Afghanistan Medal. Alcroft. Hulme Manchester. 63rd West Suffolk Regiment. Deserter.

Correctly named 1081 Pte Jos Alecroft 63rd  Regt

Although correctly named, they did make a spelling mistake as his name is Alcroft.

Joseph Alcroft was born in Hulme, Lancashire in 1855.

He attested for service in May 1877. He was at this time working as a groom.

A Police Gazette in February 1878 has him as a deserter, deserted from Liverpool.

The 63rd Regiment of Foot.

The second Afghan war broke out in 1877 and, following the disaster at Maiwand in southern Afghanistan, the 63rd was selected to take part in the second phase of the campaign when they occupied Kandahar. For its services it was awarded the Battle Honour ‘ Afghanistan 1879/80’. A year later they were back on the Afghan border-manning outposts in an inter-tribal war.

In 1881 the ‘Childers’ reforms (after Hugh Childers, Secretary of State for War) rationalised the regimental and home command systems, bringing Regulars, Militia and Volunteers together in one structure. Single battalion regiments were ordered to amalgamate in order to form two battalions of a ‘new Regiment’. For the 63rd this meant amalgamation with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions Manchester Regiment. From this point onwards, the system of maintaining one battalion overseas and at a higher state of readiness for operations than the home based battalion, worked well. The regimental depot at Ashton-under-Lyne was to provide a permanent home for the Regiment and a strong link with the home population. The Militia battalions became the 3rd (Reserve) and 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalions and in due course battalions of the Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps became ‘Volunteer Battalions’ of the Regiment.

By the end of 1881 the new 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment had returned to the plains of India.

As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 63rd was linked with the 96th Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 16 at Wellington Barracks in Ashton-under-Lyne. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the Manchester Regiment.

He was sent to India aboard the Euprates in March 1879.

The medal has an original silk ribbon.