At Gallipoli with young Harry from Manchester and one more story from the Manchester & Salford Boys' & Girls' Refuge

"Three boys from Central House," date uknown

There will be many stories about Gallipoli over the next few months and some have already appeared in the blog.*

This week marks the landing of allied soldiers on the shores of the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles.

Along with units of the British Army there were men from Australia and New Zealand, Canada and India as well as France and the French Colonial Empire.

Amongst them were many from the twin cities, some who served with the Manchester’s and others with  the Royal Fusiliers, and their contribution has also featured here.**

But today I am drawn to the stories of those young men who were in the care of the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuge who enlisted and in particular young Harry who served with the Marines at Gallipoli as well as Jutland and the earlier naval engagement at Heligoland Bight.

“Harry was one such marine. Born in 1892, Harry entered the Higgin’s Home in Cheetham Hill on 9th May 1903. 

Like many of the other children in the homes on George Street, Harry was an orphan. 

A few months later he transferred to the Atkinson Home where he remained for the next three years prior to returning to his elder sister’s care. 

He then joined the Indefatigable to be trained for a life in the Navy.”***

And for the rest of Harry’s story I suggest you visit the Together Trust’s blog  Harry and the Gallipoli Campaign.***

Now I am a great fan of the blog which focuses on the work of the charity and is a good starting point for anyone who wants to know about its activities as well as the wider story of how young disadvantaged people were helped.

But there is more because the archivist is most helpful in assisting those wanting to know more about their own family members who passed through organisation.

Getting down and dusty....... the blog

And for me it pretty much ticks the box.

I live here in Manchester and have a great uncle who was migrated to Canada as a British Home Child by another charity in 1914.

Sadly his records and those of his siblings one of whom was my maternal grandfather are fragmentary, and what there is can be written on one page.

So this archive is an important one and a powerful resource for those with relatives who were in care in the twin cities, not only because there may be a record of them but also because of the general background to the work of this caring organisation.****

Picture; Three boys from the Central Home, now on Active Service with the Marines, date unknown, courtesy of the Together Trust

* Gallipoli,  http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Gallipoli

*The Manchester Regiment, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Manchester%20Regiment

***Harry and the Gallipoli Campaign, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/

****The Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html