The Liverpool Pals were

Pals battalion The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbour ...

s formed during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as part of the

King's (Liverpool) Regiment The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which we ...

. They, along with the

Manchester Pals The Manchester Pals were pals battalions of the British Army raised in 1914 during the Great War, formed as part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. They were formed into eight battalions of the Manchester Regiment.Frederick, pp. 133–4.James, pp. 9 ...

, are commemorated at a small memorial in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Recruitment

The volunteers were initially sought at The Kings Regiment Liverpool HQ in St Anne Street on 28 August 1914, and were addressed by Lord Derby, who said:

I am not going to make you a speech of heroics. You have given me your answer, and I can telegraph to Lord Kitchener tonight to say that our second battalion is formed. This should be a Battalion of Pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool. I don’t attempt to minimise to you the hardships you will suffer, the risks you will run. I don’t ask you to uphold Liverpool’s honour, it would be an insult to think that you could do anything but that. But I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here tonight and showing what is the spirit of Liverpool, a spirit that ought to spread through every city and every town in the kingdom.

Businesses had been asked to encourage their staff to enlist, and the volunteers were drawn from city offices and factories. Although similar events were held elsewhere, recruitment in Liverpool was said to be particularly strong. The numbers attending were far greater than anticipated, and extra rooms were opened up in order to enlist them. By November, enough volunteers had come forward to form four battalions. Barracks were created on disused sites at

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

, Hooton, Sefton Park and Knowsley Park before further training on Salisbury Plain. They left for France in late 1915, and took part in some of the fiercest battles of the war, with heavy loss of life. Almost 200 of the Liverpool Pals were killed in one day, 1 July 1916, in the Battle of the Somme. At the end of the war, about 20% of the volunteers had been killed, and a further 50% injured. The Liverpool Pals consisted of: * 17th (Service) Battalion – ''1st City'', formed at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, 29 August 1914 by

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

* 18th (Service) Battalion – ''2nd City'', formed at Liverpool, 29 August 1914 by Lord Derby * 19th (Service) Battalion – ''3rd City'', formed at Liverpool, 29 August 1914 by Lord Derby * 20th (Service) Battalion – ''4th City'', formed at Liverpool, 16 October 1914 by Lord Derby * 21st (Reserve) Battalion – formed at Knowsley Park, August 1915 from depot companies of 17th and 18th Battalions * 22nd (Reserve) Battalion – formed at Knowsley Park, August 1915 from depot companies of 19th and 20th Battalions

References

Bibliography

External links

* *
BBC News OnlineLiverpool Echo
Pals battalions Military units and formations in Liverpool Military units and formations in Lancashire {{UK-mil-stub