WW1 Medal trio – 1914-15 Star, British War Medal & Victory Medal awarded to SAMUEL ATHERTON - 1/9th (Ashton-under-Lyne) Bn Manchester Regt & 1st Battalion King’s Liverpool Regt – GALLIPOLI – 1 of 3 brothers who served together in the ‘Ashton Territorials’

Stock Reference – MM-MED-0063

WW1 Medal trio – 1914-15 Star, British War Medal & Victory Medal awarded to SAMUEL ATHERTON - 1/9^th (Ashton-under-Lyne) Bn Manchester Regt & 1^st Battalion King’s Liverpool Regt – GALLIPOLI – 1 of 3 brothers who served together in the ‘Ashton Territorials’

You are looking at WW1 medal trio, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, awarded to Private SAMUEL ATHERTON of the Manchester Regiment, who later went on to serve with the 1^st Battalion the King’s Liverpool Regiment (service number 235636).

The medals are inscribed ‘1019 PTE. S.ATHERTON. MANCH.R.’

The 1/9^th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment were raised at Ashton-under-Lyne, and they almost immediately sailed for Egypt to protect the Suez Canal, landing at Alexandria in the September of 1914. The battalion landed at Sedd-el-Bahr (V Beach – Cape Helles) in Gallipoli on the 9^th of May 1915, under heavy fire, and they were evacuated from Gallipoli around 8 x months later, on the 29^th of December 1915, at which point they returned to Egypt, remaining there for around one year before deploying to the Western Front in March 1917.

This is one of those occasions where the military records relating to SAMUEL ATHERTON are very limited in number, with nothing to suggest exactly who he was outside of the army, such as his age or a home address, but that said, there is a newspaper article of particular interest, and this allows us to piece together a much more detailed and interesting history of SAMUEL, and not one that is readily identifiable from the limited number of military related documents that exist for him.

In the Stalybridge Reporter newspaper dated the 12^th of June 1915, under the title ‘The Ashton Territorials in the Dardanelles’, there is an article sub-titled ‘Three Brothers Serving – An Ashton Swimmer Wounded’, that relates to JAMES, SAMUEL and ALFRED ATHERTON, the sons of JAMES ATHERTON of 2 Duncan Street in Ashton, who were fighting side by side with the ‘Ashton Territorials’ in the Dardanelles, and had, all three of them, served with the 9^th (Ashton) Battalion of the Manchester Regiment (Territorials) for several years.

From this newspaper article we can identify the 3 x brothers in question, the sons of JAMES and CHARLOTTE ATHERTON, and the family were living at 39 Duncan Street in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1911, according to the census record for that year.  

SAMUEL ATHERTON was born on the 9^th of August 1892 and baptised at Ashton-under-Lyne on the 24^th of March 1893, and, based on his original service number 1019, he enlisted into the 9^th (Ashton) Battalion (Territorial Force) the Manchester Regiment around 1909-10, with the new Territorial Force battalion having been formed on the 1^st of April 1908, so SAMUEL was a relatively early recruit, but also a long-standing member of this particular territorial battalion.

As for SAMUEL’S brothers:

JAMES ATHERTON born 11^th September 1886 – JAMES ATHERTON, based on his service number 1521, enlisted into the 9^th (Ashton) Battalion (Territorial Force) the Manchester Regiment in 1913, and he served with his battalion in Egypt, landing at Gallipoli on the 9^th of May 1915, sustaining a shrapnel wound to his back on or around the 13^th of May, so within days of his arrival. His original service number was changed to 350263 in 1917, and he was disembodied on the 17^th of March 1919.

Private 1521 JAMES ATHERTON of B Company the 9^th Manchester Regiment, at the age of 28 years, and whilst serving in Gallipoli, suffered a shrapnel wound to his back and was admitted to the Shrapnel Clearing Hospital W Beach on the 13^th of May 1915.

