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Stockport
On Friday 25 April 2015 Stockport branch of the MVRA held their annual St Georges Day Dinner at Reddish Golf Club in Stockport,
the event was combined with a ladies dinner night and members of the Cheshire Regiment Association also attended. The evening
was ably organised by Pete Marsh and
Les Highway with 40 members and guests attending the evening. Following an excellent meal we were entertained by Pete Marsh who reminded us of a few of the funnier moments from our service in the TA. An excellent evening was had by all and it was good to meet a few of the older members that we have not seen for some time.
The Stockport branch of the MVRA held a shotgun shoot on 16 May at Doveridge shooting grounds near Uttoxeter. Ten members of the Association attended the day and after a hearty breakfast, proceeded to shoot several hundred clays on 12 different shooting stands. Mike Pilkington organised the day and we were instructed by Paul Hancock a qualified BASC coach. Following a few easy shoots we moved on to double clays coming in from all directions
The Capture of St Julien
Stockport’s worst day of World War 1, the 3rd Battle of Ypres on 31 July 1917
The British had long planned a major offensive in Flanders. This was intended
to smash through the German lines near Ypres (now Ieper) and drive towards the coast to destroy the submarine bases there. The attack, scheduled for 31 July 1917, became known officially as the Third Battle of Ypres, but more commonly as The Battle of Passchendaele (after the village that was intended to be captured on the first day).
The 6th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment from The Armoury at
Stockport were part of the reserve Brigade for its Division and were intended to overlap the leading troops once these had captured the initial objectives. The attack, along an 18 kilometre front, had been meticulously planned. An artillery bombardment of the German positions had been underway since 18 July so there was no element of surprise.
By 1am on 31 July, 20 officers and 600 “other ranks,” had assembled at a place known as English Farm at Wieltje (to the north east of Ypres). Zero hour had been
set for 3.50am and the leading battalions
set off for the initial objective - the village of St Julien, approximately a mile away. Later,
in the morning the CHESHIRE’s left their positions and advanced up the hill towards St Julien. The history of the Battalion records:
“On arrival at the Boche front line, the casualties had been fairly heavy, but the advance was maintained. The Steen beck was crossed at 10am and the Battalion was re-organised for the final objective, intermittent fire being maintained whilst this was going on.”
speeds and heights, some of which were extremely challenging! The overall winner
on the day was Pete Galley with an almost perfect score card closely followed by Pete Marsh, joint third place was Graham Clough and John Whittaker. Overall it was a very successful and enjoyable day.
The branch, together with the Cheshire Regiment Association held their very Successful Armed Forces Day Dinner Dance at the Armoury. Now we look forward to
the East Cheshire reunion, which is held at Armoury on the last Saturday in October.
On the 26 July members of the Stockport Branch MVRA attended the annual St Julien commemoration service in Stockport. This is the main Battle Honour for the
6th Battalion the Cheshire Regiment, which was a TA battalion raised and trained at The Armoury Stockport and surrounding area. 200 people attend the church service at St Georges Church in Stockport where the 6th Battalions Colours are now laid up. The Deputy Lord Mayor was in attendance as well as members of 207 Field Hospital, who are based at The Armoury along with
Throughout the morning, there had
been a downpour of rain and the ground was quickly turning to deep mud. Despite these conditions, the advance continued
at 10:30 and the final objective (described as the Green Line - some 1100 yards north east of St Julien) was taken at 11:05. The CHESHIRE’s had reached their objective exactly on schedule. Patrols were then pushed out to Tirpitz Farm, some 300 yards further on.
The position had been secured but at a terrible cost in dead and wounded. There were only two officers and fifty-seven CHESHIRE’s left, together with eleven Black Watch and eight Hampshire’s out of sixty officers and 1800 men. They had come three miles!
This was one of the rare successful advances along the whole of the front, that day. Neighbouring brigades had not been able to make as much progress and the CHESHIRE’s were now unsupported on their right. The enemy attacked through this gap. In front, Germans who had been about to surrender now took heart and desperate hand to hand fighting took place. Late in the afternoon, a counter-attack by a battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment allowed the remnants of the Brigade to withdraw back to St Julien. Throughout the remainder of the day, the British positions were heavily shelled, causing further casualties.
Sergeant J Boardman, who was with the Battalion’s medical party, described the day:
“At about 15:50 the barrage started. Soon after, our lads moved forward in the mist. The stretcher bearers moved forward as best they could. We had a lot of stuff
The Parade of Standards led by Paul Lomas at Stockport’s Armed Forces day Dinner
the Mortar platoon of the 4th Battalion,
The Mercian Regiment. The standards
of The Cheshire Regimental and Mercian Volunteers Regimental Associations were also on parade at the church and we are very grateful for their support. From the church we retired to The Armoury in Stockport were the Cheshire Regiment Association (CRA) laid on an excellent buffet.
We are now looking forward to the 100th anniversary of the battle in 2017, when 50 plus members of the MVRA and CRA will conduct a battlefield tour of the battle of St Julien, the preparations for which are well under way.
to carry - dressings, stretchers, rations
and water. As we glanced round, we saw our fellows being blown up on all sides.
We eventually established our Aid Post
in what was called the Black Line. There was dead and wounded all over the place. The din was terrific and we were kept
busy all morning. Prisoners were arriving in hundreds and we made them carry away our wounded. In the afternoon, we moved further ahead to a place called Corner Cot. It was hard work getting the wounded away as we had neither bearers nor stretchers and dusk was beginning to fall.”
The Battalion had been effectively destroyed in what was to be Stockport’s worst day of the War.
On Sat 15 Aug 15 ex members of A Coy
1 MERCIAN, The Cheshire Regiment Association (CRA) and 207 Field Hospital
and family members all based at The Armoury Stockport completed a 10 mile sponsored walk. This was on Sat 15 Aug
15 ex members of A Coy 1 MERCIAN, The Cheshire Regiment Association (CRA) and 207 Field Hospital and family members all based at The Armoury Stockport completed a 10 mile sponsored walk. This was the third year a sponsored walk had been held in order to raise money for a number of charities and associations, several thousand pounds have been raised previously. The route took us through the Cheshire plains and into the hills around Lyme park, it was a very successful day with everyone completing the route
and enjoying the scenery and walk. We completed the day with a few beers at the Armoury pub in Stockport and are looking forward to next year’s event.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE