Manchester 8th battalion reserves

[eda]

Hi lve just found a news paper report which has to be my husbands grandfather,, John mulligan / milligan was in the report under this name he was a sergeant major guarding the railway in balcombe Sussex he was also builetted in the village l think with the yarnold family,, it says they were sent march 1915
No 4 national reserve 8th battalion  Manchester , under the command of captain Steel and Sgt major John mulligan,,  hope you can help me find his records ect we know he absconded thank eda

[Andy J2022]

Hi eda,

We face an uphill battle trying to find out more about John Mulligan. First of all roughly two thirds of the records of the men who served during WW1 were destroyed in a fire in 1943; secondly the Manchester Regiment grew to an enormous size during the war, numbering up to 72 battalions at one stage, and with each battalion potentially having a strength of a thousand men, that's a lot of men in the Manchesters. Inevitably there will be more than one John Mulligan and even more if we include Milligan. That said I haven't been able to find anyone who matches the description of sergeant major so far.

Here's what I know about the 8th Reserve battalion. It was a Territorial Force unit based in Ardwick which had been formed in 1908 from the previous 5th (Ardwick) Volunteer Battalion, the Manchester Regiment. The soldiers of the Territorial Force (TF) would have been part timers who joined before the war and would have signed up for home defence duties initially. At the start of the war, members of the TF were asked to agree to serve overseas ('for Imperial Service'), so that they could be deployed to France and the other theatres such as Gallipoli. Most did, but those who refused were transferred to Reserve battalions and remained as home defence units in the UK. In March 1915 the 8th (Ardwick) Battalion was retitled 1/8th Battalion the Manchester Regiment, but since this unit then went straight out to Egypt, en route to Gallipoli, this can't have been the same unit as John was serving in. I suspect the 8th (Reserve) Battalion may have been formed from those soldiers who declined to sign up for Imperial Service. I haven't been able to find out much about the activities  of the 8th (Reserve) Battalion in 1915, or indeed later. As it seems likely that the battalion never served overseas, its members won't be mentioned in the medal rolls. The fact that the newspaper article described them as guarding the railway supports the view that they were exclusively used for home defence duties. I'm not sure what the designation No 4 National Reserve is supposed to signify. It may have been the region for home defence purposes.

As for John Mulligan the man, I think it's fair to say that he will have joined the Territorial Force, or its predecessor the Volunteers, many years before the start of WW1. His rank was Warrant Officer Class 2, and his job designation was Company Sergeant Major.  It would have taken him a minimum of 8 years and possibly longer to reach this rank, although it is possible that he gained accelerated promotion at the start of the war. The fact that he was with the 8th (Reserve) Battalion doesn't automatically mean that he was one of the soldiers who declined to serve overseas. He may have been kept back because the Reserve battalion would have needed some experienced senior non-commissioned officers to provide the command structure of the new unit. He may have selected if he was much older or had some health issue which prevented him be deployed overseas. And of course we cannot assume he remained with the 8th (Reserve) Battalion throughout the war. He may have even been transferred to another regiment, although I think this is less likely given his seniority. It is therefore possible that he served overseas at some later stage, but if he did I would have expected there to be a medal index card (these were not destroyed in the fire) for him, and so far I haven't come across one. Perhaps someone with access to the medal rolls on Ancestry will be able to find him. Nor have I found the newspaper article you mentioned.

Do you have his date of birth, or his address? Sometimes the Absent Voter lists in the 1919 electoral registers provide details about soliders who are still serving away from home.

[ShaunJ]

This is the news  item - from the Sussex Agricultural Express of 12 March 1915, page 3, Balcombe news:

[Andy J2022]

Thanks Shaun,
So it was No 4 Company. Interestingly the old 8th (Ardwick) Battalion had companies lettered A to H.

[eda]

Hello l have researched this man for 30 yrs.,,l have dna results which point me to john being born 1879, without going into to much detail we have reason to beleive he was married before 1904,, but never divorced he left his wife and we think joined the army this was 1912.. , in 1913 he was arrested for fraud l have the newspaper reports,, his wife presumed he was dead,, she married again 1918,,, we had family stories but never believed them but all is begining to look like it was true,,, he left the army about 1915 as he got grandma pregnant, they went to Birkenhead from Balcombe,,,
Another record we have he was being traced by military police he gave a false name Sydney jno milligan the address was the same as where the first child was born so we know it's him,, this name he remained with all his life we knew him we gave pics ect but nothing before 1916 which is his sons birth cert,, he had no known family until research, he went onto work on merchant ships  in Birkenhead,,we always wondered why he didn't marry grandma u till 1927 they had 7 children,, l do have lots more on his life before and after he married  grandma, finding this recent news paper has hopefully completed my research l just need to see a record and see what info it will give me,, l got the record of him being looked for by the military several yrs, ago from this site,, l don't no how to recover it but do have a copy,,, l know this, all sounds a bit far fetched,, but just need to explain,, eda

[eda]

Thankyou for all your help,, eda