
30th Jul 1917 In the Line
31st Jul 1917 Attack Made
31st Jul 1917 Attack Made
10th Nov 1917 In Camp
14th Dec 1917 Attack Made
16th Dec 1917 Holding the Line
8th Nov 1918 On the Move
24th Nov 1918 Working Parties
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Allan MSM. Percival Robert. Sgt.
- Bardsley Harry Toplis. Pte.
- Booth Archie. L/Cpl. (d.30th Jul 1916)
- Davies George Frederick. Pte.
- Fox Louis . Pte. (d.9th Jul 1916)
- Hunt William G.. Pte. (d.14th Nov 1916)
- Ingham Albert. Pte. (d.1st Dec 1916)
- Ingoe Herbert. Pte. (d.1st July 1916)
- Longshaw Alfred. Pte. (d.1st Dec 1916)
- Marr William. Pte. (d.9th July 1916)
- Sant Harry. L/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
- Spence John. Pte.
- Summersgill Albert. Pte.
- Taylor Lesley. Pte.
- Thompson William Henry. Pte.
- Wardle Andrew. L/Cpl. (d.29th July 1917)
- Webster John William. Pte.
- Webster John William.
- Wharton Francis. Pte. (d.12th Oct 1916)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. William Marr 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment (d.9th July 1916) William Marr enlisted into the British Army, and served with the 18th (3rd City) Battalion, Manchester Regiment. Billy was the husband of Jane Marr of 32 Gillow St, Deansgate, Manchester.
He died at the Battle of Somme, 9th of July 1916 aged 40 and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France.
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Pte. John Spence 25th Btn. Manchester Regiment My Grandfather John Spence enlisted on the 10th of July 1915. He was 22 years and 5 months old and described himself as a pork butcher, living at the address in Oldfield Street. His next of kin was his Father, also John.
He was posted to the 25th Battalion, Manchester Regiment on the 30th of August 1915.
He went to France as part of a draft of reinforcements on the 13th of January 1916 aboard the vessel Onward from Folkestone, arriving in France the next day.
He went to the 30th Infantry Brigade Depot where he was then posted to the 18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment.
He was reported missing on the 30th of July 1916 during the 18th Battalion's ill fated attack on the village of Guillemont.
After imprisonment at Dulmen camp, he was repatriated on the 29th of November 1918.
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Pte. Lesley Taylor 18th (3rd City) Battalion Manchester Regiment My Grandfather, Lesley Taylor, joined up on the 11th of December 1915. He was 20 years 8 months.
I believe he was taken prisoner on the 26th July 1916 at Guillemont and sent to Dulmen where he was for the rest of the war.
He never spoke about it and died in 1977.
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Pte. George Frederick Davies 18th (3rd City) Btn. Manchester Regiment George Davies was my grandfather and was a private soldier in the 18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He was captured during the battle of Zillebeke on the 14th of December 1917 and held at the Dulmen Prisoner of War camp.
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L/Cpl. Archie Booth 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment (d.30th Jul 1916) Archie Booth, born in 1891 was my great uncle who enlisted with one of the Pals Battalions, the 18th in the Manchester Regiment in Sept 1914. He lived in Gorton, Manchester and was a warehouseman. He was initially a Private but at some stage became a Lance Corporal.
He was killed on 30th July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme and his name is on the Thiepval Memorial in France as he has no known grave.
I have a postcard sent by him in Sept 1914 to a brother in Canada informing him of his enlistment and about the training he was undergoing.
He was one of the soldiers to give evidence in a Court of Enquiry held in mid May 1916 when the roof of a mine shaft collapsed killing 11 men of his Battalion.
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Pte. Albert Ingham 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment (d.1st Dec 1916) Pte. Albert Ingham served with the Manchester Regiment 18th Battalion. He was executed for desertion on 1st December 1916 and buried in the Bailleulmont Communal Cemetery in Pas-de-Calais, France.
(According to Ward & Gibson (p 81), the Commission engraved on the headstone, at the insistence of the deceased’s father, the words: "Shot At Dawn. One of the First to Enlist". He had apparently been caught in civilian clothes on board a Swedish ship about to sail from Dieppe. Official records have: ‘Died of wounds’, while his Death Certificate states: ‘Shot by sentence of FGCM for Desertion'.
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Pte. Alfred Longshaw 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment (d.1st Dec 1916) Pte. Alfred Longshaw served with the Manchester Regiment 18th Battalion. He was executed for desertion on 1st December 1916 and is buried in the Bailleulmont Communual cemetery in Pas-de-Calais, France.
Before the war Private Longshaw and his pal Private Ingham had worked together for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. The pair were clerks in Salford Goods Yard. Enlistment found the pals still together but serving as privates in No.11 platoon, ‘C’ Company 18th.
As part of 90th Brigade the 30th Division landed at Boulogne on 6th November 1915 and by 12th November 1915 the Division was concentrated to the north of the Somme at Ailly le Haut Clocher NNW of Amiens.
