Having previously socialised, worked and lived together, they went on to fight and often die together, leaving gaping holes in the villages and towns they left behind. A seminal shift came in mid-August of that year, when thousands of stockbrokers in the City of London joined the British Army en masse.
The workers ranged from ordinary bank clerks to scions of banking dynasties. The success of the City push inspired the Earl of Derby, himself a military veteran, to mount a campaign to drive enlistment in Liverpool. He delivered a rousing speech, coining a phrase that would go down in military history. Thousands of Liverpudlians answered the call. The preceding artillery barrage had failed to destroy the heavily fortified German trenches and, in many cases, had not even cut their barbed wire defences.
Military commanders, concerned with maintaining discipline in their new volunteer army, instructed them to walk in formation towards German lines when the attack began. In the event, the British army walked into a slaughterhouse. The battle on 1 July marked the army's greatest single loss in its history, with 60, casualties, of which 20, were dead.
The Pals Battalions suffered accordingly: of the Accrington Pals who participated, were killed, wounded or missing in the attack.
The Leeds Pals lost around of the participants and both the Grimsby Chums and the Sheffield City Battalion lost around half of their men. After early optimism, news of the scale of the losses broke slowly, often only once letters from surviving officers and comrades reached the families of the dead. Casualty lists only began to reach Grimsby on 10 July and, in many towns and cities, confused rumours bred panic and anger in the affected communities.
In the Accrington Observer and Times, initial accounts of success quickly gave way to pages filled with names and photographs of those killed, missing and wounded.
Percy Holmes, the brother of a Pal, recalled: 'I remember when the news came through to Accrington that the Pals had been wiped out. I don't think there was a street in Accrington and district that didn't have their blinds drawn, and the bell at Christ Church tolled all the day. Some, like the Sheffield Pals, were disbanded altogether before the war ended. Others saw their defining characteristics inevitably diluted by the influx of men to replace those who had died. Although by early around two million men had enlisted voluntarily, enthusiasm diminished as casualties increased, and conscription was introduced in March.
When military strategy was found wanting, the price paid was immense, both by the men and the communities they left behind Yet when military strategy was found wanting, the price paid was immense, both by the men and the communities they left behind. With communities decimated and families mourning losses, often of more than one member, the experiment was not repeated. In the outbreak of World War Two saw the immediate introduction of conscription, with no need and no attempt to replicate the local character of the Pals Battalions that joined together, served together and died together.
As one Pal put it, 'Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history. In the 1 st Birmingham Battalion 14 th Royal Warwickshire Regiment , other ranks were commissioned up to the end of The cumulative effects of conscription, changes in the reserve and drafting system, and the enormous losses suffered by the Pals battalions on the Somme in , further diluted the highly localised character of these units.
The terrible impact of battle casualties , in a concentrated form, upon particular communities at home ensured that Pals experiment was never repeated but, while it lasted, it did much to give the British army of its unique character. Section Editor: Jennifer Wellington. Simkins, Peter: Pals Battalions , in: online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. DOI : Version 1. Pals Battalions. By Peter Simkins. Jackson, Andrew: Accrington's pals. Simkins, Peter: Kitchener's army.
Stedman, Michael: Manchester Pals. What would you want a memorial to include for a relative who died in the First World War? Local war memorials or websites like the Leeds Pals website, see link below will provide you with names and basic details of local soldiers, which you can use as a starting point for further research. This worksheet provides a template, with information on deceased members of the Leeds Pals and starting points for discussion.
You can also use this downloadable PDF plan of the location of the Leeds Pals graves in Holbeck Cemetery to conduct a field trip, or as the basis for a similar activity in another location. Geography: Research details of the journeys made by the Leeds Pals, or your own local Pals Battalion. PHSE: Informed by the story of the Leeds Pals, carry out a class debate on whether or not it was a good idea for the army to recruit men from the same local communities. Drama: Use the photographs from this resource and personal stories within the resource as stimulus for short drama sessions: eg.
Use an example of a historical documentary for inspiration, eg.
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