The Seventh Manchesters July 1916 to March 1919   By: S. J. Wilson

July 1916 to March 1919

By

CAPTAIN S. J. WILSON, M.C.

With a Preface by the Hon. Anthony M. Henley, C.M.G., D.S.O. (Brigadier General (retired), late Commanding 127th Infantry Brigade)

And an Introduction by Gerald B. Hurst, T.D., K.C., M.P. (Lieut. Col. Commanding the 7th Bn. Manchester Regiment)

Published by the University of Manchester at The University Press (H. M. Mckechnie, Secretary) 12, Lime Grove, Oxford Road, Manchester

Longmans, Green & Co. London: 39, Paternoster Row New York: 443 449, Fourth Avenue and Thirtieth Street Chicago: Prairie Avenue and Twenty fifth Street Bombay: 8, Hornby Road Calcutta: 6, Old Court House Street Madras: 167, Mount Road

[Illustration: The Hon. A. M. HENLEY, C.M.G., D.S.O. Brig. Gen. (retired), late Commanding 127th Infantry Brigade]

The Seventh Manchesters

Manchester at the University Press Longmans, Green & Co. London, New York, Bombay, Etc. 1920

Contents.

PAGE

Preface by Brigadier General A. M. Henley, C.M.G., D.S.O. vii

Introduction by Lieut. Col. G. B. Hurst, K.C., M.P. xi

List of Illustrations xv

List of Sketch Maps xvi

Chapter I. Holding up the Turk 1

" II. Desert Life 16

" III. For France 30

" IV. Holding the Line 34

" V. Belgium 47

" VI. An Interlude 65

" VII. Stopping the Hun 75

" VIII. Worrying the Hun 94

" IX. Hammering the Hun 113

" X. Pursuing the Hun 134

" XI. Aftermath and Home 142

Appendix I. Honours and Awards to Members of the Battalion 144

" II. Members of the Battalion Killed in Action, Died of Wounds, Missing, etc. 148

Index 156

Preface.

I first met the 7th Manchesters early in May, 1917, when they were gaining new experiences of warfare on the Western front, not far from Epehy in the north of France. They, with the rest of the 127th Infantry Brigade, and in fact the whole of the 42nd Division had already had a long war experience in Gallipoli and Egypt, but they had only recently been transferred to France. I was taking up the command of an Infantry Brigade for the first time. I did not know then what a lucky man I was, but it did not take me long to find out, and we worked together without a break from that time until the armistice.