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2nd and 16th Battalion Memorial

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Ref No:MR03791
Record No:MRP/12/392
Date:30 Jun 1996
Date Period:1914_to_1919
Title:2nd and 16th Battalion Memorial
Battalion:16th Battalion PALS
Place:Francilly-Selency, France
Further Information:

The sign marking the entrance to Francilly-Selency, the nearest town to Manchester Hill.  This photograph was taken on the 30th June 1996, when a memorial to the 2nd and 16th battalions was unveiled in the town's churchyard.

Manchester Hill gained its name when it was captured by the 2nd Battalion on the 1st and 2nd April 1917. Almost a year later it was the site of the 16th Battalion's desperate fight on the 21st March 1918.

The German Spring Offensive overwhelmed the battalion, but led by Lieutenant Colonel Wilfrith Elstob they held on all day and bought other units time to organise their defences.

Wilfrith was killed during the fighting. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism.

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