The two men had served together through the Somme campaign when the 30th Division had attacked at Montauban on 1st July 1916 the Division suffering over 3000 casualties. On 7th July they attacked at Trones Wood and the Battalion was involved in the fighting around Mansell Copse and the attack on Guillemont on 30th July 1916 and then on relief to Citadel Camp.
The two men were then transferred to the Brigade machine-gun company together. and left the area of the Somme until returning to the Somme area on 4th October 1916. The two men disappeared from their unit at Buire-sur-l’Ancre (NNE of Corbie in the 1916 Rear Area) on the night of 5th-6th October 1916 when they were under orders to go to the front line at short notice. On 1st November 1916 at 930 am both men were found on a Swedish vessel at Dieppe by Sergeant Emment and both told him that they were American citizens but by the afternoon Pte. Longshaw admitted his true name and that he had deserted from the machine-gun company and Private Ingham then admitted he belonged to the Manchester Pals.
They were tried on 20th November 1916 and found guilty and sentenced to death. It is reported that just before they were shot at Bailleulval (a village about a mile E of Bailleulmont) Longshaw turned to Ingham and said “Well, good-bye Albert.†During the War it was reported that the men had died of wounds.
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Pte. William G. Hunt 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment (d.14th Nov 1916) William Hunt was executed for desertion on 14th November 1916 and is buried in the Bailleulmong Communal Cemetery in Pas-de-Calais, France.
Private William Hunt was a regular soldier with two years service on the Western Front. Originally he had landed in France on 9th November 1914 before being posted to the 2nd Manchester Regiment 18th Battalion. He had previously been convicted of the military crime of disobedience, and had received 1 years HL in Hunt's case this had been commuted to 83 days field punishment No.l. The Recollections of an eyewitness to the private's execution recalled events surrounding the case and these were published in the early 1970s — The First Day on the Somme' by Martin Middlebrook, and the eyewitness later elaborated on some of the details.
The eyewitness, Private Paddy Kennedy was serving with 18 Manchesters and recalled that Hunt was drafted to the battalion during the latter part of 1916. 30 Division had seen a lot of action in the opening month of the Somme offensive and during a subsequent operation Kennedy maintained that Private Hunt had become detached from his unit and had gone into action with one of the South Lancs battalions. Kennedy maintained that Hunt had become lost and, because the attack failed, it was decided to make an example out of Hunt. Kennedy had no personal knowledge of these events and his description is also clouded by the passage of time. However, what can be verified as correct, is that Private Hunt was tried for desertion (the account given in Middlebrook's book incorrectly states that the offence was cowardice.) on 22nd October and that he was not represented or assisted by a prisoner's friend.The commanding officer's comments, submitted to the court, stated that in his opinion, Hunt's behaviour was generally, *satisfactory. Later the Brigadier also recommended leniency for Hunt.
Private Kennedy recalled how news of the sentence was publicised. As was the custom the battalion was paraded for the promulgation. As the men stood to attention Private Hunt was ordered to step forward, then the sentence and confirmation were read out. Kennedy stated that he and five other privates were detailed to be the firing squad Once the sentence was known the Military Police were also in attendance to ensure the ritual's eventual performance. As was standard practice an attempt was made to get the soldier drunk. With the prisoner in a drunken state everyone's task became that much easier. Intoxication was also regarded as more humane for the condemned man. Private Hunt however refused drink, and as dawn approached on the following morning he was equally uncooperative. Refusing to walk, his escort dragged him downhill into a quarry, the place of execution. There they tied him, with arms and legs bound, into a chair. His final act of defiance was to refuse the offer of a blindfold.
Kennedy recalled that the firing squad had their rifles temporarily taken from them, so that a supposed blank round (which acted as palliative for troubled consciences) could be loaded into one man's rifle. The officer warned the firing squad to take care with their aim, as he did not wish to be the final executioner. Private Kennedy also mentioned that one man in the firing squad stated he knew the victim from their regular soldiering days and declared he wanted nothing to do with the execution, as Private Hunt was a good lad. The soldier's objection was ignored. With a white handkerchief pinned over the victim's heart, the unsteady firing squad took aim. The officer's worst fears were realised. Hunt was still alive when the officer stood forward and blasted the badly wounded private in the side of the head with his revolver. The grisly spectacle over, Private Kennedy and his comrades were left to bury the body and clean up the mess. The execution had been the first in the 18th Manchesters and also the first in the Division but others were to follow before this blood letting came to an end. Twenty year old Private Hunt was a native of Manchester, and seemingly an orphan. On the last day of November the local paper reported his death saying that Hunt had died of wounds(Manch Evening News 30th Nov 1916). * It says unsatisfactory on the CO report.
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Sgt. Percival Robert Allan MSM. 18th Btn. My relative Percy R. Allan survived in the Manchester Pals 18th Battalion. He went to war on the 18th November 1915 & gained the Meritorious Service Medal. His name on the battalion photo is listed incorrectly as Allen P.
Percy started as a private and later became a sergeant.
Percy was one of the lucky ones that survived the war & owned his own butchers shop on Lloyd St Manchester. I am told he had a wound to his leg. He married and had one son. He is buried in Southern Cemetery in Manchester with his wife and son. (he has no headstone).
