A History Of The 10th Service Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment Hull Commercials 1914 1919

Numbering over five million men, Britain's army in the First World War was the biggest in the country's history. Remarkably, nearly half those men who served in it were volunteers. 2,466,719 men enlisted between August 1914 and December 1915, many in response to the appeals of the Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener. How did Britain succeed in creating a mass army, almost from scratch, in the middle of a major war ? What compelled so many men to volunteer ' and what happened to them once they had taken the King's shilling ? Peter Simkins describes how Kitchener's New Armies were raised and reviews the main political, economic and social effects of the recruiting campaign. He examines the experiences and impressions of the officers and men who made up the New Armies. As well as analysing their motives for enlisting, he explores how they were fed, housed, equipped and trained before they set off for active service abroad. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, ranging from government papers to the diaries and letters of individual soldiers, he questions long-held assumptions about the 'rush to the colours' and the nature of patriotism in 1914. The book will be of interest not only to those studying social, political and economic history, but also to general readers who wish to know more about the story of Britain's citizen soldiers in the Great War.

In response to Kitchener's famous call for a million volunteers, local communities raised entire battalions for the service on the Western Front. Hull folk are reticent people and the Hull Pals were no exception. This book tells their inspiring story of sacrifice and gallantry under appaling conditions. Hull Pals contains a great number of hitherto unpublished eye-witnessed accounts and photographs.As featured on BBC Radio Humberside and in The Yorkshire Post.

In the 1930s five men wrote a history of the battalion they had proudly served with: the 1st Hull Battalion, known today as the 10th East Yorkshire Regiment or The Commercials. The book is the story of a happy family, men drawn together to fight for justice. There is no attempt to look at the bigger picture, and no attempt is made to comment on tactics or strategy; it is simply the story of a group of men and their travels across England, Egypt and the Western Front and what they achieved. Their love for their fellow soldiers and the battalion being clearly shown in early 1918 when the original members were all asked if they would like to train to become officers: the vast majority refused, preferring to stay in the ranks with their friends.The story is carefully crafted and based upon personal diaries, now long gone, and conversations between the participants. As well as the story of the battalions travels the appendices list awards, a diary of movement and a roll of honor. The editor, known for his work on the Hull Pals has added a complete listing of the original battalion, extra photographs, previously unpublished, and relevant footnotes.This book is the third book in the 1st Hull Pals trilogy and is essential reading for all interested in the Pals Battalions, providing a clear and concise record of a typical battalion at war.

This is one of the most valuable books in the armoury of the serious student of British Military history. It is a new and revised edition of Arthur White's much sought-after bibliography of regimental, battalion and other histories of all regiments and Corps that have ever existed in the British Army. This new edition includes an enlarged addendum to that given in the 1988 reprint. It is, quite simply, indispensible.

They were sometimes the butt of jokes, the comical chemical corporals. Officially they were the British Special Brigade, sent to retaliate against German chemical warfare, selected, as one of their members said, almost willy-nilly. They wanted chemists, a young recruit later recalled, ...so I looked up the formula for water and told them it was H2O and I was in.

This latest book in the Battleground Europe series describes the battles over several years, and in particular 1917 and 1918, for a wood and small village. The Germans stubbornly refused to retreat as the area held a key position in their defense of Arras. In the bitter fighting, thousands of young men mainly from East Yorkshire (Hull) and East Lancashire were sacrificed.

The First World War had a profound impact on British society and on British relations with continental Europe, the Dominions, the United States and the emerging Soviet Union. The pre-war world was transformed, and the world that we recognize today began to take shape. That is why, 100 years after the outbreak, the time is right for this collection of thought-provoking chapters that reassesses why Britain went to war and the preparations made by the armed forces, the government and the nation at large for the unprecedented conflict that ensued.A group of distinguished historians looks back, with the clarity of a modern perspective, at the issues that were critical to Britain's war effort as the nation embarked on the most intense and damaging struggle in its history. In a series of penetrating chapters they explore the reasons for Britain going to war, the official preparations, the public reaction, the readiness of the armed forces, internment, the impact of the opening campaign, the experience of the soldiers, recruitment, training, weaponry, the political implications, and the care of the wounded.