11852 Thomas Herbert Howard and

11901 James Robert Parkinson in Naours 

26 September 1916

19th Battalion Manchester Regiment

On 26th September 1916, two Soldiers of the 19th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment inscribed their names upon the walls in the caves of Naours. Neither were professional soldiers. They were two of the many thousands of brave young volunteers who answered the call of King and Country. They had both survived the horrors of the Somme in the summer of 1916 and were no doubt apprehensive of the different fates that still lay before them.

The starting point for the identifications were two database transcriptions and two inscription photographs:

On inspection and cross-checking against records, the two inscriptions have been identified as 11852 Private Thomas Herbert Howard (Age 21) from Withington, Manchester and 11901 Private James Robert Parkinson (Age 26) from the neighbouring town of Rusholme. 

They both enlisted into the 19th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment on the 7th and 10th September 1914.   

Manchester City Battalions, Book of Honour

War Diary, Manchester Regiment, 19th Battalion

Inspection of the War Diary of the 19th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment confirms that the battalion was in Naours on 26th September 1916 (date of the inscriptions). The battalion was present in Noaurs  from 21st September 1916 to 10th October 1916.   

Military Service Records

Most of the service records of British soldiers from the first World War were destroyed by fire by German bombing in the second World War. However, the service records of Pte T.H. Howard and Pte J.R. Parkinson both survived.

On the outbreak of war in 1914, Thomas Howard (19) lived in the Howard family home at 16 Mauldeth Road West, Withington, Manchester, with his father John and mother Selina. Thomas had four brothers, John (33), Harry (31), Robert (22), Rowland (17) and two sisters Amy Francis (27) and Lily Agnes (25). Thomas was described as having a dark complexion, brown hair and brown eyes on his medical examination certificate on enlistment on 10 Sept 1914. He was 19 years 5 months old, 5ft 5inches tall, 117 lbs [53kg] and employed as a Clerk. (Birth 13 April 1895).

James Parkinson (24) lived at 28 Grange Street, Rusholme, Manchester with his mother Elizabeth Parkinson (56) who was head of the household. James’s father, also called James had died when he was only a young boy. He had one younger brother John William (21) and two sisters Frances Anne (29) and Fanny (19). Frances was married in 1914 and her husband Robert Owen Parkinson (29) also lived at the house with their young son, also Robert Owen (4). James was described as having a fresh complexion with blue eyes and brown hair on his enlistment medical examination certificate, 7 Sept 1914. He was 24 years 10 months old, 5ft 8½ inches tall, 129 lbs [59kg] and employed as a Warehouseman Order Clerk. (Birth Oct/Nov 1889)

Arrival in France

First Day of the Somme Offensive – 1 July 1916

Attack on Montauban – 19 Manchesters

The 19 Manchesters were involved in heavy fighting on the Somme during the summer of 1916, including the battle to capture the village of Montauban on 1 July 1916. 

Alongside the Liverpool Pals they led the first wave of the attack through the front-line German defences. Whilst casualties were heavy the advance and subsequent capture of the village of Montauban was one of the few relative successes of the 1 July attacks. Thomas Howard and James Parkinson will have experienced much heavy fighting during this period. Casualties suffered by 19 Manchesters from the 1 to 4 July were recorded as 194. The Liverpool Pals suffered 493 casualties during the same period.   

Today a memorial commemorating the liberation of Montauban on 1 July 1916 by the Manchester and Liverpool Pals stands proudly in the village.

26 September 1916  - Naours

The 19th Manchesters stayed at Naours from 21 September to 10 October 1916 and it was during this visit on 26 September 1916 that Thomas Howard and his fellow Pal, James Parkinson inscribed their names upon the walls of the caves of Naours.

16 October 1916 - Front Line, the death of James Parkinson

Sadly, James Parkinson was killed-in-action (KIA) at Flers on 16 October 1916 only 3-weeks after inscribing his name on the walls of the caves.  The circumstances of his death are not clear, but he could potentially have been killed by British shell fire. The diary of the 19th Battalion for the 16 October 1916 says:

The death of James Parkinson was reported in the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday 28 November 1916 and on the first anniversary of the death of James on 16 October 1917 there was a Memoriam notice placed by family members - Mother, sister Fanny, younger brother Willie (in France), Sister Annie, brother-in-law Robin, Auntie Anne, Aunt Ellen, and Cousins serving in France. 

The fate of Thomas Howard

For Thomas, life must have returned to some sort of normality after the war. He was he was employed as a salesman and was living at 60 Mauldeth Road West a short distance from the family home he left in 1914 at 16 Mauldeth Road West.

On 6 October 1927 Thomas married Constance Victoria Carson and the following year they had a daughter, Margaret Howard. 

Family member trees on ancestory.co.uk