The Accrington Pals was a British First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in and around the town of Accrington in Lancashire. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 11th Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Pals battalions of World War I were units of the British Army that consisted of men who had enlisted together at special local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues (Pals) rather than having to be mixed... WWI recruitment poster for Kitcheners Army. ... Arms of Accrington Borough Council Accrington, in the County of Lancashire, is a small former mill town in the industrial north-west of England. ... Lancashire (archaically, the County of Lancaster) is a county palatine of England, lying on the Irish Sea. ... In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British military. ...

Recruiting was initiated by the mayor of Accrington following Lord Kitchener's call for volunteers and it took only ten days to raise a complete battalion. The battalion's nickname is a little misleading since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion, only one was actually composed of men from Accrington. The rest volunteered from other East Lancashire towns such as Burnley, Blackburn, and Chorley. A mayor (from the Latin maīor, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (June 24, 1850 - June 5, 1916) was a British Field Marshal and statesman. ... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ... A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100-200 soldiers. ... Location within the British Isles. ... Location within the British Isles. ... Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, England, south of Preston. ...

The Accrington Pals joined the 94th Brigade of the British 31st Division, a "Pals" division par excellence containing many famous North Country Pals battalions. With the 31st Division, the Accrington Pals were initially deployed to Egypt in early 1916 to defend the Suez Canal from the threat of the Ottoman Empire. The troopship carrying the Accrington Pals was narrowly missed by a torpedo; a fortunate miss because the ship also carried sixty tons of lyddite explosive. The British 31st Division was a New Army division formed in April 1915 as part of the K4 Army Group and taken over by the War Office on 10 August 1915. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... 1881 drawing of the Suez Canal The Suez Canal (Arabic, Qanā al-Suways), west of the Sinai Peninsula, is a 163-km maritime canal in Egypt between Port Said (Būr Saīd) on the Mediterranean Sea and Suez (al-Suways) on the Red Sea. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto of sultan Abdülaziz El-Muzaffer Daima (Ottoman Turkish for the Ever Victorious) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Constantinople (İstanbul) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a self propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ... Picric acid is the common term for the chemical compound 2,4,6-trinitrophenol; the material is a yellow crystalline solid. ...

The Accrington Pals next moved to France where they first saw action in the Battle of the Somme. On the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, the 31st Division was to attack the village of Serre and form a defensive flank for the rest of the British advance. The 31st Division's attack on Serre was a complete failure though some of the Accrington Pals did make it as far as the village before being killed or captured. One of the battalion's signallers, observing from the rear, reported: The 1916 Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the First World War, with more than one million casualties. ... The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the British and French offensive that became the Battle of the Somme. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

"We were able to see our comrades move forward in an attempt to cross No Man's Land, only to be mown down like meadow grass. I felt sick at the sight of the carnage and remember weeping."

Approximately 700 men from the Accrington Pals went in to action on 1 July; 585 men became casualties, 235 killed and 350 wounded in about half an hour. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel A.W. Rickman was among the wounded. A rumour that spread around Accrington was that only seven men had survived from the battalion and an angry crowd surrounded the mayor's house, demanding information. Note: No mans land may also be understood as Terra nullius. ... In the U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a commissioned officer superior to a major and inferior to a colonel. ...

The Accrington Pals were effectively wiped out in a matter of minutes on the first day on the Somme. The battalion was brought back up to strength and served for the remainder of the war, moving to the 92nd Brigade of the 31st Division in February 1918. 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

References

• Pals: the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington), East Lancashire Regiment, William Turner, ISBN 0950789240

External links

• The Accrington Pals