The Hull Pals were a brigade of four battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment (the "East Yorks") raised as part of Kitchener's Army in 1914. They served in 31st Division at Serre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, though they escaped the worst of the disaster. However, they suffered heavy casualties in the same area later in the year, and again at Oppy Wood in early 1917. They continued to serve on the Western Front for the rest of the war, including hard fighting against the German spring offensive and in the final Hundred Days Offensive.
Recruitment
On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular Army, and on 11 August the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: "Your King and Country Need You", urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or "K1".Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2, 8, 24, Appendix I.Edmonds, 1914, Vol II, pp. 1-4.Jackson, p. 13. The flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the army to absorb and organise them, and by the time the Fifth New Army (K5) was authorised, many of its constituent units were being organised as "Pals battalions" under the auspices of mayors and corporations of towns up and down the country.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, pp. 37–42.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 26–40.Jackson, pp. 14–7.Middlebrook, pp. 9–11.
The initiative for the "Pals battalions" came from the Director of Recruiting at the War Office (WO), General Sir Henry Rawlinson, who suggested that many man working in finance in the City of London "would be willing to enlist if they were assured that they would serve with their friends". The 10th "Stockbrokers" Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was raised in less than a week in August. Impressed by the success, the Earl of Derby coined the phrase "a battalion of pals", and began recruiting in Liverpool. Soon they were springing up all over the country.O’Neill, pp. 9–10.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 26.
On 29 August 1914, Charles Wilson, 2nd Baron Nunburnholme had a meeting with Kitchener. Nunburnholme, head of a family of shipowners in Kingston upon Hull, was a former Major in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, and held a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) from service with the City Imperial Volunteers during the Second Boer War. In 1914 he was Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire and President of the East Riding Territorial Association (ERTA). At this meeting, Kitchener authorised Nunburnholme and the ERTA to raise a battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment.Army List.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 27.Burke's, 'Nunburnholme'.Drake, pp. 44–7.Who was Who. This was unusual because most of the county Territorial Associations were fully engaged with recruiting and equipping their existing Territorial Force (TF) units and had no time for the New Army units. In contrast, by the end of 1915 Lord Nunburnholme and the ERTA had not only raised 2nd and 3rd Line TF units for the East Riding Regiment, Royal Field Artillery (RFA), Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and Royal Engineers but a full infantry brigade of 'Hull Pals' with a depot battalion, three RGA heavy batteries (the 11th (1st Hull), 124th (2nd Hull) and 146th (3rd Hull)) and the 31st (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column, RFA.Becke, Pt 3a, p. 21.War Office Instructions: July 1915, Appendix VI; September 1915, No 183 and Appendices VII and IX. Lord Nunburnholme asked Major W.H. Carver, a retired Militia officer (3rd Battalion, (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry), to command the new unit while it was being recruited.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 28–35.Bilton, Hull Pals, Appendix 17.
The Hull Daily Mail of 31 August 1914 carried Lord Nunburnholme's proposal to raise a "Commercial Battalion" from men working in business offices in Hull who would serve alongside their friends. Recruitment opened the following day at Wenlock Barracks on Anlaby Road, loaned by the ERTA, and 200 men were attested on the first day. Some came en masse, such as groups from Reckitt and Sons' chemical works and the North Eastern Railway Dock Superintendents' office. The battalion reached its full establishment (just over 1000 men) on 5 September, and recruiting immediately began for a 2nd Hull Battalion.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, p. 38.Frederick, p. 182.Horsfall & Cave, p. 55.James, p. 59.Middlebrook, p. 10.
Wenlock Barracks and the peacetime Army Recruiting Office at Pryme Street were inadequate for the surge of volunteers from all over the East Riding, so Lord Nunburnholme borrowed Hull City Hall and opened it on 6 September as the Central Hull Recruiting Office for all the units being raised. Douglas Boyd, a Hull Corporation employee, was commissioned as Lieutenant and appointed recruiting officer.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 35. The 'Commercials' took over the fair ground at Walton Street as a drill field.
The 2nd Hull Battalion was the "Tradesmen", which was recruited to full strength in three days. Lieutenant-Colonel J.L. Stanley, formerly of the 5th (Cyclist) Bn East Riding Regiment (TF), was placed in temporary command and set up battalion headquarters (HQ) in the cricket pavilion on Anlaby Road.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, p. 40.
The 3rd Hull Battalion was the "Sportsmen". The Hon Stanley Jackson, the former England cricket captain, was the chief speaker at a public meeting held at the Park Street Artillery Barracks on 12 September to raise recruits for this battalion, which reached full strength in October. A number of the recruits were drawn from Hull Docks, including members of the violent "Silver Hatchet Gang". The battalion drilled in Pearson Park.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 37–9, 42.
Lord Nunburnholme organised a second recruiting campaign in Hull in November, which raised a further 894 men for the 4th Hull Battalion which took any able-bodied recruits, regardless of background, and for want of a better name was known in the Yorkshire vernacular as "T'others". It drilled in the Market Place.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, pp. 51–2.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 39–40.
Major Carver stood down from the "Commercials" on 12 September, and was succeeded in command by Lt-Col A.J. Richardson, a retired Regular Army officer who had commanded 1st Bn East Riding Regiment before the war. Lieutenant-Colonel Stanley was replaced at the head of the "Tradesmen" by Lt-Col Beauchamp St Clair–Ford, another retired officer, and moved on to raise the "T'Others" until Lt-Col R.H. Dewing (retired, Indian Army) took over. The first CO of the "Sportsmen" was Lt-Col H.R. Pease, formerly of the Special Reserve.
Training Until early 1915, most of the men were billeted in their own homes, attending daily training in the parks and squares around Hull, or route marches to the outlying villages. One company of the "Commercials" became known as "Glossop's Greyhounds" because of the speed of their route marching. There was a shortage of people with previous military experience who could carry out the training, and no weapons with which to train. As with many of the Kitchener and TF recruits across the country, there were no uniforms available at first, but the Hull Pals were lucky in receiving their khaki uniforms in November. Until then, they wore civilian dress with armbands in battalion colours.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 11–19.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 41–7.Drake, pp. 54–6. The ERTA appealed for winter clothing for all the recruits in the East Riding. The appeal was headed by Lady Nunburnholme, who also set up the Hull Voluntary Aid Committee, which distributed clothing to troops at the front, trained nurses, and sent parcels to prisoners of war.Bilton, Hull in the Great War, p. 48.
Field Marshal Earl Roberts, VC, was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Hull Battalion on 11 November; unfortunately he died on 14 November.London Gazette, 10 November 1914.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 47. After the Army's minimum height requirement was lowered for Bantam battalions in November, a 5th Hull Battalion – known as "Bobs' Battalion" after the diminutive hero Earl Roberts ('Bobs') – began to be raised, but failed to reach its minimum establishment strength and was broken up to provide reserves.
In mid-November the 1st Hull Bn moved to Hornsea for defence duties on a stretch of coast from Mappleton to Ulrome. The camp was unfinished, 60 men being crowded into each 30-man hut without doors or windows, and the whole camp was a sea of mud. The battalion did receive old Long Lee-Enfield rifles, but when the WO asked for a report on their efficiency Lt-Col Richardson reported that "rifles will certainly go off, doubtful which end."Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 47–52.
On 10 December the formation of the Fifth New Army (K5) was authorised: the four Hull battalions were to form 113th Brigade of 38th Division. The other brigades of the division were composed of Pals battalions from Northern England – Accrington Pals, Barnsley Pals (two battalions), Bradford Pals (two battalions), Durham Pals, Leeds Pals and the Sheffield City Battalion. Similarly, all the field artillery came from Yorkshire, including the Divisional Ammunition Column from HullBecke, Pt 3b, Appendix 1b.Middlebrook, Appendix I.31 Division at Long, Long Trail. The four battalions of Hull Pals also received their formal titles at this time:Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 40. 10th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (1st Hull) 11th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (2nd Hull) 12th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (3rd Hull) 13th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (4th Hull)
On 13 December, each New Army battalion was authorised to increase its establishment by 250 men (to 1350), forming a fifth (depot) company to provide reinforcements.
On Christmas Eve every officer and man in the Hull Pals and Heavy Artillery received a Christmas Card from Lord Nunburnholme consisting of a picture of St George slaying the dragon with the badge of the East Yorkshire Regiment and coloured bands representing the distinctive armbands worn by the different battalions and batteries.
In April 1915 the WO changed its policy: the K4 battalions now became Reserve battalions with the role of training reinforcements for the K1–K3 Service battalions going overseas. The six K4 divisions were therefore broken up and their numbers reassigned to the first six K5 divisions. Thus 113th Brigade of 38th Division was renumbered as 92nd Brigade of 31st Division.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 61.
By April all four battalions were in camps in the East Riding: 10th at Hornsea, 11th at Ousethorpe Camp, 12th at South Dalton and 13th at Beverley Westwood.Bilton, Hull Pals, p. 54. Local training for the Hull Pals ended in late May and early June, and the units of 31st Division began to assemble at South Camp, Ripon, where brigade training began in earnest. Musketry training was finally begun in August, and in September the division. moved to Hurdcott Camp at Fovant where the brigade received SMLE service rifles and carried out final intensive battle training on Salisbury Plain. The CO of 10th Bn, Lt-Col Richardson, was removed from command after arguments with authority, and replaced by Lt-Col Daniel Burges, a Regular officer from the Gloucestershire Regiment who had been wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres.Bilton, Hull Pals, pp. 61–5.
14th & 15th (Reserve) Battalions