The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th Regiment of Foot as the 1st and 2nd battalions; the 6th Royal Lancashire Militia became the 3rd (Reserve) and 4th (Extra Reserve) battalions and the Volunteer battalions became the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th battalions.
After distinguished service in both the First and the Second World Wars, the Manchester Regiment was amalgamated with the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1958, to form the King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool), which was, in 2006, amalgamated with the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and the Queen's Lancashire Regiment to form the present Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border).
1881–1899 Between the 1860s and 1880s, the British Army underwent a period of reform implemented by Edward Cardwell and Hugh Childers. Single-battalion regiments were amalgamated and regiments were affiliated with a geographical area.Mileham (2000), p. 58. The Manchester Regiment came into being on 1 July 1881 by the union of the 63rd (West Suffolk) and 96th Regiments of Foot. They had been linked in 1873 by their allocation to the 16th Sub-district Brigade Depot in Ashton-under-Lyne, near to Manchester.Frederick, John Bassett Moore (1969), Lineage book of the British Army; Mounted Corps and Infantry, 1660–1968, pp. 112–3. The 2nd Battalion, as the 96th Foot, had been raised in the town of Manchester in 1824. Eight additional battalions were gained through the incorporation of the 6th Royal Lancashire Militia and rifle corps units from Lancashire. By July, the regiment had the following under its command:Frederick, pp. 130–3.
Regimental Headquarters 63rd Regimental District (Regimental Depot) based in Ashton (later named Ladysmith Barracks) 1st Battalion (Regular) 2nd Battalion (Regular) 3rd (1st Battalion, 6th Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalion (Militia) 4th (2nd Battalion, 6th Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalion (Militia) 1st Volunteer Battalion — former 4th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers 2nd Volunteer Battalion — former 6th Lancashire (1st Manchester) Rifle Volunteers 3rd Volunteer Battalion — former 40th Lancashire (3rd Manchester) Rifle Volunteers 4th Volunteer Battalion — former 20th Lancashire (2nd Manchester) Rifle Volunteers 5th (Ardwick) Volunteer Battalion — former 23rd Lancashire Rifle Volunteers 6th Volunteer Battalion — former 7th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers
The 1st Battalion was deployed to Egypt to take part in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 and was then deployed to Gibraltar in 1897. The 2nd Battalion was based in India from 1882 to 1897 and saw action on the North-West Frontier before departing for Aden.
1899–1914 Second Boer War
Amidst growing tension between Boers and the British in the Transvaal, the 1st Manchester shipped to South Africa in September 1899. The battalion arrived in Durban, Natal Colony in early October, and was soon afterwards moved to Ladysmith.Mileham (2000), pp. 65–7. The war began on 11 October with a Boer invasion of the colony.Fremont-Barnes (2003), The Boer War 1899–1902, p. 11. After Boer forces captured Elandslaagte railway station, the Manchesters had four companies sent by armoured train to Modderspruit. While disembarking there, the Manchesters and accompanying Imperial Light Horse came under ineffectual artillery fire.
The 1st Manchesters, along with the Gordon Highlanders and the Imperial Light Horse, took part in the subsequent assault. The fighting was heavy, with the Boers pouring accurate fire into the advancing British troops. Under increasingly heavy fire, the battalion halted its advance. The Manchester became the main vanguard of the frontal assault, having originally been tasked with a left-flank attack on the Boer hills. Once the battalion closed in, the Boers withdrew to their main line of defence.
On 2 November, Boer forces encircled and isolated the town of Ladysmith, beginning a 118-day siege.Raugh, Harold E. (2004), The Victorians at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History, p. 205. On 6 January 1900, a contingent of 16 soldiers of the 1st Manchesters came under attack at Wagon Hill, near to Caeser's Camp. Against superior numbers, the detachment held its position for 15 hours. Only two survived, Privates Pitts and Scott, who had continued to hold out for many hours when the others had been killed. Both received the Victoria Cross for their actions, giving the regiment its first two VCs. By 28 February, Ladysmith had finally been relieved by a force under the command of General Redvers Buller.Holmes, p. 97.
