A little bit of propaganda from the Somme ....... 1916

In the battle of propaganda during the Great War, picture postcards like this must have been seen as an aid to maintaining moral.

It is dated 1916 and is captioned “German prisoners of the 1916 class captured on the Somme”.

The Battle of the Somme lasted from July to November 1916, with 146,055 Allied soldiers killed or missing and 164,055 German soldiers reported as dead or missing, and while there are no figures for allied prisoners, 38, 000 Germans were taken into captivity.

This card is from a series produced by Tit-Bits War Pictures, from French Official photos”.

Location; somewhere on the Somme

Picture; “German prisoners of the 1916 class captured on the Somme”, from the collection of David Harrop

Yesterday in Southern Cemetery ................ remembering the Somme

Southern Cemetery is in many things to many people.

For many it is a peaceful place to walk quietly amongst the trees and gravestones, watch the seasons change and study the wildlife.

For the family historian it offers the chance to push back the knowledge of their past and for many it is where they come to remember a loved one.

But it is also a place for that bigger collective act of commemorating those who died in the service of their country.

And yesterday was one of those days when we came together to remember the Battle of the Somme and in particular the men who are buried in the cemetery who died of their wounds from that battle.*

They came from Canada, Australian, New Zealand and lie with those from the UK and as a closing tribute to their deaths and the sacrifices made by all those who lived through the Great War I want to finish the events commemorating the Somme with a few more pictures from that day.

It was attended by members of the British Legion, two MPs, three councillors, and young people from local schools as well as  the staff of Southern Cemetery.

And because yesterday was also Canada Day it was fitting that Major David Charron of the Royal Canadian Army had been invited to lay a wreath for those men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who are buried amongst their comrades from other Commonwealth armies.*

It was and elegant and poignant act of Remembrance made the more powerful by the mix of people who had chosen to attend.

The youngest will have been no more than ten, the eldest well into retirement, along with serving soldiers and ex servicemen and servicewomen as well as politicians and those who maintained the graves.

Location; Southern Cemetery

Pictures; Southern Cemetery, July 1 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 8 ...... a moving ceremony in Southern Cemetery, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/remembering-them-100-years-after-battle_1.html

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 9 tracking a relative

With all the events this weekend commemorating the Somme you can get help from the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society.*

To day the society will have a help desk to assist with research into soldiers who served in during the Great War  as part of the extensive Somme 100 Commemoration at Heaton Park.

They will be pleased to assist and advise on how to research a serviceman from the Great War.

Location; Heaton Park, Manchester

Picture; Heaton Park circa 1914 from the collection of David Harrop

*Remembering the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Somme

**Today at Heaton Park, http://www.mlfhs.org.uk/somme_100%20.pdf

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 8 ...... a moving ceremony in Southern Cemetery

Major Charron salutes the fallen

Today’s ceremony of Remembrance was a moving tribute to the men who took part in the Battle of the Somme and by extension all those who did their bit during the Great War.

It was attended by members of the British Legion, two MPs, three councillors, and young people from local schools as well as  the staff of Southern Cemetery.

And because today is also Canada Day it was fitting that Major David Charron of the Royal Canadian Army had been invited to lay a wreath for those men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who are buried amongst their comrades from other Commonwealth armies.

Many of those present will have a personal reason for attending the ceremony.

In my case I can count six close family members who served in the Great War, including one who enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1915, as well as others who served in the German armed forces.

Members of the Northenden British Legion

All of mine survived and none are buried in Southern but that does not diminish the power of the service which was conducted by the Reverend Tim Nicholls, and included a reading and prayers, the poem In Flanders Fields and the Kohima Epitaph** and finished with O Canada! And “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.”

It was an elegant and poignant act of Remembrance made the more powerful by the mix of people who had chosen to attend.

The youngest will have been no more than ten, the eldest well into retirement, along with serving soldiers and ex servicemen and servicewomen as well as politicians and those who maintained the graves.

A moment of reflection

Some may well have gone on to the Cenotaph and in the Cathedral later in the day and will be attending the events in Heaton Park this evening as well as other services across Greater Manchester.

Each will have a part to play in that bigger act of Remembrance.

But for now my thoughts are back in Southern Cemetery with men like of John William Ingham of the 46th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  

He enlisted in 1916 was wounded at Vimy Ridge the following year and was buried in Southern Cemetery.

