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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 ...
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').
Within three days, he had enough volunteers for three battalions. Lord Kitchener gave official approval for the measure almost instantly and the response was impressive. Manchester raised nine specific pals battalions (plus three reserve battalions); one of the smallest was Accrington, in Lancashire, which raised one. One consequence of pals ...
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.
When the battalions were taken over by the British Army they became variously the 16th (Service) Battalion (Public Schools) of the Middlesex Regiment and the 18th–21st (Service) Battalions (1st–4th Public Schools) of the Royal Fusiliers. However, Kitchener's Army was faced with a dire shortage of officers and so 'young gentlemen'— public ...
E. 11th (Service) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington) 12th (Reserve) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment; 13th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (Wandsworth)
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).