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Home Page - Welcome to manchesterpals.co.uk
Background
This site is dedicated to the brave men of the Manchester Regiment who volunteered, fought and died in the Great War 1914-1918.
The 'Manchester City Battalions, Book of Honour' (BofH) provides platoon photographs of the early volunteer soldiers of the 'Pals' battalions, 16th (1st City) to 23rd (8th City) taken in late 1914 and early 1915. Those present are listed but their positions on the photographs were not recorded. Conversations end with the words....."he is present somewhere on this photograph".
Objective
The main objective of this site is to put names to the faces in the Book of Honour (BofH) and unravel this 100 year old mystery using purely objective means. The purpose of which is to help relatives of the soldiers and private researchers to identify and preserve their memory.
The primary approach to identification is with the use of modern facial recognition software. Facial recognition is a science-based approach that removes any emotional or subjective bias. Like DNA profiling the outputs and conclusions are based on statistical probability rather than absolute identification. There are no anecdotal or subjective 'human eye' identifications used in this project.
Extensive validity checking has been undertaken on the software and the approach to identification. The software has proven to be remarkably accurate. Conflicting output is the exception rather than the norm. The approach does have limitations in relation to the quality and resolution of contemporary photographs available. Bushy moustaches, low cap peaks, oblique profiles etc can reduce identification probability. Where conflicts or low resemblance levels occur the conclusions are left as undetermined.
Current Identification Count : 802 Positive Identifications
There are currently 802 positive soldier identifications from a first pass of the 16th-19th Battalions. This is essentially a half way point with the assessment of the 20th-23rd Battalions to follow. This is a live project and this site will be continuously updated.
Example Identification from a known photograph
8838 LCpl Edward Henry Riley is listed on Page 78 as being present on the 17th Battalion, C Company, Platoon No XI photo (Page 79). From a known photo of LCpl Riley he has been identified using facial recognition software at P079 R3 L13 (Page 79, 3rd row, 13th from the left).
Viewing Access is FREE - no subscription is required
This is is not a commercial project and access is provided free of charge without subscription.
The site is part 'public' and part 'members only'. The Book of Honour identifications are within the 'members only' area. Some of the other projects are 'public'.
Entry to the members area is by e-mail verification.
To gain access please email:
manchesterpals.co.uk@gmail.com
Please note the site is built on a GoogleSites platform. Gmail emails and non-gmail emails linked to a google account do not require validation. Non-gmail emails not linked to a google account need to be linked to a google account for validation. Linking a non-gmail email to a google account is a simple (and free) process. Please follow instructions in link below:
Contact, Comment and Support
If you would like to make contact, comment on this site or provide support, please email:
manchesterpals.co.uk@gmail.com
If you have a photo of a 'Pal', maybe a relative and would like to support this project please get in touch.
I hope your visit is a positive experience.
Copyright Statement
This site is non-commercial for private research and study only.
Whilst this project relates to events over a 100 years ago, and much of the contemporary material is now copyright expired including the Book of Honour, some material will remain under copyright.
This site will make all reasonable efforts to respect copyright and the exemptions to copyright under the provisions of "fair dealing" and "data analysis" for non-commercial research under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. The sources of all external material used will be acknowledged where known.
Where an acknowledgement of source is missing or a suspected breach of Copyright is identified please contact manchesterpals.co.uk@gmail.com in the first instance.
This site is free to use for private research and study, however it should be recognised that an extensive amount of work has gone in to this project and the identifications made must not be copied without the express consent of the author. The intellectual property rights of this project remain with the author.
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