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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.
The recruitment of pals battalions was confined to the 69 line infantry regiments of the British Army. The Guards Regiments [2] and regiments formed only from Territorial Force battalions [3] [a] did not form any pals battalions. Amongst the line infantry regiments, there was considerable variation in the number of battalions recruited ...
On 21 October 1915 the depot companies of the 10th (Stockbrokers) and 26th (Bankers) battalions were combined at Colchester to form the 31st (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, as a Local Reserve unit with the role of training reinforcement drafts for the two parent battalions. 31st (R) Battalion moved to Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and ...
Then on 13 December it exchanged two Royal Fusiliers Pals battalions for Regular battalions from 2nd Division, so that 22nd (Kensington) and 23rd (1st Sportsman's) battalions were now brigaded with 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment, 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), and for a short time 1/5th King's (Liverpool Regiment), an attached TF battalion ...
M. Manchester Bantams; Manchester Pals; 16th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (1st City) 17th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (2nd City)
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 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]
This was the Barnsley Pals' last engagement and cost the battalion 12 killed, 49 wounded (including the CO, Lt-Col Wauchope) and 2 missing. Afterwards the battalion went into divisional reserve, where it remained while 31st Division forced a crossing of the Lys on the night of 14/15 October and fought the action of Tieghem on 31 October