Rough Diary of the Doings of the 1st Battn. Manchester Regt

[Jonathan_NW]

Hi all

We have recently come into ownership of the above title. An extremely rare book printed in 1904. As the title suggests it is a diary of the actions fought and movements of the Battalion within South Africa. A casualty list is included for each action at which the Battalion was present. This could help with any research being undertaken by forum members and we would be happy to perform look ups regarding actions and/or individual soldiers who were serving with the Battalion during the period.

Also, would anybody be able to shed light upon the relevance of the Army Serial Number given to each Soldier? Our Great Uncle Fred Bunn was number 2969. Does this number correspond to any particular company of the 1st Battalion or give a clue to his attestation date? Any help or insights anyone could offer would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Jonathan.

[themonsstar]

At the time Fed's Regiment number was unique reference to him in his Battalion. The British Army had five major series of regiment numbers that started with number 1 each time, 1829,1856,1873 & 1881. In 1920 the Army moved from Regiment/Battalion numbers to a unique Army number with would follow the soldier around any unit he was moved/posted to.

Fed's number being 2969, I will say this number would have been issue mid 1890s for the 1st Bn. I could be wrong

[harribobs]

hi Jonathan

you can download a full list of the regimental casualties for the boer war here

boer war casualty page , main site

it is in excel format and is easily searchable

chris

[John W]

Hi all

We have recently come into ownership of the above title. An extremely rare book printed in 1904.

I can recommend this handy book, I ordered it from the London Library and it comes in 4 Vols I think, with some excellent maps which were of great help to me when researching the movements of the 6th Militia Bn.

[pete th]

Hi Jonathan, I'm researching a local WW1 soldier called Private Charles James William Bunn who served with the 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment, 8th (Jullundur) Brigade, 3rd Division (Service no. 2257) for a book on Irlam and Cadishead. It may be a coincidence but it isn't a common surname and they both served in the same battalion (although Charles was many years after). Could Charles have been a relative of Frederick, possibly his son? Charles family were connected with Norfolk and then Newcastle-on-Tyne before moving to Irlam. If you think there is a connection you will find more info on Charles by following the link below:

http://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php?topic=2337.msg16249#msg16249

I also have a photo of Charles.

Cheers
Pete

[Dave Naden]

We have recently come into ownership of the above title. An extremely rare book printed in 1904. As the title suggests it is a diary of the actions fought and movements of the Battalion within South Africa. A casualty list is included for each action at which the Battalion was present. This could help with any research being undertaken by forum members and we would be happy to perform look ups regarding actions and/or individual soldiers who were serving with the Battalion during the period.

Hi Jonathan,

Could you look up...

5222 Private W. Nadin, 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment died of enteric fever (typhoid) in Ladysmith General Hospital, Natal on Friday, 8th June 1900.

I do not know the company he served with, so he may have seen action at the battle of Elandslaagte, Natal, 21 October 1899, and at Lombards Kop, 30th October 1899.

He was present at the siege of Ladysmith, 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900 so must have seen action at Caesar's Camp, if that helps.

I would appreciate any information that you can supply me.

Thanks

Dave

[ladysmith]

Dave - I can tell you he wasn't at Elandslaagte which is not too surprising as only half the battalion were there. If he was at the Defence of Ladysmith he would almost certainly have been involved at Lombard's Kop, also frequently known as Farquhar's Farm or sometimes simply the battle of Ladysmith.

David

[Dave Naden]

I can tell you he wasn't at Elandslaagte which is not too surprising as only half the battalion were there. If he was at the Defence of Ladysmith he would almost certainly have been involved at Lombard's Kop, also frequently known as Farquhar's Farm or sometimes simply the battle of Ladysmith.

Hi,

Thanks for your information. Another enquiry has confirmed he was awarded the QSA with the Defence of Ladysmith clasp, i.e. no Elandslaagte clasp.

I believe on 21st October, C, D, F, and G company's participated in the battle at Elandslaagte. If Walter was not present, that implies he was a member of either A, B, E or H company (assuming a half battalion is 4 company's).

Assuming I'm correct, would you be able confirm if Walter was at Lombard's Kop?

Thanks in anticipation

Dave

[ladysmith]

Dave - Yes, 8 companies per infantry battalion at that time.

There's no way to prove a man was at a battle for which no separate clasp was awarded unless he was a casualty, POW, awarded a gallantry medal for it or was MID (mentioned in despatches) for it. However, apart from a a few odd men who would have stayed in Ladysmith (e.g. at battalion HQ or sick) the battalion was at Lombard's Kop. The chances of him being there with them are as near to 100% as you're ever likely to get in a situation like this.

David

[Dave Naden]

Dave - Yes, 8 companies per infantry battalion at that time.

There's no way to prove a man was at a battle for which no separate clasp was awarded unless he was a casualty, POW, awarded a gallantry medal for it or was MID (mentioned in despatches) for it. However, apart from a a few odd men who would have stayed in Ladysmith (e.g. at battalion HQ or sick) the battalion was at Lombard's Kop. The chances of him being there with them are as near to 100% as you're ever likely to get in a situation like this.

David

David,

What a great name!  and thanks for your message and your opinion about his probable presence.

Dave

[iain]

Hi all

We have recently come into ownership of the above title. An extremely rare book printed in 1904. As the title suggests it is a diary of the actions fought and movements of the Battalion within South Africa. A casualty list is included for each action at which the Battalion was present. This could help with any research being undertaken by forum members and we would be happy to perform look ups regarding actions and/or individual soldiers who were serving with the Battalion during the period.

Hi Jonathan, there is a map in this book showing where the regiment was positioned around Lydenburg. Would it be possible to scan it?

[themonsstar]

Here are the four maps from the book.

1. Elandslaagte 21st Oct 1899

[themonsstar]

2. Ladysmith

[themonsstar]

3. Lydenburg

[themonsstar]

4. Elandspruit