Curator Michelle Hill explores the history of one of her favourite items in the Manchester Regiment collections.

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This bunch of keys have a story to tell – and what a story! They belonged to Wilfrith Elstob VC DSO MC who was killed in action at the Battle of Manchester Hill on 21^st March 1918. They were found on the battlefield by his ‘batman’ or personal servant.  What is even more poignant is that his body has never been found despite numerous efforts to locate it.

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Born in Chichester, Sussex in 1888 Wilfrith and the Elstob family moved north when his father John became parish priest of Capesthorne with Siddington near Macclesfield. Wilfrith attended the Ryleys School in Alderley Edge where he met his lifelong friend Hubert Worthington.

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After attending school in London Wilfrith completed a degree at Manchester University and undertook teacher training. He worked in a French school for a year before moving to Paris to study at The Sorbonne. In 1912 he took up a job as the French master at Merchiston Castle Preparatory School in Edinburgh.

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World War One broke out in August 1914 and Wilfrith was offered a commission in the 1^st City Battalion, later known as the 16^th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.  His friend Hubert Worthington persuaded him to accept.

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By March 1915 he was Captain, and then second in command of A Company led by Worthington.  He trained with the Battalion before they were sent to France.  During March 1916 he took command of D company whilst they were serving near Maricourt. The Somme Offensive began on 1 July.  On that day the 16^th Battalion attacked the village of Montauban and Wilfrith was slightly injured by a machine gun bullet. Hubert was seriously injured and had to return to England. Nearly all of the officers were killed or wounded as well as a large part of the rest of the unit.

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During early July Wilfrith led D company in an attack on Trones Wood and was injured again.  On 1^st January 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross for his leadership. By 1^st August he was second in command of the 16^th Battalion as Temporary Major but with the death of the Commanding Officer on 13^th October he became Lieutenant Colonel.

During 1917 the Battalion fought at Arras, and then Ypres as part of the Passchendaele Offensive. This resulted in heavy casualties. By Autumn 1917 he was Brigade Commander leading the 16^th Battalion and three others.  On the 1^st January 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his conduct around Ypres.

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By mid March 1918 a German attack was expected.  The 16^th Battalion was told to defend the position of Manchester Hill. The hill itself was a slight ‘eminence’ South West of St Quentin which had been known as ‘Manchester Hill’ since its capture by the 2^nd Manchesters in 1917.  It had an excellent view of the City, and lying between the villages of Francilly-Selency and Savy it controlled the important St Quentin to Savy Road.  It was therefore of great important to the Germans.

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The attack started at 6.30am on 21^st March when the Germans shelled the Hill and launched an infantry attack.  By 11.30 am the Germans had the upper hand and the Hill was surrounded. Wilfrith moved from position to position and kept encouraging his men to keep fighting. Another large attack was launched in the afternoon and he helped to drive it off using one of his soldier’s rifles. He was slightly wounded but kept fighting and encouraging his men. Despite being wounded at least three more times he took part in hand to hand fighting after the final German assault and was allegedly shot dead throwing grenades at the attackers. The rest of the 16th Battalion surrendered at 4pm and were taken as prisoners. The Germans had captured Manchester Hill.  

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It was a hard fought battle with only 17 out of the 168 men who fought returning to British lines. 79 were killed and the rest were wounded or taken prisoner of war.

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It was not known at first what had happened to Wilfrith and was not until September 1918 that the Army officially accepted he was dead. Hubert Worthington was determined to recover his friend’s body and he travelled to France twice during 1919 to try and find it but with no success.  He did however successfully campaign for his friend to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) posthumously for his actions on the field.

Wilfrith is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial alongwith 14655 other men with no known grave. There is also a memorial to him at All Saint’s church in Siddington.

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The keys are currently on display at Portland Basin Museum as part of the Soldiers’ Stories: the Men of the Manchesters exhibition until 2 July 2023.

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