Rank – Private
2/10th Battalion, Manchester Regiment
Cyril Francis Kelty was known as ‘Frank’, his war records were taken down as such.
Frank was the son of John Kelty (Kielty) and Mary Lee of Oldham. He served as a private in the Western European theatre of war during WWI. Pre-wartime Frank worked in munitions in Oldham and was an apprentice engineer. Frank eventually detached from the 10th Manchester Regiment and served with the 1st Battalion Kings Liverpool Regiment.
The men of the 10th Manchester Regiment were made up of “a curious compound of grit and softheartedness”. – Sir Ian Hamilton, Army Officer
War Diary
Frank kept a diary during the war. This is a short, poignant extract written by Frank about his brother Harry –
While attached to the 1st Battalion, Kings Liverpool Regiment, Frank was killed in action five weeks after the above diary entry, on the 5th September 1916 while holding front-line trenches in the Colincamps sector during the Battle of the Somme. Frank was laid to rest at nearby Euston Road Cemetery.
Follow the link below to Franks War Diary
Frank under his birth name ‘Cyril Francis Kelty’ is also included in a booklet called ‘Lest We Forget – Oldham’s Forgotten Now Remembered’. A list of servicemen not recorded on the memorial in High Street, Oldham.