
	Where results make sense

Topic: Pals battalions

Related Topics

List of Pals battalions

Accrington Pals

British 34th Division

British Expeditionary Force

Recruitment to the British army during WW I

History of the British Army

Lancashire Fusiliers

Walter Tull

British military history

Great War

Battle of the Somme (1916)

Horatio Kitchener

Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum

World War I

First World War

In the News (Fri 17 Feb 12)

EXECUTIVE POWER

Iran

ANALYSIS

Pakistan

Family compact

	Book Review: Pals on the Somme 1916
		"Pals on the Somme" is a very condensed merger of them all, published no doubt with more than an eye on this year's 90th anniversary.
		The rest of the months of endeavour on the Somme and the important part played by many pals battalions, some of which - like the Birmingham units - played no role in the 1st July attack, receive pretty short shrift in an 8 page chapter titled "Changing attitudes and disillusion".
		The concept of a pals unit, the early days of training and the turning of civilians into soldiers, the move to France and familiarisation in trench warfare are all covered in considerable depth, and the well-trodden ground of the shocking impact of 1st July is given a thorough airing.
	www.1914-1918.net /books/palsonthesomme.html (397 words)

	The Accrington Pals
		The battalion made further moves in July and September 1915, first to Ripon and then to Hurdcott Camp near Salisbury, before the 31st Division embarked in December for Egypt to counter a Turkish threat against the Suez Canal.
		The objective of the Pals battalions of 94th Brigade was to capture the hilltop fortress of Serre and form a defensive flank facing north-east and north.
		Although the Pals character of the 11th East Lancashires had been destroyed in front of Serre, the battalion was returned to strength and went on to fight through to the end of the war.
	www.pals.org.uk /pals_e.htm (0 words)

	The Great War . Historians . Peter Simkins \| PBS
		Around about the 26th-27th of August, it was announced in Liverpool that Lord Derby was going to try and raise a battalion of Pals.
		By this he meant that he thought the battalion could be raised of local lads who might be willing to join the army more readily if they knew they were going to serve and eventually fight alongside their friends.
		Within a period of about three weeks, the great industrial cities and towns of the North of England were all raising units on a local level.
	www.pbs.org /greatwar/historian/hist_simkins_01_volunteer.html (233 words)

	News \| Gainesville.com \| The Gainesville Sun \| Gainesville, Fla. (Site not responding. Last check: )
		He appealed to London stockbrokers to raise a battalion of men from workers in the City of London to set an example.
		The Accrington Pals were ordered to attack Serre, the most northerly part of the main assault, on the opening day of the battle.
		The policy of drawing recruits from amongst a local population ensured that, when the Pals battalions suffered casualties, individual towns, villages, neighbourhoods, and communities back in Britain were to suffer disproportionate losses.
	www.gainesville.com /apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=NEWS&template=wiki&text=Pals_battalions (489 words)

	Battle of the Somme (1916) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Most of the battalion was wiped out before it crossed the front line, and it suffered 91% casualties, the second worst battalion loss of the day.
		Between 15 July and 14 September (the eve of the next battle), the Fourth Army made around 90 attacks of battalion strength or more with only four being general attacks across the length of the army's 5 miles of front.
		Ninety men of the 16th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry (the "Glasgow Boys Brigade" Pals battalion) were cut-off in Frankfurt Trench where they held out until 21 November when the 45 survivors — 30 of them wounded — surrendered.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme (6708 words)

	ALFRED LEONARD MUIR
		Manchesters – the fourth of the City’s Pals Battalions.
		Later in the month, on 23 July, the Battalion was involved in the attack on the village of Guillemont.
		Battalion was entrenched in defensive positions outside the village of Savy, near St Quentin.
	members.aol.com /John1hartley/html/muir.htm (449 words)