But he had died of his wounds in Sheffield at the Wharncliffe War Hospital and was brought back to Manchester because his wife lived in Longsight.

Jeff Smith MP and Councillor Mat Strong

And not far away is the memorial to Alleyne G Webber who was killed in action at Bauchops Hill in Gallipoli on August 6th 1915 and was “buried where he fell.”

His brother, Gerard died the following February here in Manchester “of wounds received in action before France on November 14th 1916."

Both men were 27 years old and they were from New Zealand.

Alleyne Webber was a Lance Corporal in the Otago Mounted Rifles which had been formed at the outbreak of the war and left New Zealand in the October for Egypt.

He died on the second day of an operation to capture Chunuk Bair a high point in the Sari Bair mountain range.

Major Charron

His brother who served in the 10th Royal Fusiliers had been wounded on the second day of what was to be the final large British attack during the Battle of the Somme.

Our own family loss came in the Second World War, and involved my uncle who died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

He had survived the Fall of Greece, was bombed at Basra and was captured in 1942 in the Far East.

And the twist is that he had been born in Cologne in 1922 two years after my German grandmother had married my grandfather who was a soldier in the British army of occupation after the Great War.

The wreaths

So a mixed day of emotions today in Southern Cemetery.

Location; Southern Cemetery







Pictures; today in Southern Cemetery, July 1 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson


*Remembering the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Somme
**When you Go Home, Tell them Of Us and Say, For their Tomorrow, We Gave our Today

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 7 ...... today in Salford

Today is the centenary of the first day of the Somme and across Salford as well as Manchester  there will be a full weekend of Commemorations, including the world premiere of a new, musical tribute.*

“Around 650 Salford men - most of them in the Salford Pals battalions of the Lancashire Fusiliers - died on the first day of one of Britain's most brutal battles.

Civic leaders, school children, musicians and the general public will pay tribute to them as part of the national day of commemoration on July 1 which was once known as Thiepval Day in Salford.

Thiepval today hosts the largest British battle memorial in the world, commemorating the 72,195 missing British and Commonwealth men who fell on the Somme battlefield and have no known grave.

The day will begin at 7.00am with a peal of bells at Sacred Trinity Church, the parish church of the Salford Pals, followed by a memorial service in Fire Station Square. 

The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers will take part in the service in recognition of the fact that many Salford men went to church with their regiment before heading to the front. 

A second afternoon service will be held at the church at 3.30pm.
Salford Museum and Art Gallery will be open all day screening the original 1916 record of The Battle of the Somme, featuring the Lancashire Fusiliers, courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, alongside a small display. 

Visitors will be able to handle World War One objects from their collection.
Salford City Council will hold a memorial ceremony at the Civic Centre, Swinton at 11.00am where two wreaths will be laid - one in memory of all the Salford men who died and one in memory of over 200 council workers who fell in the battle.

At 1.00pm, pupils from St Ambrose Barlow, Swinton High and Moorside schools will present a concert of specially composed music, developed with Salford University Professor Stephen Davismoon at 1pm at Peel Hall.

This will be followed by two World War One themed performances from the Honour Choir at the University's new amphitheatre at their Peel Park campus at 3pm and 5pm. 

The Honour Choir brought together hundreds of local people to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One and has continued to perform since.

The day will close with a special evening concert at Salford University's Maxwell Hall featuring the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Manchester Chamber choir and soloists. 

And on Sunday 3 July, the Salford Armed Forces Veterans Network will hold two services - one at St Clement's Church, Ordsall which houses memorials to those who fell in the Somme and one at the Royal British Legion, Pendleton which will feature a specially commissioned piece by the Honour Choir.”**

Location; Salford

Picture; the war memorial Greengate, 2016, from the collection of Antony Mills
*Remembering the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Somme

**Somme commemorations - Salford will remember, http://www.salford.gov.uk/your-council/news/news-archive/news-from-march-2016/somme-commemorations-salford-will-remember/

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 6 today across the city

Tomorrow across the city we will remember the men who fought at the Somme a full century ago.

Captain Dickinson, 2016

And of course it will not just be the men, but their wives, mothers and sweethearts along with their families who will also be remembered.

The events will be a mix of the solemn, the historic and a dollop of fun.*

The solemn will be met with the ceremonies of Remembrance in the Cathedral and Southern Cemetery the historic by various re enactment activities in Heaton Park and a special exhibition at the Remembrance Lodge in Southern.

