|
|
|
3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
| Want to know more about 3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment? There are:5235 items tagged 3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
|
|
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
- 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
|
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our
Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.
|
Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's
Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.
|
|
Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Announcements
- 19th Nov 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than
264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
|
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
|
Pte. Henry Flood 3rd Battalion Cheshire Regiment According to Henry Flood's certificate of employment during the war certificate, pre war Henry was a clerk, he joined the 3rd Cheshires on the 29th of March 1915 and was de-mobbed on 28th of January 1919. He was a 1st class qualified signalmen with the Cheshires.
In my possession is his medal trio, de-mob certificate and his membership card to the Cheshire Regiment Old Comrades Association based at Chester Castle dated 21st of August 1932.
|
Sgt. John Wilson Pollitt 8th Btn. Cheshire Regiment John Pollitt joined Army on 28 Dec 1914, attested at Warrington,Lancashire. Living at home with wife and daughter. His records show him as RAMC. On 23 May 1915 he transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. On 24 Aug 1915 he moved to 8th Battalion Cheshire Regiment and joined the Expeditionary Force to Mesopotamia. He served there for 3 yrs and 113 days. On 26th Dec 1917 he was admitted to hospital with sunstroke. On 15th Dec 1918 he embarked at Basra and arrived in Salonika on 14th Jan 1919. He served there for 153 days. On 17th May 1919 he was back in the UK and was discharged on 15th Jun 1919.
|
Pte. Daniel Saunders 3rd Battalion Cheshire Regiment Daniel Saunders was my great grandfather who served from 5th of May 1915 to being medically discharged on 12th of October 1918. He served mainly in Gibraltar. He died in 1934 at the age of 56. I have two postcards he sent home.
|
L/Cpl William Ezra Timperley 3rd Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.6th Oct 1918) William Timperley served with the 3rd Cheshire Regiment. I found him on my Family Tree Research. He died in the hospital and is buried in Weaste Cemetery in Salford. He is also recorded on the Memorial in Regent Square, Salford
|
Pte. Aaron Randles 3rd Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.13th September 1918) Aaron Randles served with the 3rd Cheshire and was transferred to 196th Coy. Labour Corps.
He was the husband of Ann Jane Randles of 35 Cottage St., Birkenhead.
Aged 42 when he died, he is buried in the Lugo Communal Cemetery in Italy.
|
2nd Lt. Robert Newman Hall 3rd Btn. Cheshire Regiment My father-in-law, Robert Hall, served with the Cheshire Regiment in WW1. He served in France, was gassed and suffered shrapnel wounds. He was invalided home and whilst in hospital was volunteered into the R.F.C.
His training was at Drome Airfield, Montrose, Argyll, Scotland. He was there during 1918/1919. Peace was declared before his training to become a pilot was completed, therefore, he never received his wings. His rank was 2nd Lieutenant. His home address was Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire.
Unfortunately, we do not have his service number. However 100/FC/4?3 is listed on his certificate as fit to train for a pilot. This also states 3rd Cheshire Regiment.
If you have any information on Robert I would be delighted to receive it. I have been engaged in the family genealogy for some years now but to date have drawn a blank on Robert's war record.
|
2nd Lt. Leslie Stewart Cole 3rd Btn. att. 2nd Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.3rd Oct 1915)  Second Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion attached 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. Killed in action at Loos 3 October 1915. Aged 24. Son of Henry Alexander and Rhoda Cole, of The Homestead, Vyner Rd., Bidston, Cheshire. Educated at Uppingham School and Clare College, Cambridge. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.
Extract from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918:
"Cole, Leslie Stewart, 2nd Lieut., 3rd (Reserve), attd. 2nd (22nd. Foot), Battn. The Cheshire Regt., eldest s. of Henry Alexander Cole, of The Homestead, Bidston, co. Chester, by his wife, Rhoda, 19 May, 1891; educ. Uppingham School, and Clare College, Cambridge; subsequently joined his father's firm, Messrs. Henry A. Cole & Co. Ltd., Liverpool and Birkenhead, of which he was the prospective head; volunteered his services on the outbreak of war, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 3rd Cheshire Regt. 15 Aug. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from May, being then attached to the 2nd Battn. as Machine Gun Officer, and was killed in action at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, during the Battle of Loos, 3 Oct. 1915, while in command of the machine guns. A brother officer, who was wounded in the same action, wrote: "He was always cheery and welcomed wherever he went. His men had the greatest regard for him, and would have followed him anywhere. I had not seen him in real action until we met in the Hohenzollern Redoubt, and I was struck by his remarkable coolness and bravery under the terrible ordeal. He was working his guns with deadly effect to the attacking enemy, and holding them in check, completely stopping their rushes and for a time saving our line from being surrounded. He died in a noble attempt to save his comrades.""