	Serre: 1 July 1916, The fate of the Pals Battalions
		Whilst in theory each Battalion had an official army name reflecting the parent regiment, the soldiers thought themselves members of a different society, drawn by a common background, that had little to do with military heritage.
		Thus were born battalions known to its members by their town name or a previous occupation, such as: The Grimsby Chums or The Post Office Rifles.
		The Pals battalions were all slowly kitted out, drilled in army ways and taught how to shoot and manoeuvre, however they still lacked the years of professionalism found in the regular army battalions.
	www.webmatters.net /france/ww1_serre.htm (480 words)

	Irish Battalions
		A feature of Great War was the formation of 'Pals' battalions, drawn from sports clubs, schools, universities and other community groups.
		These Pals Battalions were comprised of people from sports clubs, places of employment, past-pupils and staff from schools, graduates, under-graduates and staff at universities.
		The Dublin Pals formed 'D' Company of the 7th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers and were drawn mainly, but not exclusively, from the city's professional classes.
	www.greatwar.ie /ire_bat.html (0 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The general idea of a pals Battalion was that the volunteers would join and serve with friends, relatives, workmates and colleagues giving a feeling of comradeship that had never been seen before.
		It would appear that each man chosen to be a pal had something to offer be it previous military experience, leadership qualities,or physical prowess.
		Colonel J Walter Stead was the CO of the Battalion and later replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Campbell Taylor.
	www.leedspals.co.uk /history.htm (539 words)

	Literature on the Pals battalions - Great War Forum
		The "Preston Pals" were "Pals" of a similar provenance to the "Burnley Pals" and, to an extent, the "Chorley Pals" - ie.
		Therefore we are agreed they are failed attempts, for whatever reason to raise "Pals" battalions in these localities and therefore they did not get the War Office recognition they deserved had they succeeded.
		On the other hand it could be the War Office dithering over whether or not to accept battalions from these areas, as they didn't exactly have their finger on the pulse when it came to these things.
	1914-1918.invisionzone.com /forums/index.php?showtopic=69476&view=getlastpost (1217 words)

	Accrington Pals Commemorative Service 2006
		After a short period in Egypt, the Accrington Pals were transferred to France where, at 7.30 on the morning of 1 July 1916, they went “over the top.” In less than 20 minutes, out of the 720 men who took part in the attack, 584 were killed, wounded or missing.
		The experience of the Accrington Pals was little different to that of the dozens of other Pals battalions formed from the industrial areas and rural districts of Britain.
		But over the years the Accrington Pals in particular have come to symbolise the tragedy of all the Pals battalions, formed in the first flush of patriotic fervour without thought for the inevitable effect of battle casualties when units were drawn from such close-knit communities.
	www.army.mod.uk /qlr/news_archive/accrington_pals_commemorative_service_20.htm (697 words)

	RAYMOND HAYES GRIMSHAW
		in the fourth of the “Pals” Battalions recruited during the autumn of 1914 and the early winter on 1915.
		During the night of 30 June, battalions moved into the assault positions for an attack the next day that was to become known as the First Day of the Battle of the Somme.
		Other battalions now leap-frogged them to capture the village in one of the few successes along the 17 mile battle front that day.
	members.aol.com /John1Hartley/html/grimshaw.htm (615 words)

	The New Armies: 'Kitcheners Men' of 1914-1918
		It detailed how the new infantry battalions would be given numbers consecutive to the existing battalions of their regiment, but with the addition of the word 'Service' after the unit number.
		Battalions of these formations were not necessarily formed at their traditional home stations (e.g.
		In practice, by late 1915 even the original regular battalions had a large and increasing contingent of wartime volunteers who had replaced the losses among the professional soldiers.
	www.1914-1918.net /kitchen.htm (0 words)

	Pals Battalions
		It was Derby who first used the term a "battalion of pals" to describe men who had been recruited locally.
		In Gasgow one battalion was drawn from the drivers, conductors, mechanics and labourers of the city's Tramways Department.
		Between September 1914 and June 1916, a total of 351 infantry battalions were raised by the War Office through the traditional channels whereas 643 battalions were raised locally.
	www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk /FWWpals.htm (0 words)