 ALFRED ATHERTON born 16^th October 1895 – ALFRED ATHERTON (service number 1468) enlisted into the 9^th (Ashton) Battalion (Territorial Force) the Manchester Regiment on the 5^th of June 1913 according to one military record, and he served with the battalion in Egypt, landing at Gallipoli on the 9^th of May 1915. His original service number was changed to 350231 in 1917, he was awarded the Silver War Badge (SWB), and he held the rank of corporal when he was disembodied from the army on the 3^rd of March 1919........During WW2, he served with the 51^st County of Lancaster (Ashton-under-Lyne) Battalion of the Home Guard.

The 9^th Battalion had its origins rooted in the Ashton-under-Lyne area as far back as 1859, when a Rifle Volunteer Corps company was formed in the area, and this company went on to become the 3^rd Volunteer Battalion of the Manchester Regiment in 1881, and then the 9^th Battalion the Manchester Regiment upon the formation of the Territorial Force on the 1^st of April 1908....And when the battalion were mobilised in August 1914, they became the 1/9^th Battalion.

Apart from its local and regional history, the 9^th was a battalion that had many local families and family members serving together within its ranks, fathers and sons, brothers etc., and the website ‘9BMR – The World War One History of the 9^th Battalion, Manchester Regiment’ (https://9bmr.org/regiments/) describes these family connections in some detail, and lists the 3 x ATHERTON brothers in order of joining, SAMUEL first followed by the other two, however, it is worth noting that they are the only family with 3 x members prior to the outbreak of WW1...according to the website.

And the 3 x brothers were not the only members of the ATHERTON family who served with the 9^th Battalion, with the Stalybridge Reporter newspaper dated the 30^th of October 1915, listing brothers EDWARD, THOMAS and SAM ATHERTON of 28 Hope Street as having enlisted into the army, EDWARD and THOMAS into the 1/9^th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, and SAM into the 11^th Battalion.......The three brothers were sons of THOMAS and SARAH ELLEN ATHERTON, with THOMAS Senior being JAMES ATHERTON Senior’s brother, so they were JAMES, SAMUEL and ALFRED’S cousins, and further research provides that EDWARD ATHERTON, service number 2065, enlisted into the 19^th Battalion on the 6^th of August 1914, within two weeks of war breaking out, and he, like his 3 x cousins, also landed at Cape Helles in Gallipoli on the 9^th of May 1915. THOMAS ATHERTON, service number 2375, enlisted into the 19^th after his brother, and he also served in Gallipoli, arriving as part of a later contingent of troops on the 23^rd of July 1915.

Returning to SAMUEL and his brothers, you can see from their medal records that all three of them landed at Cape Helles in Gallipoli on the very same day, the 9^th of May 1915, as did their cousin EDWARD ATHERTON.....Where each member of the family was when they landed is not known, but it is hard not to imagine them all being together when they made their way onto the beach under heavy enemy gunfire.

SAMUEL, unlike his brothers who both remained with the 9^th Manchester Regiment throughout the war, transferred to the 1^st Battalion the King’s Liverpool Regiment at some point, with his new service number 235636 issued, and it is likely he was transferred around July to August 1917, at a time when troops were needed to fill the gaps in other battalions of other regiments.

The 1^st Battalion KLR were in the Cambrin and Arleux area of France from July to October 1917, were involved in the Battle of Cambrai in November to December 1917, were trying to defend the British and allied positions during the German Spring Offensive of March 1918, were in action at the Battle of St Quentin and the First Battle of Bapaume, were in the Ayette and Lens area from April to July 1918, were involved in the Hundred Days Offensive in the Somme, including seeing action at the Second Battle of Bapaume and the allied advance on the German held Hindenburg Line, and were involved in the Battle of the Selle and the Battle of the Sambre in October to November 1918, two of the final battles of WW1 prior to the German surrender.

In February 1919, so after the war had ended, SAMUEL, whilst still serving with the 1st Battalion the King's Liverpool Regiment, appears to have sought to re-transfer back to the 1/9th Battalion the Manchester Regiment upon demobilisation, so he was planning to return to his original Ashton-under-Lyne battalion. 

SELLER NOTE = Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during this research will be provided.