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1915: A recruiting march for the King's Royal Rifle Corps.
1915: A recruiting march for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1915: A recruiting march for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

From the archive, 30 January 1915: Life on the home front in Manchester

This article is more than 9 years old

Manchester faces an influx of wounded soldiers and a recruitment shortage, as a plea is made for a mobile soup kitchen for the front line

The Lancashire Lasses’ Soup Kitchen.
Mrs. Jerningham Moorat, wife of Major Harry Moorat, 7th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, and member of the First-aid Nursing Yeomanry Corps (now doing splendid work at the front), is, as we have already stated, anxious to take as near to the trenches and firing lines as possible a motor soup kitchen, to supply soup, tea, cocoa, and coffee to the wounded who are able to take refreshment, as soon as first-aid has been rendered, and to others. £400 is the initial expense of the motor soup kitchen, but its value to the troops is incalculable.

“Not a farthing of the public money will be wasted,” she writes, “and all services given are quite voluntary. If only some patriotic wealthy person would come forward and help be royally! Accounts will be strictly kept, and can be seen at any time. Those who cannot give money could perhaps spare gifts in kind, such as crockery, rubbers, dessert or tea spoons - all would be a great help. It shall be called ‘The Lancashire Lasses’ Soup Kitchen.’ I have already to thank many for their donations.” The Amersham branch of the Union of London and Smith’s Bank are kindly undertaking the receipt of contributions.

Recruiting.
It is hardly likely that Manchester will produce a thousand recruits this week. Four hundred men were enlisted on Monday and Tuesday, but progress has been so slow since that the total was just short of 700 last night. Yesterday 73 men were enrolled, and of these, 19 went to the Manchester Regiment and 16 to the City Battalions. It was the poorest day in Manchester since December.

The number of firms in the city claiming exemption for their employees on the grounds that they are engaged on important Government work has been growing steadily, and the total registered at the recruiting offices is now 75. One firm is so anxious to get additional workers that it has advertised the fact that employment in its establishment carries with it the right to a badge that the wearer is engaged on national service. The need for workers to enable firms to carry out Government contracts is affecting recruiting in another way. The Labour Exchange officials have given notice that pressure of work compelled them to take over the Dickinson Street Exchange, with the object of providing casual labour to the firms concerned. This building has been one of the best centres for recruiting.

It is probable that the Town Hall will be closed for recruiting after Monday, but an extension of the time may be decided upon. The recruiting stations will close at four o’clock this afternoon, and they will not be open to-morrow. Elaborate preparations are being made, however, to enlist men at Belle Vue tomorrow afternoon between two and five o’clock. Recruits accepted at this time will not be sent away from Manchester until Tuesday, so that they will have time to settle their affairs.

The Military Hospital. More Than 8,000 Patients Received.
It is believed that Manchester (Second General Western) Hospital has admitted more sick and wounded men of the Expeditionary Force than any other hospital in the country. The total admitted now amounts to 8,204, and these have been conveyed from Southampton to Manchester in 59 ambulance trains. This is an average of over 575 per week. In addition, soldiers of the home troops in the neighbourhood of Manchester have been in-patients.

At the beginning of the war there was an impression among Manchester citizens that it was rather unnecessary to establish a military hospital in the city, with 520 beds, so far away from the fighting line. Very few foresaw that Manchester would become a chief centre of life and energy in care of our sick and wounded soldiers. The original 520 beds established in buildings erected for other purposes than hospitals have expanded within four months to a central hospital of 843 beds, and auxiliary, civil, and private hospitals, 113 in number, providing 3,383 beds, and making a grand total of 4,226 beds available for military patients.

The Hospital Trains.
Each hospital train brings 100 to 250 soldiers in a little over seven hours’ running from Southampton. The train is made up of wards fitted up with 20 cots in two tiers running the length of the train on either side, and coaches with compartments at either end for sitting-up cases. The train is in charge of an officer of the R.A.M.C., with two nursing sisters and ten non-commissioned officers and men, who attend to dressings and emergencies en route. There is a small operating theatre, close to which is a dispensary and an office where the list of men carried is made out, as well as a kitchen where meals are cooked for the journey, and a saloon for the staff to live in.

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