The 2nd Manchesters was mobilized into a new 8th Division going to South Africa for the war. 930 officers and men of the regiment left Southampton in the SS Bavarian in March 1900, and in April arrived in Natal as reinforcements.Mileham (2000), p. 73. Both battalions participated in the offensive that followed the relieving of Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. After the fall of Bloemfontein and Pretoria, the Boer commandos transitioned to guerrilla warfare. The 2nd Manchesters operated in the Orange Free State, searching farms and burning those suspected of housing commandos.Mileham (2000), p. 75. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902. The 2nd battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war. Four months later 340 officers and men of the battalion left Cape Town on the SS Michigan in late September 1902, arriving at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to Aldershot.
When the Boers proved more resilient than predicted, a number of regiments recruited in large centres of population formed additional regular battalions. The Manchester Regiment formed the 3rd and 4th Battalions in February 1900, at which time the militia battalions were relabelled as the 5th and 6th battalions. The 3rd Battalion was stationed in Saint Helena and South Africa from August 1902, while the 4th Battalion was stationed in Cork. In 1906, the 3rd and 4th battalions both returned to the United Kingdom, where they were disbanded.
The 5th (Militia) Battalion (until February 1900 known as the 3rd battalion) was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in October that year, and re-embodied in May 1901 for service in South Africa, for which it embarked the following month.Hart's Army list, 1903. More than 800 officers and men returned to Southampton in July 1902, following the end of the war.
The 6th (Militia) Battalion (until February 1900 known as the 4th battalion) was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in October that year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa. More than 640 officers and men returned to Southampton by the SS Guelph in October 1902, following the end of the war, and was disbanded at the Ashton barracks.
The 1st Manchesters left South Africa for Singapore in 1903. The following year, the 1st moved to India, where, in 1911, the battalion paraded at the Delhi Durbar, attended by King George V and Queen Mary. The 2nd Manchesters had returned to Britain in 1902, where it remained until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
Haldane reforms In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve. The regiment now had two Reserve and six Territorial battalions: 3rd (Reserve) Battalion (SR) at Ladysmith Barracks 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion (SR) at Ladysmith Barracks 5th Battalion (TF) at Bank Street in Wigan (since demolished) 6th Battalion (TF) at Stretford Road in Hulme (since demolished) 7th Battalion (TF) at Burlington Street in Manchester 8th (Ardwick) Battalion (TF) at Ardwick Green in Manchester 9th Battalion (TF) at Old Street in Ashton-under-Lyne 10th Battalion (TF) at Rifle Street in Oldham
First World War
Mobilisation On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the 1st Battalion was part of the 8th (Jullundur) Brigade of the 3rd (Lahore) Indian Division, while the 2nd Battalion was part of 14th Brigade in 5th Division, stationed in Ireland.James, pp. 96–7.
In August 1914 the two Special Reserve battalions went to their war station in the Humber Garrison where they carried out the dual tasks of garrison duties and preparing reinforcement drafts of regular reservists, special reservists, recruits and returning wounded for the two regular battalions.
The Territorial battalions mobilised in August 1914 as part of the East Lancashire Division. Shortly afterwards the Territorial Force was invited to volunteer for overseas service and the bulk of the East Lancashire Division did so. The division was sent to Egypt to relieve the Regular garrison for service on the Western Front and was subsequently designated the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. Those men who were ineligible for overseas service, together with the volunteers who were flooding in, were formed into second line units distinguished with a '2/' prefix (2/5th Manchesters etc) . The 2nd Line battalions of the Manchesters joined the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division.Gibbon, pp. 1–18.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 35–41.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 67–74.
Meanwhile, on 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular Army, and the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8; Appendix I. Volunteers poured into the recruiting offices across the country and were formed into 'Service' battalions of the county regiments. So many came forward that the 'K1' battalions were quickly filled and the recruitment of the 'K2', 'K3' and 'K4' units quickly followed. The Manchesters formed the 11th (Service) Bn (K1), 12th (Service) Bn (K2), 13th (Service) Bn (K3) and 14th (Reserve) Bn (K4).
The flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the army to absorb and organise them, and by the time the Fifth New Army (K5) was authorised, many of its constituent units were being organised as "Pals battalions" under the auspices of mayors and corporations of towns up and down the country. The Lord Mayor and City of Manchester raised eight battalions of Manchester Pals, which became the 16th–23rd (Service) Bns of the Manchester Regiment, subtitled '1st City', '2nd City', etc. Meanwhile, the Mayor and Town of Oldham raised the 24th (Service) Bn (Oldham Pioneers). Later the 25th–27th (Reserve) Bns were formed from the depot companies of the Pals battalions.
Western Front