Allied Victory Medal

Henry was born in 1883 in Manchester. His father’s details are not known. His mother’s name was Catherine. She was born in 1839 and by 1891 she was a widow with four children living on Nelson Street in Chorlton. Henry’s older siblings were George, Fredrick and Emily. George was born in 1869 and was a ribbon salesman. Fredrick was born in 1874 and worked as a clerk in an office. Emily was born in 1876 and was an apprentice dressmaker.

Details of Henry’s Army service are sparse. It is not known when he signed up but it is known that he served with the 1/9th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment with the service number of 4141. This was a ‘first line’ territorial battalion for overseas service, initially filled with soldiers who had been part-time volunteers before the war.

The 1/9th Battalion fought in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 along with other territorial battalions of the Manchester Regiment. In March 1917 they proceeded to the Western Front.

At some point Henry was given the new service number 352028 which suggests that he was transferred to a different battalion, but details are not known. He survived the war but details of his life after the war are not known.

Henry was awarded the British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal for his service during the First World War. However, only the Victory Medal has survived. It was donated to the museum collections in 2017.