Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
"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.
Recruiting poster for the Football Battalion. 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 Grimsby Chums was a British First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in and around the town of Grimsby in Lincolnshire in 1914. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 10th (Service) Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment. It was the only 'pals battalion' to be called 'chums'.
Soon Pals battalions were springing up all over the country. The Royal Fusiliers sponsored several of these – the Empire Battalion, the Public Schools Battalions , the Sportsmen, the Frontiersmen etc. , but the 'Stockbrokers' was the first, handed over to the WO as part of 'Kitchener's Second New Army' (K2) on 6 September 1914.
The Birmingham Pals were the three infantry battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the British Army raised from men volunteering in the city of Birmingham in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War. [1]
The Sheffield City Battalion was a 'Pals battalion' formed as part of 'Kitchener's Army' during World War I.Raised by local initiative in the City of Sheffield, it became the 12th (Service) Battalion of the local York and Lancaster Regiment ('12th Y&L').
The Barnsley Pals were two 'Pals battalions' formed as part of 'Kitchener's Army' during World War I.Raised by local initiative in the town of Barnsley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and recruited largely from coalminers, they became the 13th and 14th (Service) Battalions of the local York and Lancaster Regiment (13th and 14th Y&L).
However, the Pals battalions of 118th Bde had not completed their training, so it was decided to leave them behind to join 40th Division when the rest of 39th Division left for France. [4] [6] [7] [13] [14] 40th Division had originally been a 'Bantam' formation, composed of men below the normal regulation height for the British Army.