WW1 British War & Victory Medal pair – Awarded to Private ROBERT YATES of the Manchester Regiment, later the Labour Corps – Believed to be 21st (Service) Battalion Manchester Regiment – Wounded in action ‘Passchendaele’ 1917

Stock Reference – MM-MED-0057

WW1 British War & Victory Medal pair – Awarded to Private ROBERT YATES of the Manchester Regiment, later the Labour Corps – Believed to be 21^st (Service) Battalion Manchester Regiment – Wounded in action ‘Passchendaele’ 1917

You are looking at a British War Medal and Victory Medal awarded to Private ROBERT YATES of the Manchester Regiment (Service number 26673), who was wounded in action in 1917 and later served with the Labour Corps (Service number 665714).

The medal is inscribed ‘26673 PTE. R.YATES. MANCH.R.’

ROBERT YATES, the son of ROBERT (Senior) and MARGARET JANE YATES, was born in 1896 at Harpurhey in Manchester, on the 30^th of October 1896 according to the 1939 Register in which he appears, but there appears to be an issue with this date of birth, because there is a baptism record that provides that he was baptised on the 16^th of September that year, so his date of birth according to the 1939 Register post-dates his baptism which is clearly wrong.

ROBERT appears on 2 x occasion within the War Office casualty lists, the first list dated or reported on the 24^th of October 1916, and the second occasion, in WO Daily List 5431 dated the 1^st of December 1917, and his later medical record (Form S.B.36.), describes how he had sustained a gunshot wound to his hand.

In a later record, from the year 1919, ROBERT’S home address was recorded as 2 Acton Street, Moston Lane, Manchester, and he appears at this address in the 1921 Census.

As to ROBERT’S military service, it is not clear within the available records, which battalion of the Manchester Regiment ROBERT was serving with, but the following information should be considered:

In 1915, the Manchester Regiment used the number block 26500-26699 for those enlisting into their 19^th (4^th City) Battalion, and 26700-26999 for their 21^st (6^th City) Battalion, however, although service number 26673 falls into the 19^th Battalion’s number range, with the number being in the last 30 x numbers in that block and the potential overlapping of numbers, it is more likely ROBERT YATES enlisted into the 21^st Battalion, as the following information appears to support.  

Within the same War Office list in which ROBERT YATES is listed as wounded, there are 28 x names of soldiers from the Manchester Regiment who were also reported killed in action. Of these 28 x names. 2 x were found not to have been KIA, having been captured and held as prisoners of war, and of the remaining 26 x names, 1 x soldier (HULME 350947) was from the 2^nd/9^th Battalion and was KIA on the  9^th of October 1917, another soldier (BIRKETT 52857) was from the 20^th Battalion and was KIA on the 26^th of October 1917, and the remaining 24 x soldiers were all members of the 21^st Battalion, of which 16 x were killed on the 24^th of October and 8 x on the 27^th of October.......The majority of those members of the 21^st Battalion (x 21) are commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial, with 2 x men resting at Perth Cemetery (China Wall) and 1 x at  Zantvoorde British Cemetery.

From the available evidence, it is likely ROBERT enlisted into the 21^st Battalion of the Manchester Regiment around June to August 1915, and he was serving with the battalion during the Third Battle of Ypres (31^st July – 10^th November 1917), but was wounded during the period 24^th-27^th October, in the days preceding or during the ‘Second Battle of Passchendaele’ that commenced on the 26^th of October.

The ‘Second Battle of Passchendaele’ was disastrous for the British troops, with heavy rain causing the ground to become extremely waterlogged and difficult to operate in, and as the 21^st Battalion war diary details, the mud causing soldier’s weapons to become unusable, and there was some chaos caused when a party of some 70 or 80 men of the 2^nd Gordan Highlanders and the 2^nd Border Regiment, who were seemingly lost or disorientated, passed through the battalion’s position, in turn causing some chaos within the ranks of the 21^st........The ‘Narrative of Operations on 26^th October 1917’, as recorded in the battalion war diary, provides some insight into what occurred.  

“The muddy and wet state of the ground rendered movement exceedingly difficult and made it impossible for the men to keep their rifles in a serviceable and usable condition”

“The flow of men referred to in para 9 (d) (a party of some 70 or 80 men of the 2^nd Gordan Highlanders and the 2^nd Border Regiment) were without doubt responsible for destroying the formation of this battalion in the advance and for causing a state of chaos which prejudiced any further advance to a fatal degree”

ROBERT YATES’ particular experiences during this battle, if any of course, are unknown, but his appearance in the WO casualty list suggests he was there or thereabouts to this particularly disastrous event and was certainly wounded around this time.

SELLER NOTE = Only very limited research has been conducted into this medal and its recipient...Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during this research will be provided.