As for the fun, it’s important to remember that those who participated in the Great War will have enjoyed a joke and will have endeavoured to see the funny side of things and so that will also be included in the events at Heaton Park on the Saturday.

But for now I want to finish with that service in Southern Cemetery, which will be attended by Major David Charron of the Royal Canadian Army because July 1 marks not just the start of the Battle back in 1916 but is also Canada Day.

The medal of Captain Dickinson, 2016

And the cemetery is the last resting place of a number of men from the Canadian Expeditionary Force. **

Over the last few weeks I have been exploring their lives before they enlisted and already we now know much about some of them.

Added to these there are those from the British army who came back to recover from wounds in one of the hospitals in Manchester and later died.  A few died at home recovering from those wounds and at least one died after catching flu while on leave.

But some survived and died long after the war.

One of these is Captain M B Dickinson of the Royal Ordinance  who was wounded on the Somme on July 20 1916 and again in May 1918 and died in November 1941.

Location; Manchester, & Southern Cemetery

Pictures; grave and medals of Captain M B Dickinson, 2016 from the collection of David Harrop

*Remembering the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Somme
**Remembering the men of the CEF in Southern Cemetery,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20men%20of%20the%20CEF%20in%20Southern%20Cemetery

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 5 ...... in Eltham and Woolwich*

This Friday will mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme and across the country there will be events remembering the men who fought and by extension the women and children who were also touched by that battle.

Now over the last few years I have reflected on the impact of the Great War on Eltham and Woolwich.*

On a very personal level our house on Well Hall Road was one of those built for the munitions workers and the end one of the four was destroyed by a stray Zeppelin Raid.

And that personal link extends to the story of George and Nellie Davison of Hulme in Manchester who were briefly living just yards from our house.

I uncovered the link with Well Hall while writing Manchester and the Great War, and Tricia Lesley went on to pinpoint the house and discover more about the people who shared their home with the Davisons.**

And there will be plenty of people who have direct family connections with the Arsenal, like Jean whose grandfather settled in Eltham after being offered work at the Arsenal.

Finally there will be some who will be able to point to a name on our war memorial and tell a story of a grandfather or great uncle who left Eltham to serve in the armed forces.

Their stories are also in the process of being collected and so I was pleased when Ryan sent me these pictures of the memorial outside the parish church.

I would like to be in Eltham on Friday but will be participating in a service of Remembrance here in Manchester.

That said I would welcome any pictures and stories of the men from Eltham to add to the project Remembering the Battle of the Somme.***

Location; Eltham







Pictures; the war memorial 2016 from the collection of Ryan Ginn

*Eltham and the Great War, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Eltham%20and%20the%20Great%20War

**A new book on Manchester and the Great War, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20and%20the%20Great%20War

***Remembering the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Remembering%20the%20Battle%20of%20the%20Somme

Ernest Patrick Lynn ........... another story from Tony Goulding

The history of Ernest Patrick Lynn, “ticked so many boxes” of my interests that it virtually demanded that I write it up.   

Private Ernest Patrick Lynn

I came across his story by pure chance whilst carrying out some other research; as is so often the case.

Not only was he a casualty of July, 1916 he was also in the 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, a Roman Catholic of Irish Descent and his father was a policeman stationed in Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

Fortunately I have been able to discover quite a lot of information to “flesh out” these bald facts.
Ernest’s parents were Michael who was born in Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone Ireland in 1850 and Maria K. (née. Collins) born in 1853.

The couple were married in Maria’s hometown of Castlerea, Co. Roscommon in 1871 shortly thereafter they settled in Gorton, Manchester where Michael joined the Police Force and the first of their five children, a daughter, Margaret Keturah, was born in 1875.

The family were still in Gorton when Ernest Patrick, the fourth born, arrived in the September quarter of 1883. By the time of the 1891 census, however,

Michael had been promoted to Inspector (1) and had moved with his family to Chorlton-cum-Hardy and were living in the police station on Beech Road. Two years later the youngest of Ernest siblings, his sister, Catherine was born. (2)

The old Police Station, Beech Road, 2016

In 1901 they were still there but by 1911 Michael had been promoted to Inspector and the family, including Ernest Patrick, were at 34, Mersey Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport. On this census return Ernest is described as a “manufacturer’s agent” in 1901 he’d been apprentice in a shipping warehouse.

