Battle of Tel-El-Kebir and 1st Batt Manchester Reg

[ampart]

Hi Folks,

My relative was with the 1st Batt of the Manchester Regiment ( formerly the 63rd of Foot). They arrived in Ismailia from Bombay on the 6th of September 1882 and shipped out again from Alexandria on the 23rd of October back to Portsmouth. As the Battle of Tel-El -Kebir was fought out of Ismailia on September 13th I presumed that the 1st Batt of the Manchesters were there as they had been accompanied from India by the 1st Seaforth Highlanders who are regularly referenced.
My difficulty is I recently saw a listing of all the British Regiments involved in the Battle on a website but the Manchester Regiment is not included.

Does anyone have any information on this Regiment in the Egypt War please?

Many thanks
Ann Marie

[Mark A. Reid]

Hello Ann Marie;

As you wrote, the 1st Bn. Manchester Regt. did arrive in Egypt before the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir but was retained as part of the garrison of Alexandria, along with the Derbyshire Regt, the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery and other troops. As a consequence, they did not participate in the battle on 13 September 1882.

The 1st Battalion sailed from Bombay and consisted of 24 Officers, 2 Warrant Officers and 648 Other Ranks, arriving in Egypt on 6 September, as you mentioned. They qualified for the Egypt Medal, without clasp, and examples to the Manchesters are seen on medal dealer sites on a pretty regular basis.

If they departed Egypt on 23 October then they timed it very well as Cairo and the surrounding area was soon to be struck by a cholera epidemic that took the lives of many soldiers who had survived the action at Tel-el-Kebir.

Best of luck with your research!

Cheers,

Mark