Andrew's Introduction
He was born in Manchester on 10 September 1893. He worked as a pupil teacher before enrolling at what I think was then called the Manchester Municipal School of Technology (now part of Manchester University) to study a combined course involving a teaching diploma and mathematics and applied science. He had completed two years of that course when he enlisted in 1914 and joined the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Pals.
Frank's interview
We assembled in the centre of Manchester. And I suppose the first thousand were called the 1st battalion and off they went. The second thousand, I was amongst those, and we were the 2nd battalion and we were led off by a very stalwart ex-soldier, Sergeant-Major, I don’t know I could mention his name, as I’m not going to say anything which is disrespectful, Sergeant-Major Oddy. And he was the only officer in charge and it was a tribute to the enthusiasm of people that they got into fours and stuck into fours, but we noticed at the time there were rather a large number of halts. And every time we halted, it was at a pub. And Oddy would resort to the pub, accompanied by a few of the men that were leading. Well, I think the distance to Heaton Park must have been something like 5 miles, perhaps 4 miles, but I remember Oddy finished the path supported on one side by two or three men and the other side by two or three men. Oh, he was a good Sergeant-Major, a very strong chap. He could take a rifle by the end – not the butt end, the other end – and lift it with one hand, holding at length. We all tried to emulate him, but he was the only one in the battalion that could do it.
Once when we were out during our training, I saw him lift a pony that happened to have strayed into our path, lifted it in the air and pushed it back over the fence. He was extremely strong.
And I saw a fair amount of him, because I became the Sergeant-Major [Roll says Platoon Sgt.] of the A Company. He was the Regimental Sergeant-Major and I would talk to him frequently each morning on the strength of the company. Well I noticed at the time he was wearing dark glasses. He would come on parade wearing dark glasses. The rumour went round the Sergeants’ mess that Sergeant-Major Oddy was working his was out of the battalion. And sure enough, he did. He claimed he was going blind. So he left us. And later the secret of this is that later I was sent from Grantham for training to Manchester in a recruiting week that was being held and the [pardieus] went back and we were allowed to go through the offices and warehouses encouraging young men to come in and join the Manchester Regiment and one of my fellow Sergeants took me down into the basement. He said “I’ve found something that will interest you”. It was Sergeant-Major Oddy who, without glasses, was reading the labels on bales of cloth and throwing them through a window to a man in a cart outside. And he wasn’t very pleased to see us.