The youngest Manchester Pal Killed in Action?

[City-Pal]

Can anyone confirm my claim please. 18172 Pte. George Dixon 20/Manchester's (5th City Pals), killed in action by a shell with three comrades on 25th March 1916 in the Albert/Becordel sector of the Somme. Was he the youngest Manchester Pal Killed in Action? My research indicates he had just turned 17, although some sources say 16. I can't find a record of his birth, he was from the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester. He would have been just 15 when he enlisted.

[mack]

18172 george dixon
george lived at 25 coke st,cheetham hill
worked for siddall+hilton,dale st,manchester
born 1898
member of broughton congregational church

george was killed by a HE shell that burst in his dugout,ptes 17621 arthur firth,17627 john foulkes and 17554 arthur bayes were the other three men,pte bayes was also 17yrs old

mack

[City-Pal]

Thanks Mack, I have the information, the difference being you state his birth as 1898, I have 1899, but no confirmed source. His age has been deliberately deleted by the CWGC, another source tells me he was 16 and not 17, whichever, he shouldn't have been there, clearly under-age.