leigh pals ?

[degsy68]

i come from a place in lancashire called leigh it has a long history with cotton mills, and coal mines also a decent rugby leauge side. i was wondering if there was a pals regement during ww1 and if so does anyone know were they went

thanks degsy68

[pbrydon]

Leigh was in the recruiting area of the 5th Manchesters along with Wigan, Swinton,Worsley and Flixton( Westlake- The Territorial Battalions ) so it is possible the "local" pals battalions were the Manchesters. I am sure the Manchester enthusiasts on the forum will confirm if that was so.

P.B.

[Mark Hone]

P.B. raises an important point which has been made on the Forum before. In hunting for New Army 'Pals' battalions for particular locations, people tend to overlook the pre-existing Territorial Force battalions like 5th Manchesters or 5th Lancashire Fusiliers in Bury. These had very strong local identities and were arguably even more close-knit than the New Army 'Pals' units as their core members had trained together for years as well as knowing each other in civilian life.

[Ken Lees]

Degsy,

Welcome to the Forum.

If you ask at your local library, you will possibly find that they have the local newspapers of the period, on microfilm. A browse through them will no doubt refer to 'our local lads' and that will gove you some idea of the units they served with.

Does your local war memorial have the names of the regiments/units on it, or is it just a list of names?

What has sparked your interest? Keep asking questions here and you'll benefit from a lot of combined knowledge.

Ken

[SMG65]

Have a look at the companies of the local New Army battalions that were raised in your area, there may have a company called 'Leigh Pals'

18 Durham Light Infantry were called the 'Durham Pals'

However one of their companies was called 'Darlington Pals'

They would have formed more 'Darlington Pals' but 5 DLI, the TA battalion for Darlington, nicked them.

Sean

[nicko576]

i come from a place in lancashire called leigh it has a long history with cotton mills, and coal mines also a decent rugby leauge side. i was wondering if there was a pals regement during ww1 and if so does anyone know were they went

thanks degsy68

Hi Degsy

I am just down the road in Wigan, the 1/ 5th Manchesters are the nearest you can get to a Leigh Pals Battalion.

as stated on a previous post.

The Wigan Records Office in Leigh Town Hall is worth a visit, if memory serves me right you have to make an appointment.

They were involved in a lot of action on the Western Front, but are most remembered locally for Gallipoli, If you could get hold of a book by a local author Fred Holcroft, called 'They died in Hell' ( i think), is a well worth a read with lots of mentions of Leighers.

ps; When did Leigh last have a good Rugby League side.

Rgds

Nick

[pbrydon]

Degsy,

I dont know your precise interests,but it might be worth you checking out the lots on Speedbid there are curently some medals to two brothers from Leigh .

P.B.