Commemorated:

1. Grave:Redoubt CemeteryXI. A. 13. Helles
2. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.139
3. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour37C GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

 

Family :

Son of the late Frederick and Emily Womersley.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 1/8 Manchester Regiment 

1/8th (Ardwick) Battalion August 1914 : in Ardwick. Part of Manchester Brigade, East Lancashire Division 25 September 1914 : landed at Alexandria in Egypt. 6 May 1915 : landed on Gallipoli. 26 May 1915 : formation became 127th Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. 28 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli, landed on Mudros and proceeded to Egypt. 2March 1917 : landed Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front. 19 february 1918 : transferred to 126th Brigade in same Division.

Action : Gallipoli 

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 :

John William Womersley. He was born 3 February 1884, the eldest son of Frederick and Emily Womersley of The Olives, Victoria Park, Manchester. Educated Mill Hill School. Later a partner in the Manchester accountancy firm of Womersley and Tweedale. A pre-war officer of the 8th (Ardwick) Battalion. Promoted Lieutenant 25 May 1914. Killed in action 4 June 1915. Commemorated Redoubt Cemetery, Gallipoli and on a plaque in St Chrysostom's Church, Victoria Park, Manchester. Sources; Robert Bonner ? The Manchester Regiment Group Forum 3rd Battle of Krythia On the 29th Division?s right, the 42nd Division attacked with the four Manchester Regiment battalions of the 127th Brigade in the first wave with two battalions of the Lancashire Fusiliers following the attacking waves. Here the attack opened well and within five minutes the Turkish first line had been captured. The whole of the division?s objective was soon taken, except on the extreme left (next to the 29th Division) where the wire in front was uncut. For the first hour everything went well. The 127th Brigade advanced about 1000 yards and over 200 prisoners were taken. The Official History states that: "the Turks were on the run". Hunter-Weston now issued orders to consolidate the ground gained. The 42nd Division as far as was known was still in a good position, although the 127th Brigade commander, Brigadier- General Lee, had by now been mortally wounded in the throat by a shell and his successor, Lt.-Col. Heys had been killed outright4. It was unfortunate that at about 16.00 the Turkish reserves had came into action and soon after Hunter-Weston?s order to consolidate, word reached corps HQ that the 127th Brigade was now being hard-pressed. From this point on the situation grew steadily worse. At 18.00 the Brigade was being attacked from three sides and the leading troops? withdrawal was eventually approved by Hunter-Weston. A company of the 1/6 Manchesters however was unable to comply and was practically wiped out. By nightfall the greater part of the ground captured during the attack had been given up. Of 16,000 officers and men engaged, the British had lost 4,500. Br.-Gen. Lee was subsequently evacuated to Malta where he died from haemorrhage due to the reopening of his wounds. He is buried in Pieta Military Cemetery. See Frank Davies & Graham Maddocks, Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War, 1914- 1918, (Leo Cooper, London, 1995) pp81-2.

See also : Sty Chrysostoms Church.

See also : A Manchester Accountant on Gallipoli for a most detailed family biography.

"You have every reason to be proud of his action. He was shot while leading his Platoon in the attack, and at the moment he was jumping into a Turkish trench, which we captured."

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : East Lancashire Centurion No. 2322 E.C.East Lancashire

Initiated
Passed
Raised
2nd March 1914
6th April 1914
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Source :

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

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2022-02-04 12:51:04