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"Pals" departing from Preston railway station, August 1914. The pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues, rather than being arbitrarily allocated to battalions.
This is a list of pals battalions (also called "service" or "locally raised" battalions) of the British Army during the First World War. Pre-war Territorial Force (T.F.) battalions have not been included, although they too usually recruited from a specific area or occupation.
The 1st Gwent Battalion was a Welsh 'Pals battalion' formed as part of 'Kitchener's Army' during World War I. Raised by local initiative in Monmouthshire and Glamorgan , it became the 10th (Service) Battalion of the local regiment, the South Wales Borderers ('10th SWB').
The battalion was to take part in an assault against the German lines in late afternoon, but by this time, it was apparent that the initial assault had been a catastrophic failure, which brought about a cancellation of further attacks. Thus, the Preston Pals escaped the heavy losses that were suffered by many other Pals battalions that day.
The New Army, 13th (Service) battalion, was referred to as a "Pals" battalion because it was predominantly composed of colleagues. The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names.
The concept of a 'battalion of pals' serving together originated with the 'Stockbrokers Battalion' of the Royal Fusiliers raised in the City of London and was taken up enthusiastically as the 'Pals battalions'. These local and pals battalions formed Kitchener's Fifth New Army, or 'K5', authorised on 10 December 1914. [2] [3]
7th Manchester Pals became 22nd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (7th City) 8th Manchester Pals became 23rd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (8th City) The 16th–19th (Service) Bns constituted 90th Brigade in 30th Division and the 20th–22nd Bns, together with the 24th (Service Battalion, Manchester Regiment (Oldham Pioneers ...
I am not going to make you a speech of heroics. You have given me your answer, and I can telegraph to Lord Kitchener tonight to say that our second battalion is formed. This should be a Battalion of Pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool.