Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

17 October - 11 November 1918. The final stage of the British advance saw them cross the Selle and the Sambre rivers as the relentless pressure was kept on the retreating Germans. By the 11th November 1918 the British army had returned to Mons, where it all started for them back in August 1914 when it made its first contact with the Germans, and where the war stopped when the Armistice was declared on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Detail :

Formerly 4717 R.S.M. British West Indies Regiment. Killed in Action on the Western Front 4th November, 1918 aged 42 after 24 years service. He was commissioned in the West Indies Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant, but was transferred to the Manchester Regiment where he was promoted Captain. He was immediately mobilised into the Great War whilst in India.

All of the 2nd Battalion Manchester Regiment killed in action on the 4th November 1918 in attempting the crossing of the Oise - Sambre Canal just north of the village of Ors. Only through the heroism of Major Waters and Sapper Archibald of the 218th Field Company Royal Engineers, both awarded the Victoria Cross, was it possible to get a bridge across. The whole area was swept with shell and machine-gun fire and it seemed impossible for anyone to live on the bank of the canal. All the rest of the party were killed or disabled, yet these two gallant engineers carried on the work, while bullets splintered the wood they were holding and struck sparks from the wire binding the floats. Meanwhile 2nd Lieutenant Kirk in a splendid spirit of self-sacrifice, paddled across the canal on a raft and engaged the enemy with a Lewis gun. This gallant act cost him his life, but a bridge was erected and two platoons of his battalion succeeded in crossing.

Unfortunately the bridge was almost immediately destroyed by shell fire, and although repeated attempts were made to repair it, the undertaking had to be abandoned, and the remainder of the battalion took shelter from the enemy?s fire behind the western bank of the canal until it received a message from the 1st Dorsetshire that it was possible to cross at Ors. Slightly nearer to Ors, the Engineers and the 16th Highland Light Infantry (Pioneers) succeeded in erecting a bridge of small cork rafts; before, however, the leading troops of the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers could cross, the bridge was broken by concentrated artillery and machine-gun fire. The officer commanding this battalion, Lt. Col. Marshall of the Irish Guards, took charge of the situation and organised parties of volunteers for the repair of the bridge; the first party were all soon killed or wounded, nevertheless the bridge was finally erected. Lt.- Col. Marshall stood on the bank while the work was being carried out, and then attempted to rush across at the head of his battalion; He was killed almost at once. Over 200 casualties had now been sustained in the effort to cross the canal, and it was clear that any further attempt to cross on the 96th Brigade front would only result in purposeless loss off life. The troops of the 14th Brigade east of the canal were, therefore ordered to stand fast until the 96th Brigade had succeeded in crossing by the bridges which had been erected by the 14th Brigade.

"For the 2nd Battalion the war ended with the action at the crossing of the Sambre and Oise canal. The canal was some 70 feet wide, bank to bank, except at the locks, with an average depth between 6 and 8 feet. All the bridges had either been demolished or prepared for demolition. In addition to the obstacle offered by the canal itself, the Germans had inundated the low ground on both sides and much had been turned into a swamp.

Success depended upon obtaining complete superiority of fire over the enemy holding the eastern bank of the canal and arrangements were made for the crossing by the infantry to be covered by a powerful artillery barrage and smokescreen. The area where the Manchester's were to cross continued to be swept by enemy shell and machine-gun fire and it seemed impossible for anyone to survive on the canal bank. However 2nd Lieutenant Kirk paddled across the canal on a raft and engaged the enemy with a Lewis machine-gun.

This brave action cost him his life but it enabled a bridge to be erected and two platoons of the battalion succeeded in crossing. (Kirk was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for this gallant act.) Unfortunately the bridge was almost immediately destroyed by shellfire and the undertaking had to be abandoned. The remainder of the battalion were able to cross the canal at Ors, where eventually a bridgehead was firmly established.

Lieutenant Wilfred Owen MC was killed on the canal bank that day as was Captain Angus McKenzie and twenty-two other ranks. Three officers and eighty-one other ranks were wounded and eighteen non-commissioned officers and men were missing. The battalion went into billets at Sambreton on the 6th. Five days later the war was over. At 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month it was learnt that an armistice had been declared and the Great War was over."

See: Tameside Gov for a full account.

LGs:30308/26 Sep 1917:30466/9 Jan 1918(C)(MC): "Capt. Angus McKenzie, Manch. R. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during a raid upon enemy trenches. Although heavily shelled before moving off, he led his company to their objective in good order and continued to control them even when wounded himself in the shoulder by an enemy bomb. He was the last to come in, having set a splendid example throughout."

LG30997/7 Nov 1918(C)(Bar) : "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack. He led his company splendidly, and by his fine example inspired his men with confidence. He consolidated a dangerous position after it had been evacuated by other units, and eventually handed it over intact when his company was relieved."

Masonic :

Resident at Upper Park Camp, Kingston and employed as Regimental Sergeant Major aged 37 at his initiation in to Moore Keys Lodge in Jamaica. No explicit war service is recorded against the Lodge and payments are made throughout until "Killed in action October 1918."

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley