The pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues, rather than being arbitrarily allocated to battalions.

Pals battalions were a uniquely British phenomenon. Britain was the only major power not to begin the First World War with a mass conscripted army. After the war broke out, it quickly became clear that the small professional British Army was not large enough for a global conflict.

This is a list of pals battalions (also called "service" or "locally raised" battalions) of the British Army during the First World War. Pre-war Territorial Force (T.F.) battalions have not been included, although they too usually recruited from a specific area or occupation.

Mar 6, 2018 · The Pals battalions were units recruited in Britain during the early months of the First World War. First emerging in late August 1914, they were usually recruited from a single local community. Most became infantry battalions.

As World War One consumed Europe, a new idea was created to find a way to turn the conflict into Britain's favor: the Pals Battalions. These units, created from the close-knit communities of Britain, would be decimated in the catastrophe of World War I, leaving a trail of grief and loss in their communities for generations.

Mar 10, 2011 · Bruce Robinson explains how Lord Kitchener avoided introducing conscription by inviting men to volunteer with their friends, family and colleagues to form the Pals Battalions. The hostility had...

2 days ago · Volunteers who served on the Western Front were named as Pals battalions – discover records in this WW1 military collection with Forces War Records

A website that is dedicated to the memory of all who served in the Liverpool Pals battalions of The King's Liverpool Regiment during the Great War and the service in Russia.

Mar 29, 2018 · The raising of the Pals battalions added considerable impetus to voluntary recruiting for the British army in the autumn of 1914 by combining patriotism and local loyalties, but subsequent battlefield losses inevitably had a concentrated impact on individual communities and ultimately rendered the Pals experiment impossible to maintain.

What were the Pals Battalions? At the start of World War I the formation of Pals Battalions were encouraged. These were battalions of the British Army that were formed from local men, rather than men signing up to the army and being allocated a battalion. The idea was that a …