We don't have any photos or medals and we do not know what he did during his service.
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John William Webster 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment My Grandfather John William Webster served in WW1 with the 18th Manchester Regt. My dad died here in Australia in a farming accident when I was a child. I do not have any family history to go by. I dearly dearly want to know where my Grandfather served, in which scene he was involved( List H 738 ??), what his war wounds were.( para 392 XV1 - I do not know what it means)
and if anyone has a photograph as I have no idea what he looked like.
It is so important to me.
Editor's Note:
From his Service Records, John William Webster enlisted in Manchester on the 14th of December 1914, listing his occupation as Sawyer. Stating that he had previously served with the 7th Territorial Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He was 29 years and 11 months old, standing 5'2". He was married with three young children. John underwent training with the 18th battalion, but was transferred to the 25th Battalion on the 9th of November 1915 as he was physically unfit to proceed to France with the 18th Manchesters who sailed that week. John served with the 25th in the UK until he was discharged from the army on the 16th of June 1916 as "no longer physically for service." The records don't specify why he was no longer fit, but as he worked in a sawmill it is reasonable to assume that he may have been suffering breathing problems caused by working in a dusty environment. If you are able to locate his death certificate, his eventual cause of death may confirm if he did suffer from a lung condition.
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Pte. Herbert Ingoe 18th Battalion Manchester Regiment (d.1st July 1916)  Herbert Ingoe was a Manchester clerk, born in 1892. Joined up on 04/09/14. He is described as having Dark hair, sallow complexion, hazel/grey eyes. 5 foot 3-and-a-half; Chest 31-and-a-half inches when fully expanded (with 2 inches expansion). Weight, 106lbs. Eyesight, D6.
As 180411, Private Ingoe, Herbert, in the 18th City Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, he seems to have stood up well to basic training. By the end of 1915, his unit would have been in France. They celebrated Christmas there. His time was divided between travel, general duties and some spells in the front line. During his service, he committed one breach of King's Regulations: reported by Corporal Beattie for losing an oil-cloth 'by neglect' - and was required to pay for a new one. The case was heard on Nov the 21st,
1915. Preparations were in hand for the Battle of The Somme. He was killed on July the 1st 1916, during the attack on Montaubon. He was in C Company, but we do not know precisely what part he tried to play in events at Montaubon. We have heard one story, possibly apocryphal, that he was badly wounded and left in a shell-crater by comrades, and that when they returned for him, he was nowhere to be found and the crater had doubled in size.
His last effects were returned to his father, George William Ingoe, in two parcels: The First contained One note book and one hair-ribbon. The
Second contained Two notebooks, a diary, a French/English dictionary, a New Testament, two letters, one postcard, three visiting-cards and two newspaper-cuttings. We wonder if the two letters were addressed to his family and sweetheart, Alice (surname unknown), rather than from home, or if the postcard was of the kind for use in the field, a form to let relatives know how things were with him at the front.
He is commemorated at on the public memorial at Boggart Hole Clough, on a Weslyan Sunday Schools Roll of Honour at Blackley and at Thiepval, on the Commonwealth monument for personnel whose bodies were lost without trace.
Herbert was a Wesleyan Methodist, teetotal. His brother Alfred (1896- 1939), joined the RAMC as a stretcher-bearer in March, 1915; served out the war in the Dardanelles and on the Western Front, and was demobilized in 1919.
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Pte. Francis Wharton 18th Btn Manchester Regiment (d.12th Oct 1916) Sadly I don't know anything about my Great Uncle Frank Wharton, other than he fought and died in the Battle of the Somme. I never knew him, but feel enormous pride - I don't want him to be forgotten. Thank you for the opportunity to add him to this site.
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Pte. John William Webster 18th Battalion Manchester Regiment My Grandfather John William Webster was with the Manchester Regiment, I think in the 18th Battalion, he was born in 1886 in Salford, Manchester.
He enlisted Dec 1914, and was discharged with wounds in June 1916. Cause of discharge is listed as "Para 392 XVI KR Wounds Action taken H738"
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Pte. Louis Fox 18th Battalion Manchester Regiment (d.9th Jul 1916) Louis Fox was not a direct relative of mine. He was taken in as a homeless teenager by my maternal grandmother in the early years of the 20th century and remained with the family as a well loved family member until his death in 1916.
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Pte. Albert Summersgill 18th Btn. Manchester Regiment Albert enlisted on the 6th of April 1915 aged 21 and was discharged on the 15th of November 1917.
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Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
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The Manchester Pals Martin Steadman
Manchester proved able to raise eight Pals battalions. Initially, these battalions were composed of middle-class men who experience before the war years was within the commercial, financial and manufacturing interests which formed the foundations of Edwardian Manchester's life and prosperity. Manchester was undeniably proud of its pals battalions; that the area was capable of raising. Seven months after their arrival in France the battle of the Somme was launched, on the fateful 1st July, 1916. On the right of the British Army's extraordinary efforts that day, the Manchester Pals were part of one of the few successful actions, taking the villages of Montauban and Mametz and making a deep incursion into the German defences north of the River Somme.
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