Also part of the family at this time was Frederick Whiteside,(3) Michael’s young 5 year old grandson – the issue of his eldest daughter Margaret Keturah and her husband George Frederick, a Ladies Tailor from Co, Armagh, Ireland.

The Bethune Town Cemetery 

Ernest enlisted early in the war and joined the 20th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; one of the designated university/public schools battalions.

He arrived in France as part of the reinforcement of the army in preparation for the major British offensive of July, 1916-The Battle of the Somme.

It seems, however, that he was fatally wounded   in the trenches by general German fire on 5th July and never actually took an active part in the Battle.

Private Ernest Patrick Lynn’s grave (No.V.F.56) is in The Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

There is a report (complete with photo) of Private Lynn’s death in the Manchester Evening News, dated 11th July, 1916 which records that he was an ex-pupil of Chorlton-cum-Hardy High School (4) and had represented a number of prominent Manchester firms.

The article also includes an extract from a Roman Catholic Chaplain to Ernest’s grieving parents informing them that he had ministered to their dying son and how he had died peacefully.

Obituary of Private Lynn, 1916

As always seems to happen one story has led me on to another. I discovered that Ernest Patrick’s father, Michael, whilst he was a sergeant at the Beech Road station, was a key witness in an infamous child-murder case of 1890. Elizabeth Mapp’s baby son Edward was found in the River Mersey at Urmston on Thursday 19th November 1889; she was charged with his murder, tried convicted and sentenced to death (5) in the March of the following year. This however, as I have said, is another story for another day.

©  Tony Goulding, 2016

Pictures; Private Lynn, Manchester Evening News, dated 11th July, 1916, & The Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Lead Station, former Beech Road Police Station, courtesy of Tony Goulding

NOTES:
1) A report in “Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser” of 30th July, 1886 records Michael as already a sergeant whilst still stationed at Gorton.

2) It is of some interest to note in passing that as well as being a functioning police station the building on Beech Road served as the Lynn family residence. In 1891 there were 9 occupants Sergeant Lynn and his wife, 7 year old Ernest Patrick, his 3 older (teenage) siblings and three boarders. --- A relative from Ireland and two Scottish Police Constables. In 1901 there were only 8 residents but, apart from the young Catherine, all adults/ adolescents.

3) Tragically Frederick Michael Whiteside appears to have died aged only 9, in December quarter 1914, after  the family’s move to the Fylde coast

4) According to John M. Lloyd’s 1972 book “The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy” this school was that opened by Robert Davies in 1872. After almost a quarter of a century of educating the young men of the area he retired in 1896/7 when the school premises at 47, High Lane were sold to The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford to become in turn  St.  Augustine's Church, then, from 1927, part of the original Our Lady and St. John’s Roman Catholic Primary School, and latterly the Parish Centre. Chorlton-cum-Hardy was not, however, left bereft of a High School as in the same year Mr. Davies left a Mr Charles Carey Dadley founded his Chorlton-cum-Hardy Grammar School just a little further along High Lane at 57 (with the later addition of 59) - “Denbigh Villas”

5)  As the trial jury had recommended clemency Elizabeth Mapp’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Following further representations, including a 16,000 signature petition, the home secretary granted an additional respite and Elizabeth was released from Woking Prison on Thursday, January 4th, 1894.

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 4 in Heaton Park*

Now how we remember those men and women will depend pretty much on our own personal interests.

Manchester Corporation tram dressed for recruitment, circa 1914

Over and above everything else there will be the solemn acts of Remembrance which this July will be dominated by the service in the Cathedral and another at Southern Cemetery.

For those who still retain a very personal connection with the Great War the books, exhibitions and centenaries of specific events will be an opportunity to get a better understanding of  family members who served in the armed forces, worked in a munitions factory or just lived through the four years.

Field kitchen, reinactment

But increasingly for lots of people the focus will be on trying to experience something of what it was like be in a field hospital or in a training camp.

It is easy to be sniffy about such events but they have become part of how we get our history.

So down at Heaton Park on Saturday July 2 there will a whole collection of activities, including, “the horses and riders of the Lancashire Hussars, a heritage tram dressed from the Heaton Park Tramway, authentic front line food by the 29th Field Kitchen and a  Nurse's Casualty Clearing Station staffed by Manchester University.

