{"id":55,"date":"2014-05-23T11:11:59","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T11:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ww1hull.com\/the-pal-batalions\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T03:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:52:46","slug":"the-pal-batalions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ww1hull.com\/the-pal-batalions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pal Battalions"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the outbreak of the war in August 1914, the British regular army was a small professional force. It consisted of 247,432 regular troops organised into 10 regiments of Guards,<\/a>\u00a0157 infantry battalions, 31 cavalry regiments, artillery and other support arms. Almost half of the regular army (74 of the 157 infantry battalions and 12 of the 31 cavalry regiments), was stationed overseas in garrisons throughout the British Empire.<\/sup> The Royal Flying Corps<\/a> was also part of the British Army until 1918 and at the outbreak of the war, it consisted of only 84 aircraft. The British Army was small compared to Germany, which fielded an army of 3,822,450 men \u2013 the second largest army in the world, outnumbered only by the Russian army.<\/p>\n

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Hull Pals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When war began, Lord Kitchener<\/a>, the Secretary of State for War<\/a>,<\/span> believed that overwhelming manpower was the key to winning the war and he set about looking for ways to encourage men of all classes to join. This concept stood in direct contrast to centuries of British military tradition, in which the British Army had always relied on professional (rather than conscript) soldiers, and had drawn its members from either the gentry (for officers) or lower classes (for enlisted men).<\/span><\/p>\n

On 6 August, Parliament sanctioned an increase in Army strength of 500,000 men; day’s later Lord Kitchener, Minister of War, issued his first call to arms. This was for 100,000 volunteers, aged between 19 and 30, at least 1.6 metres (5’3″) tall and with a chest size greater than 86 cm (34 inches). Fuelled by Patriotism, and a sense of adventure, over a million men had volunteered to fight by the end of 1914. <\/span>Here is the breakdown:-\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n