Search results for Pals.

Did Kitchener’s decision to raise his ‘New Armies’ carelessly wreck the pre-war plans to achieve smooth and effective British military expansion?

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  The Liberal Party, which had been in power since the General Election of 1906, was nervous of German expansionism and had, by 1914, edged Britain into a much closer relationship with Russia and France than had previously been the case. Brigadier-General Henry Wilson, who was appointed Director of Military Operations in 1910, has traditionally be…


081: January 2008

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Swansea Pals: A History of the 14th (Service) Battalion The Welsh Regiment in the Great War

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First reviewed by David Filsell for Stand To! 74 September 2005 The Swansea Pals is the history of a Service Battalion whose duty in the Great War has previously been recorded only in scattered documents, the pages of faded local newspapers and widely dispersed correspondence. It is the work of an assiduous researcher, and is a good book about a…


The Battle of the Boar's Head

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Lord Kitchener's famous call for volunteers 'Your Country Needs You' resulted in an overwhelming response with hundreds of thousands of men stepping forward. This has often been portrayed as a north of England phenomena. The roots of this misconception may be as a result of the attack made at Serre on 1 July 1916 by 'pals' battalions from Accringto…


The Contemptible Little Army, 1914 -1918

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By Alex Saunt (Major Alex Saunt MBE served with the Light Infantry and with the SAS in Libya, Borneo, Northern Ireland, Germany and Denmark. He was awarded an MBE for his courage). The story of the expansion and development of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 1914-1918 and how the Contemptible Little Army became a huge, effective machine. B…


John Duxbury of 'The Miners Battalion'

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Many local organisations were motivated to assist the war effort. They did this by recruiting men who were associated with the organisation or area, and formed these recruits into battalions. The majority of these battalions were recruited geographically, and such battalions as the Leeds Pals, Bradford Pals and Grimsby Chums were formed. Other batt…


Forever Friends: Laurie Denison and Clifford Thompson

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The concept of the ‘Pals’ battalions is familiar to people who are familiar with Britain’s part in the First World War – however this contribution is about lower-case pals, in this case a peacetime friendship that carried over into war. In the course of my research on the Old Boys of Bradford Grammar School (BGS) in the Great War,1 I have been fort…