Early Life :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

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

The Gallipoli Campaign was fought on the Gallipoli peninsula 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916. in a failed attempt to defeat Turkey by seizing the Dardanelles and capturing Istanbul. Ill-conceived and planned, the initial effort by the Royal Navy failed to force passage through the Dardanelles by sea power alone. It was then realised that a land force was needed to support the project by suppressing the Turkish mobile artillery batteries. By the time all was ready the Turks were well aware and well prepared. Despite amazing heroics on the day of the landings only minor beachheads were achieved and over the succeeding 8 months little progress was made. Eventually the beachheads were evacuated in a series of successful ruses.

Despite Gallipoli rightly becoming a national source of pride to Australians and New Zealanders, far more British casualties were sustained, and these days the substantial French contribution is almost forgotten.

Detail :

2364 Private Charles Critchley, 5th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment. Killed in Action at Gallipoli.

In the First World War, Charles served with the Territorial Force as Private, 2364, 5th (Wigan) Battalion, The Manchester Regiment as part of 127 Infantry Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. He enlisted at Wigan, their Headquarters being the Bank Street Chambers, and his low number 2364 indicates that Charles had signed up in September 1914 almost immediately war was declared.

As part of the Manchester Brigade the Battalion was in camp at Hollingworth Lake, Littleborough near Rochdale at the outbreak of war, and received the order to mobilise on 4 August. On the 10 August the men of the battalion volunteered for overseas service and on the 20th moved into training camps. On the 10 September 1914 the battalion sailed from Southampton for Egypt on board the “Caledonia”, arriving at Alexandria on the 25 September. En route the convoy passed the Jullunder Brigade sailing in the opposite direction, which included the 1st Battalion, Manchester’s, sailing back from India to go into the line in France. In Egypt the battalion was quartered in the Mustapha Barracks and were kitted out in tropical clothing. The main purpose at this time was in defending the Suez Canal from Turkish forces in Palestine. By October the battalion was training in the Sidi-Gaber Barracks, and was involved in action when the Turk’s attacked the Canal area on 3 February 1915.

On the 3 May the battalion embarked at Alexandria aboard the “Derfflinger” which had only arrived in Alexandria a few hours before carrying over 500 casualties from the fighting at Gallipoli. Launched on 9th Nov.1907 for North German Lloyd, Bremen, her maiden voyage was from Bremen to New York on 9 May 1908. After this voyage, she was used on the Bremen - Suez - Far East service until 1914 when she was captured by the British at Port Said, and later be re-named “Huntsgreen” and used for carrying troops.

Charles was aboard for three days until on the 6 May 1915 they landed with the 6th Battalion at W and V beaches at Gallipoli. The battalion moved up to the front line trenches on the 12 May under heavy machine gun and artillery fire, relieved on the 21st, the battalion went back to the beach, which was still under heavy fire. On the 26 May 1915, the formation became part of the 127th Brigade, 42nd Division. The battalion moved back up to the badly flooded front tranches and worked at completing the trench line.

On 4 June 1915, the 42nd and the 29th Division attacked the main line of Turkish trenches, with the Indian Brigade on the left and the RND on the right. The attack was carried through to the Turkish third line ( which was their objective) but with 'terrible casualties' Although the initial attack was a success, the troops were withdrawn to the Turkish front line, as the other units had not achieved their objectives. This position was held despite heavy Turkish attacks. On the 5 July the battalion went back into the trenches, and at first Charles is recorded as missing, presumed dead on 4 June or after. However, his medal index card has, killed in action 7 June 1915, having also noted his arrival at Gallipoli on 6 May 1915, and shows his entitlement to the 1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and later the family would receive a Memorial Plaque and Scroll.

However it is now accepted he died in the attack of 4 June, and his body was later recovered and now rests at Redoubt Cemetery, Helles, Gallipoli Peninsula in Plot 1. Row B. Grave 7. Between 1 May and the beginning of June, the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade and 42nd (East Lancashire) Division landed on the peninsula. With these reinforcements, the Allied force at Helles pushed forward once more on 4 June, but again to little effect. A further attack between 28 June and 5 July at Gully Ravine inflicted heavy casualties on the Turks, but despite local gains - at one point the line was pushed forward more than a kilometre - there was no breakthrough. By 13 July the advance at Helles was effectively over and the position remained unchanged until the evacuation in January 1916. Redoubt Cemetery takes its name from the chain of forts made by the Turks across the southern end of the peninsula in the fighting for Krithia and the Redoubt Line on which the advance halted in May.

In addition to masonic memorial, Charles is commemorated on the Park Road Methodist Church, Chorley (with his brother Roland).

Masonic :

Charles Critchley Junior was initiated into Ellesmere Lodge No. 730 at Chorley on 20th May, 1914, described as a Bank Clerk, residing at Park Road, Chorley, and in one record looks to be ‘Friarsdene’ Park Road, Chorley. Charles Junior was not passed or raised. War service is shown but there is no annotation regarding the date or cause of death.

His father and namesake recently being initiated on 11 March and his younger brother would also later become a member of the Ellesmere Lodge.

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
• Researcher : Geoff Cuthill