I am researching the names on the 1914-1919 War Memorial in my local church (St Oswald's, Bidston).
|
Cpl. William Wharmby 3rd Btn. D Company Cheshire Regiment  William Wharmby was born in 1895 in Hyde, he married May Walls on the 5th of Sep 1925 at Dukinfield. He was the father of Raymond and Enid Wharmby
Enid has told us of her father and how deeply affected he was by his experiences of WW1, although he never talked about his time served. Having served in the trenches in France the conditions are believed to be the cause of the Rheumatoid Arthritis that troubled him immensely for the rest of his life to the point of him taking his own life by means of gassing with a fireside gas poker. At the age of just 12 years, Enid was the unfortunate discoverer of this tragedy at the family home, 38 Cross Street, Hyde. We know he was also injured by shrapnel the cause of a scar that can be seen on his right cheek.
Wishing to uncover some detail of William’s time in the army in WW1, searches I had done on genealogical websites gave all but 1 image, his Medal Rolls Index Card. Enlistment and quite detailed pension records exist for such soldiers but none could be found for William. It is known that during the London Blitz of WW2, the office holding these records was bombed and severely damaged, destroying some records and rendering many others undecipherable or damaged, these records became known as the “burnt records.†It is almost certain that this is the reason for not being able to find such records for William.
However, as time goes by and genealogy becomes more and more popular, the availability all kinds of records to further one’s genealogical research increases constantly. After several years of unsuccessful searches some of the “burnt records†from the indexes known as WO363 and WO364 (WO standing for War Office) have now been published and I have my first breakthrough on this missing chapter in my research.
We know from William’s Medal Rolls Index Card that he initially served with the Cheshire regiment under the number 10489 and then later with the Essex Regiment under the number 60218. This is not necessarily exclusive as, to be exact, this card only details the regiment he was in at the point in time he earned the medals. As the number of casualties built and the sizes of battalions were decimated the army was forced to constantly “regroup†making it commonplace for soldiers who enlisted in their local regiment to end up serving for another in addition to the probable changes of battalion while remaining in the same regiment.
The card also details that William first served in France from 29 November 1914. It is not clear as to Williams rank in the Essex Regiment, whether he retained the rank of Corporal from his time in the Cheshire regiment as one would expect, the addition of the Pte (Private) actually in the rank heading box adds to this uncertainty.
The 15 to the left of “Star†indicates that he received the 1914-1915 Star which differentiates it from the 1914 Star, the latter being awarded to those who served in France and Flanders between 5 August 1914 and 22 November 1914, the former to those who served in France and Flanders from 23 November 1914 to 31 December 1915 plus anyone who served in any other operational theatre between 5 Aug 1914 and 31 December 1915. Those receiving either of these Stars also received both the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. The Victory Medal and the British War Medal are on one roll (another name for an individual section/collection of archive material) while the Star is on another.
From WO 363-4 papers that survived and were published online 2014 we now know that William first attended the Depot of the Cheshire Regiment on 8th April 1914 and was initially assigned as under company “Hâ€. He was then given leave “Furlough†from the 8th to the 15th – I wonder if this was a standard practice for new recruits to enlist formally then to be give a few days at home with their families before their inevitable time in combat.
William was transferred on 16th August 2014 to Birkenhead under “F†company of the 3rd battalion of the Cheshire Regiment. Over the next few months he was promoted to Lance Corporal, Corporal and to “acting†Sergeant before being deployed on 28th November 1914 to join the Expeditionary force in France under “D†company. He was however listed as a private. (I do not know if this was a true demotion or whether his previous promotions were relative to William being a regular soldier amongst reservists as I believe the 3rd battalion was).
While quite rightly in memoriam we concentrate on those who gave their lives during the conflict, which includes a couple of William’s cousins Joseph Wharmby and Samuel Mottram Wharmby, I have a particular interest in those who survived but continued to suffer from the effects of their time in conflict.
Editor's Note:
3rd Battalion Cheshire Regiment was a training unit, it remained in UK throughout the war, providing drafts for other battalions.
From the above it can be accertained that this was indeed a training unit and his move to D company may have been to another Battalion in the Cheshires. Subsequent move to the Essex Regiment may have as suggested been as a result of losses and regrouping but without the actual battalions involved it is difficult to be more specific. It was also common practice in training units for recruits to progress between companies as they developed skills, the qualified soldiers passing out from the advanced training company and temporary ranks were also given but usually to those thought capable of taking a similar post in their active service unit.
The hat in his photograph which seems to indicate operations away from the Western Front at some stage possibly Middle East. He also is still wearing the stripes of a Corporal. The addition of Pte to the top of the medal card indites that he was a Private when he qualified for the 1915 Star on date of entry into war theatre.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
.jpg)
Site Home
Help & FAQs
