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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 449

'I really would like to go round and shake every single one of you by the hand, because, of all the times you have fought, I do not think you have ever been up against quite such a big thing as you were the other day. You were fighting against big odds; you were fighting under the most uncomfortable and unpleasant conditions, and you were always worried by machine-guns you could not get at, but you went on fighting, and that is the whole point, and if you have officers leading you like your Colonel did, or officers that gave you the example of Captain Manning, I do not wonder you fought as you did; but it was your good hearts that helped you through, and from the bottom of my heart I congratulate you. You can always go back and say, 'We lay out on the hill, we were baked by the sun, we were raked by machine-guns; but just to show the Turk what we could do, we brought down one, if not two planes on the last day of our stay, and the next time we'll bring down three.' Good luck, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart.'

A farewell address given by General Shea, Officer Commanding 60th (London) Division on 7 May 1918, to the ranks of the 2/18th Battalion, London Regiment (London Irish).

A fine Great War Palestine operations M.C. group of four awarded to Major E. Manning, Royal Berkshire Regiment, attached 2/18th Battalion, London Regiment (London Irish), late Royal Scots and West African Regiment, who was decorated for his gallant deeds at Shunet-Nimrin in April-May 1918

Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914-15 Star (Capt. E. Manning, W. Afr. R.); British War and Victory Medals (Major E. Manning), the last with officially re-impressed naming, very fine and better (4)

M.C. London Gazette 24 September 1918:

'For conspicuous gallantry, skill and resource at Shunet-Nimrin on 30 April 1918. This officer maintained his position from nine o'clock a.m. until nightfall under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, and under exceptionally trying conditions. Again, on 1 May, he showed conspicuous courage and initiative in working round the enemy's right flank with a handful of men. He personally led a bayonet charge and captured one officer and eight other ranks, his action enabling his battalion to occupy an important position which it had been impossible to capture frontally. Again, on 2 May, this officer showed conspicuous initiative and resource during an enemy counter-attack, reorganising the men and materially assisting to restore a somewhat critical situation. Throughout the operation he has displayed exceptional skill and leadership, and has set a fine example of endurance and devotion to duty to all ranks.'

Ezra Manning was the son of John and Julianne Manning of Winsford, Cheshire and, prior to the Great War, worked for about ten years in the timber business in Burma and India. He was a member of mainly mounted units in the Volunteer Corps in the same period.

Back home, he enlisted in the Royal Scots as a private soldier in August 1914 and was quickly commissioned, his previous experience of the tropics leading to his appointment as a Captain in the West African Regiment in early 1915. It was in the same capacity that he fought in the Cameroons and afterwards saw service as a an 'Officer Commanding Outposts' in Sierra Leone.

Having then returned to the U.K. in March 1917, and taken up an appointment in the Berkshire Regiment, Manning was ordered to join 60th Division in Palestine. He was attached to the 2/18th Battalion, London Regiment (London Irish) and went on to win his M.C. for sustained gallantry in the fighting at Shunet-Nimrin in April-May 1918.

He was presented with his M.C. by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught at an investiture held at Liverpool on 20 February 1920, by which time he was working for the local timber importers, Slater, Birds & Co.; sold with several original wartime newspaper cuttings.


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Estimate
£1,400 to £1,600