213139 Pte. John Viner British Army 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment from:Ardwick, Lancashire John Viner was born in Aston, Birmingham in Jun 1885 and by 1891 was living in Ardwick, Lancashire with his parents, Charles and Eliza. On the 20th October 1905, John enlisted in the 5th Battalion (Militia) The Manchester Regiment aged 17 years and 10 months and was given the regimental number of 460 and served for two years.
When the 3rd and 4th Battalions were disbanded, John took the offer of joining the approximate 120 soldiers who transferred to the Royal Canadian Regiment. He left Liverpool on the 11th January 1907 on the SS Tunisian and arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 21st January. The soldiers appear to have attested whilst aboard the ship on the 12th January 1907. John was given the army number 9175 and in 1909 married Miss Mary Maynard.
He returned to the UK after his 3 years service were up in 1910 but immediately re-enlisted on the outbreak of war on the 13th August 1914 into the 3rd Battalion The Manchester Regiment with the number 2658. He moved to Cleethorpes Garrison with the battalion as part of the Humber defences.
In April 1915, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion and was sent to France on the 21st April 1915 to the Front. The 2nd Manchesters were in Ypres at the time and involved in the 2nd Battle of Ypres. The German Army had just started getting success with chemical warfare the previous week against the French army close by and on the 23rd April, the Germans launched another massive mustard gas attack against the Canadian and British forces in the area. John was shot and injured on the 2nd May 1915 and was returned to the UK on the 8th May. He was medically discharged from the army on the 16th June 1916.
After the war, he moved to London and his brother, James Viner, used to travel down from Manchester and spend weekends there to convalesce. James had been in the Army Service Corps and Royal Field Artillery from 1911 through the war to 1918.
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