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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Born 1899
Died 1918
British Army 48294 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion.
Born 1899
Died 1918
British Army 252532 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion.
Died 1918
British Army 352928 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion
Born 1893
Died 1918
British Army 38479 Private Manchester Regiment 17th Battalion.
Died 1918
British Army 21412 Corporal Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion
Born 1898
Died 1918
British Army 49601 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.
Born 1896
Died 1918
British Army 12377 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion.
Died 1918
British Army 55724 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion
Died 1918
British Army 54841 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion
Died 1918
British Army 39652 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.
Born 1883
Died 1918
British Army 2801 Manchester Regiment
British Army 351097 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion
Died 1918
British Army 352531 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion.
Born 1893
Died 1918
British Army 7360 Serjeant Manchester Regiment
British Army 7360 Private Manchester Regiment
British Army 7360 Lance Corporal Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.
Born 1896
Died 1918
British Army 4575 Private Manchester Regiment
British Army 276724 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.
Born 1889
Died 1918
British Army 10213 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion
Born 1899
Died 1918
British Army 53783 Private Manchester Regiment
Born 1898
Died 1918
British Army 303307 Private Manchester Regiment 16th Battalion.
Born 1878
Died 1918
British Army 53789 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion
Born 1885
Died 1918
British Army 59898 Private Manchester Regiment 2nd/7th Battalion
Born 1896
Died 1918
British Army 12244 Private Manchester Regiment 9th Battalion Enlisted September 1914.