The Manchester 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 of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

raised in 1914 during the

Great 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 ...

, formed as part of Lord Kitchener's

New Armies The New Armies (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised a ...

. They were formed into eight

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s of the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

.Frederick, pp. 133–4.James, pp. 97–8.Manchester Regiment at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> * 1st Manchester Pals became 16th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (1st City) * 2nd Manchester Pals became 17th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (2nd City) * 3rd Manchester Pals (Clerks' and Warehousemen's Battalion) became 18th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (3rd City) * 4th Manchester Pals became 19th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (4th City) * 5th Manchester Pals became 20th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (5th City) * 6th Manchester Pals became 21st (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (6th City) * 7th Manchester Pals became 22nd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (7th City) * 8th Manchester Pals became 23rd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (8th City) The 16th–19th (Service) Bns constituted 90th Brigade in 30th Division and the 20th–22nd Bns, together with the 24th (Service Battalion, Manchester Regiment (Oldham Pioneers), formed 91st Brigade in the same division. The 23rd (Service) Bn was a Bantam battalion in 104th Brigade of 35th Division. In about September 1915 three local reserve battalions were formed from the depot companies of the eight battalions, with the role of training replacements for the service battalions; they joined 16th Brigade of the Training Reserve on 1 September 1916: * 25th (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, (from 16th, 17th, 18th Bn depot companies) became 69th Training Reserve Battalion * 26th (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, (from 19th, 20th, 21st Bn depot companies) became 70th Training Reserve Battalion * 27th (Reserve) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, (from 22nd, 23rd and 24th (Oldham Pioneers) Bn depot companies) became 71st Training Reserve Battalion Almost 10,000 men enlisted in the Manchester Pals battalions, of whom 4,776 were killed. Overall, the Manchester Regiment lost about 13,000 men. In 1993, a memorial was unveiled in

Heaton Park Heaton Park is a public park in Manchester, England, covering an area of over . The park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. The hall, remodelled by James Wyatt in 1772, is now only ...

, where the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th battalions were trained between September 1914 and April 1915.

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X. * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3. * Brig E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914–18'', London: Samson Books, 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9. * Caroline Scott, ''The Manchester Bantams, The Story of a Pals Battalion and a City at War: 23rd (Service) Battalion, The Manchester Regiment (8th City)'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78346-389-3. *

External sources

Chris Baker, ''The Long, Long Trail''
Pals battalions Manchester Regiment Military units and formations in Manchester Military units and formations in Lancashire {{UK-mil-stub