The Battle For Manchester Hill St Quentin, March 1918.

The Battle For Manchester Hill St Quentin, March 1918.

The Manchester battalions 2nd/5th,2nd/6th, 7th,2n/9th,16th,17th still remaining in France faced an unattractive prospect in the spring of 1918. For a small band of original Pals this year marked their fourth successive one in military service, far beyond these men's initial expectations. It was named because it was captured by the 2nd Manchester Regiment in 1917. The collapse of Russia, following the Bolshevik Revolution, meant that Germany's armed forces on the Western front were being steadily reinforced by divisions no longer needed in the east. Pressure from France would soon result in the British lines being extended further south along the Western Front towards St. Quentin and beyond. The necessary defensive posture of the British Army, therefore, meant that these areas could only be defended using a zonal system, in the which forward positions would be formed by a collection of defended, but lightly held, localities incorporating more heavily defended and manned redoubts. The forward zone was, therefore, itself sub divided into a line of observation, which consisted of widely separated observation posts; the line of resistance which was protected by a single but continuous belt of wire roughly ten yards deep. For further information and stories of The Battle For Manchester Hill go to the page of Sergeant Archer Searle Hoye. Service No. 6630. Information courtesy of Michael Stedman from the book Manchester Pals. Michael Stedman was born is Salford in 1949. From 1970s to the 1990s he taught in nearby Stockport. He holds a lifelong interest in the Manchester and Salford Pals and has organised numerous battlefield tours, enhanced by his deep interest in the history of these communities and the men raised. Michael is one of the historians involved in the successful development of the Thiepval Visitors Centre.

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  • Profile picture for George Richardson

    Born 1896

    Died 1918

    British Army 18781 Private Cheshire Regiment

    British Army 401099 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for George Snelson

    Born 1889

    Died 1918

    British Army 12449 Private Manchester Regiment 17th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Arnold Prime

    Born 1889

    Died 1918

    British Army 11819 Private London Regiment

    British Army 764563 Private London Regiment

    British Army Second Lieutenant Manchester Regiment 4th Battalion attached 2nd/7th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Albert Greenfield

    Born 1883

    Died 1918

    British Army 25268 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Henry Schofield

    Died 1918

    British Army 27251 Private Manchester Regiment 17th Battalion

  • Profile picture for George James Guy

    Born 1897

    Died 1918

    British Army 42324 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for Arthur Williams

    Died 1918

    British Army 48397 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for Arthur Boardman

    Born 1890

    Died 1918

    British Army 18395 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion

  • Profile picture for William Herrick

    Born 1896

    Died 1918

    British Army 42440 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for Sidney Whitehead

    Born 1895

    Died 1918

    British Army 1488 Private Manchester Regiment

    British Army 303411 Private Manchester Regiment

    British Army 303411 Lance Corporal Manchester Regiment

  • Profile picture for Richard Mills

    Died 1918

    British Army 48590 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for William Ewart Smith

    Born 1882

    Died 1918

    British Army 245809 Serjeant Manchester Regiment 2nd/5th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Charles Ernest Walker

    Born 1899

    Died 1918

    British Army 12700 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/5th Battalion

  • Profile picture for William Tracey

    Born 1886

    Died 1918

    British Army 277549 Private Manchester Regiment

    British Army 277549 Lance Corporal Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Allen Pearson

    Born 1895

    Died 1918

    British Army 43214 Private Manchester Regiment 17th Battalion

  • Profile picture for George Stannard

    Died 1918

    British Army 42815 Private Manchester Regiment

  • Profile picture for George Dobbs

    Born 1887

    Died 1918

    British Army 5667 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Robert Hugh Jameson

    Born 1896

    Died 1918

    British Army 12377 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion.

  • Profile picture for Randolph Hart

    Born 1899

    Died 1918

    British Army 60402 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Timothy Curtin

    Died 1918

    British Army 36276 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion

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