Wilfrith Elsob VC DSO MC - The Manchester Regiment, by Robert Bonner
Wilfrith Elsob VC DSO MC - The Manchester Regiment, by Robert Bonner
Published by Fleur De Lys in 1998, 34 pages. Booklet - c.20cm by 27cm (N5725)
Published by Fleur De Lys in 1998, 34 pages. Booklet - c.20cm by 27cm (N5725)
This booklet is provides a fascinating short biography of the renowned commanding officer of the 16th Manchesters and the story of his inspired leadership of the battalion culminating in the battle of Manchester Hill in March 1918. The son of the Vicar of Siddington in Cheshire, Wilfrith Elstob was a truly remarkable and brave man, much loved and admired by all who came into contact with him, and this well-illustrated book describes his life from the Ryley's School in Alderley Edge to Christ's Hospital and Manchester University, and then onto the formation and training of the 1st Pals Battalion (16th Manchesters) from its formation in 1914 to its epic battle and famous 'last stand' at St Quentin on 21st March 1918...
From the rear side cover: The Manchester Regiment will hold Manchester Hill to the last man. The romance of that amazing conversation on the buried cable between the Colonel and the Brigadier will never die. At the time a Staff Officer at Brigade Headquarters reported the episode as follows:
"At about 11 o'clock Colonel Elstob informed me that the Germans had broken through and were swarming round the Redoubt. At about 2 pm he said that most of his men were killed or wounded, including himself; that they were all getting dead-beat, that the Germans had got into the Redoubt and hand-to-hand fighting was going on. He was still quite cheery. At 3.30 he was spoken to on the telephone and said that very few were left and that the end was nearly come. After that no answer could be got". At about 3 pm a German plane came overhead and at the same time German field artillery pieces were brought up to within 60 yards of the Redoubt. Within the next half hour few of the defenders remained alive. One survivor told of the last words that Elstob used to him were 'Tell the men not to lose heart. Fight on!'. He still held his ground, firing from some twenty-five to thirty yards up the trench. A last assault was made by the enemy who called on Elstob to surrender. He replied "Never" and was shot dead. By 4 pm it was all over and the battered remnants of the 16th, wounded and exhausted, surrendered.
The condition of the booklet is generally very good. The cover has one or two very minor scuffs and blemishes, but the staple spine is tight and intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound. Has an old price printed on rear side cover
| Condition | New |