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The Manchester Regiment was a regiment of the British army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 63rd Regiment of Foot and the 96th Regiment of Foot. The regiment amalgamated with the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in 1958, to form the King's Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool).

 

Second World War

North West Europe & Italy

When Germany invaded France in May 1940, the 2nd, 5th and 1/9th Manchesters formed part of the British Expeditionary Force - the 2nd and 1/9th were MG battalions. Despite putting up a stubborn defence, the BEF went into retreat, the Manchesters being engaged along the way. Much of the expeditionary force converged on Dunkirk, where hundreds of ships evacuated more than 330,000 soldiers to Britain. Of the surviving men of the 2nd Manchesters, more than 300 men were evacuated. Fewer than 200 remained, fighting until being either captured or killed.The 5th and 1/9th were also evacuated, having sufferered light casualties. The evacuation ended on 3 June.

In November 1941, the 5th Manchesters were converted to armour as 111th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Manchester Regiment). They continued to wear their Manchesters cap badge on the black beret of the RAC. 111 RAC was disbanded in November 1943 and 5th Manchesters reconstituted as an infantry battalion. In the summer of 1944 the battalion acted as the Royal Bodyguard at Balmoral Castle while the Royal Family was in residence and then served as a machine-gun battalion with 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division until the end of the war.

In November 1941, the 2/9th Manchesters, which was an MG Battalion, converted to the 88th Anti-Tank Regiment RA. [Sometime after this, the 1/9th Battalion was redesignated as the 9th Battalion.] The 88th Anti-tank regiment was part of the 45th (Wessex) Infantry Division and landed in France on 24 June. In August, the regiment returned to the United Kingdom, where it converted to the 88th Training Regiment RA.

On 27 June 1944, the 1st Manchesters landed in France, 21 days after the invasion had begun. The battalion took part in a number of engagements in the area around Caen, which was captured by British and Canadian Forces on 9 July. The battalion advanced across Northern France, reaching Antwerp in Belgium in early September. The 1st Manchesters, along with the rest of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, moved to Turnhout, before advancing later that month into the Netherlands, where the 1st and 7th Manchesters saw heavy action. The 1st Manchesters, after entering German territory in the face of the Wehrmacht's defences, crossed the Rhine with the 53rd Division in late March. The 7th Manchesters saw its last fighting in Bremen, when that city was captured on 26 April. The 1st Manchesters ended the war in Hamburg when that city surrendered on 3 May.

The 8th and 9th Manchesters took part in the Italian campaign. The former battalion was part of the Indian 10th Infantry Division, with the latter being part of the Indian 4th Infantry Division and from 15 July 1944 until 31 August 1945, formed the Support Battalion of the 46th Infantry Division. The 9th Manchesters saw much action during the Battle for the Gothic Line, including the Battle of Montegridolfo. After service in Greece and a return to Italy for the last weeks of the campaign there, they reached Graz, Austria by the end of the war.

Far East

 

Stationed in Singapore from 1938, the 1st Manchesters saw action during the Japanese invasion of the island in February 1942. After a bitter defence, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival signed the surrender of Singapore on 15 February. About 80,000 Commonwealth personnel became POWs.

In 1942, the 2nd Manchesters were sent to the sub-continent, being stationed first in India, then Burma in 1944. The battalion was involved in the Battle of Kohima in fierce fighting with the Japanese. It fought in subsequent actions in Burma until April 1945, when it returned to India.

The Manchester Regiment

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