Dear Lorraine
This is the information I have on Robert.
From his service number (1469) He enlisted with the 1/5th Manchester Regiment in the month of June 1912. From researching other numbers I've calculated it to be betwen 03 June and 20th June 1912.
As a Territorial he could enlist at the age of 17, the age for a regular soldier was 19. As a Drummer or bugler he could have joined as a "Boy soldier". They could join at the age of 14-17, but only with the consent of their parents. However,there are men within the battalion who started a military career at the age of 12. Territorial soldier agreed to serve 40 days and attend a two week camp every year. The 40 days were held at the drill hall located in Powell Street, Wigan. A territorial signed on for 2 - 4years and then had to "re-engage", basically sign on for another block of 2-4 years. This is an often overlooked piece of information because once the terms of service was completed, the man could pack his bags and go home. Several men did take the option. After March 1916, the Military Act came into effect. This stopped men from taking this option and their new contract would be "For the duration of the war".
As the Territorial Units function was to provide home service, in order to go overseas Robert would have signed the Imperial Service document. By the 10th August 90% of all the TF had signed up. All eager to fight, and expected to be sent to France.
Robert left Wigan in August 1914 and moved to one of the holding camps. On the 9th September 1914 the unit moved by rail to the port and on the 10th sailed for Egypt. The men weren't happy about it. they thought that they would miss the 'Show' in France.
The 1/5th was a territorial battalion that served in the Manchester Brigade, within the 42nd East Lancashire Division. It consisted of 9 companies - A-E from Wigan, F - Patricroft, G- Leigh and H - Atherton. The whole division was made up from Territorial units. Changes were made to the TF units. This brought them into line with the regulars. The title 42nd East Lancashire Division was changed to 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. The Brigades lost thier town titles and were replaced by a number. The Manchesters Brigade was renumbered 127th Brigade and it remained so until the end of the war. The companies where reduced from 8 to 4. I'm researching who was folded to form whom at the moment.
Robert had two brothers and a brother in law who served in WW1. There is a newspaper article that contains photographs of all four of them. (Wigan Examiner 28th August 1915 pg3). William and Thomas Lomax (Brother in law) served with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. William was in Gallipoli at the same time as Robert. Thier brother Hugh was reported to be with the 2/5th Manchester and at Crowborough in Sussex training. The 2/5th were the initial recruiting battalion for the 1/5th. They sent drafts of men as battlefield replacement. I do not have a Hugh Roberts in my database so I'm presuming that he stayed with the 2/5th when it joined the 66th Division.
Robert arrived on Gallipoli on 06 May 1915. From this date I can tell you that he is part of the 900 oiginal number of men who arrived and not a subsequent draft. He stayed with the Battalion until 1917. He was allocated a new service number in April 1917. 200146. All territorial units started to use a renumbering system. Each battalion was allocated blocks of numbers. The 1/5th were alocated 20000-25000. From Robert's medal roll it appears that he was posted from the 1/5th to the 20th Manchester Regiment. He was allocated Service number: 79543.
The information you gave was that he served with the 3/5th Battalion. This was a "base" unit. The sick, wounded (recuperating) where administered by this unit. It was based at the drill hall in Wigan. Later in the war it moved to Whitley near Wigan, then onto Southport. This was before mid 1916. There is a high probability that Robert was wounded or sick in the Dardanelles and returned to the UK before mid 1916. After mid 1916 the 3/5, along with others merged to form the 5th Reserve Battalion. It moved to north Yorkshire.
He applied for a pension. He has two pension cards. One is a "survived ww1", the other is an application for disability. It was rejected, the date states 08 May 1922.
I haven't completed a full search on this lad yet. I will keep you posted if I find anymore information.
