The 6th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, was a Territorial Force (TF) unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer units recruited in Cheshire since 1859, it was one of the first TF units to go to the Western Front in World War I. It had a wandering existence, moving frequently from one command to another, seeing a considerable amount of combat at the Somme, Ypres, during the German Spring Offensive and in the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive. After the war it was amalgamated into a local artillery regiment. An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) began to be organised throughout Great Britain to supplement the Regular Army and Militia. A large number of small RVCs were formed in Cheshire and formed into five administrative battalions. The 4th Administrative Battalion, based at Stockport, comprised the following units: 9th (Mottram) Cheshire RVC, raised at Mottram in Longendale 10 February 1860 under Captain Alfred K. Sidebottom, disbanded February 1861 13th (Dukinfield) Cheshire RVC, 20 February 1860 under Capt Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, was raised by the Astley family who owned the coalmines at Dukinfield, and known unofficially as the 'Astley Rifles'; a 2nd Company was formed on 15 November 1860 and a 3rd in March 1869; headquarters moved to Newton Moor, near Hyde, in 1863, then to Stalybridge in 1873 17th (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 20 August 1860 under Capt Henry Coppock 18th (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 12 March 1860 under Capt John Thomas Emmerson 19th (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 15 March 1860 under Capt Samuel W. Wilkinson 20th (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 20 March 1860 under Capt Thomas H. Sykes 21st (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 22 March 1860 under Capt Cephas John Howard 29th (Stockport) Cheshire RVC, 10 April 1860 under Capt John M. Lingard, formerly of the 1st Royal Cheshire Militia 31st (Hyde) Cheshire RVC, 15 August 1860 under Capt Thomas Mott