	Sheffield to the Somme
		Kitchener's recruits were to be formed into localised "Pals" battalions, men drawn from the same area, social background, and often from the same place of work.
		The thinking behind creating "Pals" battalions was that if the people that fought together were the same people that had lived and worked together, there would be a more cohesive bond between them and they would therefore become a more effective fighting force.
		The Barracks were loaned to the Battalion by the Territorials, and Territorials being weekend only soldiers there was no accommodation, so for the first few months the recruits continued to live at home.
	www.christopher-hill.com /somme/pals.asp (203 words)

	Mike Harding - The Accrington Pals
		Thus the great Pals Battalions were formed: the Leeds Pals, the Bradford Pals, the Hull Pals, the Durham Pals, the Sheffield Pals, the Barnsley Pals, the Manchester Pals.
		Accrington was the smallest town in Britain to raise a Pals Battalion.
		Of the Accrington Pals, that battalion of 1,000 untried and unprepared men, 234 were killed and 350 wounded.
	www.mikeharding.co.uk /books/other/bombers/acc_pals/acc_pals.html (627 words)

	The Attack on Thiepval: 1 July 1916
		Many of these new battalions were made up of men who joined up as a group: perhaps by town, perhaps by trade.
		The 1st Salford Pals were officially the 15th Lancashire Fusiliers and one of four Salford Pals battalions fighting on the Somme in July 1916.
		Contrary to the almost accepted idea that all the generals were indifferent to the losses their units sustained, here was a case where the third attacks were never pressed home because commanders realised that further attacks were futile.
	www.webmatters.net /france/ww1_thiepval2.htm (605 words)

	Title Display (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Battalions were raised by local authorities, industrialists and committees of private citizens.
		The four Pals battalions recruited in Hull were known as the Hull Commercials, the Hull Tradesmen, the Hull Sportsmen and the Hull T’Others.
		It was soon known as the Sportsmen’s Battalion, the Football Battalion, and, most widely, McCrae’s Battalion, after Sir George McCrae, a former Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East, and Chairman of the Local Government Board for Scotland, who gathered its troops, prepared them for war, and was to command them on the Somme.
	www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com /henryholt/Search/SearchBookDisplayExerpt.asp?BookKey=4507776 (2891 words)

	The Grimsby Chums ( 10th Lincolns )
		Unknown to the Battalion, the mine fell short of the German positions and during the 2min gap between the explosion and the "whistle" the enemy had the chance to set the machine guns.
		Several attempts to attack were made with the remnants of the Battalion on the 2nd and 3rd July, but as the roll was called when they were finally withdrawn it read 15 Officers and 487 men (out of 1000) killed, missing or wounded.
		The Battalion was withdrawn from the line on 30th April, shattered.
	www.eebo.freeserve.co.uk /chums.htm (2404 words)

	FRIENDS TO THE END THE LAST STAND OF THE BOYS' BRIGADE PALS WHICH Sunday Herald, The - Find Articles (Site not responding. Last check: )
		All told, 215 "pals" battalions had been formed by the summer of 1916 and although the title was never fully recognised in Scotland, the concept of friends serving together did catch on, especially in the big cities.
		A few days later, a third "pals" battalion, 17th HLI, was formed at the instigation and cost of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce with recruits enrolled in the Lesser Hall of the Merchants House.
		All three battalions served together in the 32nd Division and were destined to be in action on the first and the last day of the Battle of the Somme which continued into mid November.
	findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20060625/ai_n16505826 (937 words)

	Not such a senseless slaughter \| the Daily Mail
		Recruiters for the Pals battalions had encouraged uncles and nephews, cousins and brothers to join up and fight together.
		Pals of years' association dropped, others fell riddled with bullets, never to rise again," it read.
		It was in this atmosphere of a man-made hell on earth, that the British made the biggest change of all: to increase the delegation of decision-making to commanders on the spot.
	www.dailymail.co.uk /pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=393469&in_page_id=1 (2813 words)

