This neatly kept scrapbook was started in 1914, presumably by someone at MGS who thought it was important to keep track of the various Old Mancunians who had joined up on leaving the School.
The cuttings are drawn from the Manchester Guardian (as the Guardian then was), the Manchester Evening News and the Evening Chronicle.
The scrapbook's first entry dates from May 1915, and is a report from the Manchester Guardian referring to Captain W.N. Bazley who died of wounds whilst serving with the 6th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment at Gallipoli. Subsequent entries report OMs who have been wounded, reported missing or killed in action. Balancing this grim news, rarer are reports of the awarding of military honours.
The owner of the scrapbook continued until March 1916. That same year conscription was introduced, which would have led to a new wave of Old Mancunian recruits. Further, the deadly Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916 led to at least one hundred Old Mancunians losing their lives. Perhaps the task of compiling newspaper reports became too grim.
Whilst truncated, the scrapbook is a useful source of information on Old Mancunians who served in WWI, and the entry with photographs are particularly of note.
To browse the whole book, follow this link: https://www.mgs-life.co.uk/article/old-mancunian-casualties-newspaper-cuttings-book
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