Harp and a Monkey

In addition there will be songs and stories by folk trio 'Harp and a Monkey,' storytelling from  Ian Douglas and Taff Gillingham and the Khaki Pals”**

But the serious side of the day will be addressed with the opportunity to talk historians as well as living history experts and learn about the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Location Heaton Park, July 2

Pictures; courtesy of Manchester City Council

*Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/remembering-them-100-years-after-battle.html

** Experience Field, http://manchester.gov.uk/experiencefield

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 3 a single flower on the war memorial*

Now I don’t pretend this photograph would pass muster in a competition.

It was taken quickly on a camera phone in between a stream of commuters coming in and out of Victoria Station.

Given the volume of people and the speed with which they were passing through it is a wonder that I was able to get it at all.

And what was remarkable was that none of them gave it a second glance.

To be fair on a different day with a tram to catch or a train to meet I might not have clocked it.

But last Sunday I did and it set me thinking who put it there.

The figure is part of the huge war memorial to the staff of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who participated in the Great War.

I often stop and pause for a minute in front of it and will often then look at the other memorial which records the men who left Victoria Railway Station for the Front and those who returned in ambulance trains.

Just a fortnight earlier I had been in the same spot and the flower was not there nor are there any others.

It might have a very personal significance or be occasioned by the centenary of the Somme which will be upon us in July 1.

If it is the latter it will fit with the events planned across the city.

Picture; at the war memorial in Victoria Railway Station, 2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/remembering-them-100-years-after-battle.html

Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme part 2 Heaton Park, living history groups and a concert

Now I like the way that seemingly unrelated bits of history come together.

Cap badge of Manchester Regiment

So here is a cap badge of the Manchester Regiment which I have chosen to sit beside the centenary events linked to the Battle of the Somme which will be going off in Heaton Park.

These are part of a bigger set of events across the city.*

Not that there is anything odd in that. Some of the City or Pals’ Battalions of the Manchester’s were based at Heaton Park during 1914 and 1915 and there was also a hospital there.

Added to which all eight participated in the Somme with some taking very heavy casualties.

But what marks the cap badge off as a little different is that it was sent to me by Paul Wright from New Zealand.

Paul is one of a growing number of historians and collectors who I am coming to know from around the world.

In the case of Paul it was after I had posted a series of stories about the men of the Canadian and ANZAC forces who are buried in Southern Cemetery.

1st City Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, Heaton Park, 1914

And as part of my own personal connection to the Somme I want to track all 26 of the men of the CEF and their Australian and New Zealand comrades.

Not all died during the Somme offensive but it will be chime in with the events in Southern Cemetery linked to that battle.

But Southern Cemetery is not the only place where events are occurring.

According to the official programme from the City Council there will be a “series of events ranging from drop in activities, exhibitions, scheduled talks and mini performances.

These will include performances from folk trio Harp and A Monkey, Threadbare Theatre, A Soldier’s Tale and the West Yorkshire Playhouse. “

The ‘talks in the tents’ will offer the opportunity to listen to  the “importance of animals, the development of artificial limbs, the Salford and Barnsley Pals, conscientious objectors, how the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission came into being and the ‘wild women’ of the First World War.

In addition to all this there will be “living history groups running a field kitchen, a Salvation Army unit and recreations of basic training with Manchester’s inside Heaton Hospital and life for nurses working at Casualty Clearing Stations.” The events stretch out over July 1 and 2.

Thomas Chorlton, died in 1916

There will also be a concert “Starting at 7.30pm in the evening, the concert features soldier’s songs from the time performed by a national children's choir, interwoven with archive film.

A dance piece inspired by the Pals Battalions will then be followed at approx. 8.30pm by the Hallé Orchestra, who will play several well known pieces linked to the First World War, including a piece by George Butterworth, a young English composer who died at the Somme.

The concert will also feature a range of letters, poems and diary entries depicting the lives of those affected by the Somme, including a specially commissioned poem read by author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay. It will finish at sundown at 9.45pm.

The events stretch out over July 1 and 2 and it suggested you allow 1-2 hours for your visit within the Experience Field. Food and drink will be available and you are welcome to bring a picnic. The park also has a café and other activities.

Tickets are available and details are online.**

Pictures; Manchester cap badge courtesy of Paul Wright, and 1st City Battalion in Heaton Park in 1914 and Thomas Chorlton killed in in 1916 from the collection of David Harrop

*Remembering them ...... 100 years after the Battle of the Somme, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/remembering-them-100-years-after-battle.html

** A National Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme Evening Concert, https://www.quaytickets.com/sommeheatonpark/Online/default.asp