	The Hull Pals
		It was Derby who first used the term a "battalion of pals" to describe men who had been recruited locally.
		Manchester and Hull Had Four, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow had three and many more were able to raise at least two battalions.
		In Glasgow one battalion was drawn from the drivers, conductors, mechanics and labourers of the city's Tramways Department.
	www.hullwebs.co.uk /content/l-20c/conflict/ww1/pals/hull-pals.htm (308 words)

	The British Century: The Great War
		"Pals battalions" were formed in 50 towns and cities, sometimes by sports clubs or employers.
		After training, and an abortive trip to Egypt, the Pals, now known as the 11th Battalion of the East Lancashire regiment, were ordered to France to take part in an Anglo-French attack at Serre, on the Somme.
		In all, 584 of the 720 Accrington Pals taking part in the battle were killed that day, the first day of the Somme, along with perhaps 20,000 other British soldiers.
	www.telegraph.co.uk /htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/12/25/tlcent06.html (1584 words)

	Accrington Pals - ARRSEpedia
		Part of the Kitchener Army consisted of the "Pals" Battalions, consisting of units raised from a given location, sometimes from a single employer (I think there was a Glasgow Tramways Bn for example).
		Accrington in Lancashire was the smallest town in the realm to raise a Battalion, which was inevitably nicknamed "The Accrington Pals".
		Tragically, the first time most of the Pals Battalions saw action was at the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916.
	www.arrse.co.uk /wiki/Accrington_Pals (253 words)

	Royal Dublin Fusiliers
		The 10th and 16th Divisions were Irish Divisions and they were characterised by the presence of Pals battalions, raised not by the War Office but by local authorities, industrialists, or committees of private citizens, and composed of men from a particular city or district or from a common social and occupational background.
		Five Pals battalions of those educated at public schools were formed; the 16th (Public Schools) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, and the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, known as the University and Public Schools' Brigade.
		The social composition of such battalions was thus entirely different from that of the Regular Army; not the 'slum birds' and 'corner-boy elements' of aristocratic and popular imagination, but men who had 'left good, comfortable homes, with good wages, and had come voluntarily out of a sheer sense of duty'.
	www.tcd.ie /General/Fusiliers/DUBFUS/DUBFUS/TCD/HTML/tcd_2.htm (460 words)

	pals (Site not responding. Last check: )
		In 1914 men were encouraged to join up together, being promised that they would serve with their friends ("pals") often in the same platoon or company.
		Indeed, some battalions of the Regiment were initially known as the Warehousemen and Clerks battalions.
		The Battle of the Somme in 1916 caused tremendous casualties amongst "Pals" battalions resulting in whole communities and even families receiving War Office telegrams saying that their menfolk had been killed or wounded in action.
	www.1914-18.co.uk /owen/Pals.htm (185 words)

	World War One Battlefields : The Somme : Serre
		The Pals battalions were part of Kitchener's Army, and they were formed in specific towns or cities, where battalions were raised following the call to arms.
		The Sheffield City battalion men had laid white tapes which led to gaps in the German wire the night before, but when they attacked these were gone.
		A great deal more information on the Pals battalions can be found on the Accrington Pals website, and there are also several books devoted to the various Pals battalions.
	www.ww1battlefields.co.uk /somme/serre.html (4255 words)

	First World War.com - Encyclopedia - Pals' Battalions
		A phenomenon of the First World War, Britain's so-called Pals' Battalions arose purely from the country's unsatiated requirement for men to despatch to the various British battlefronts around the globe.
		Examples of Pals' Battalions included three battalions raised from Glasgow alone (the 15th, 16th and 17th Highland Light Infantry).
		The financial cost of the war is said to have amounted to almost $38 billion for Germany alone; Britain spent $35 billion, France $24 billion, Russia $22 billion, USA $22 billion and Austria-Hungary $20 billion.
	www.firstworldwar.com /atoz/palsbattalions.htm (0 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)