On November 11th it is appropriate to remember the thousands of soldiers who fought during wars, defending British and related countries. This cairn, I visited today in West Yorkshire, was erected by the survivors and relatives of the 15th West Yorkshire Regiment (The Leeds' Pals) The Prince of Wales' Own, Kitchener's Army, to mark the site of their first Army camp (September 1914) and it is dedicated to those who served in the battalion.
It was unveiled at Colsterdale, on September 28th 1935. This group of soldiers were fathers, sons and relatives of Leeds' based sportsmen, including county cricketers who should have been between 19-35 years old. Many were much younger. The camp was sited at Breary Banks in the Pennines. I was there today, suitably on November 11th.
Following training at this camp and then service in Egypt, the Leeds' Pals were sent to the Western Front. This disaster, where many young men of one particular area in the country were killed, made the authorities realise that although there was considerable "cameraderie" amongst the young troops, many of them were wiped out in these regional regiments, so the selection process for regiments was changed. There were 145 Pals' Battalions, around 20% of new infantry battalions were made up from "Pals".
The training camp was converted into a Prisoner of War Camp in 1917.
We managed to watch the Remembrance Service on our next stop, in Pateley Bridge. It was a good experience..
MORE LINKS TO WW1 BELOW:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/8833562954425845191?hl=en-GB
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/1921949639953327497?hl=en-GB
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/6700331425633566861?hl=en-GB
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/5129294122288941786?hl=en-GB
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