A NEW memorial to honour the Bradford Pals of the First World War has been created thanks to the generous donations of local people.

Hundreds of Bradfordians donated nearly £3,000 to fund a fitting memorial in France to the Pals and other local servicemen who fought and died in the war.

Bradford Council then matched the amount donated.

The Honour the Pals Appeal was set up by the council in collaboration with the Telegraph & Argus and the Bradford World War One Group.

The appeal followed calls by locals and history groups for a fitting tribute to the Bradford Pals in or near the French battlefields.

The Bradford World War One Group has arranged for the stone to be placed between Hébuterne and Serre in northern France, where so many of the Bradford Pals fought and died in the frontline trenches.

It also lies amid many of the other sites where visitors come to pay their respects to the fallen, such as the military cemeteries and the nearby Sheffield Memorial Park, which contains a variety of memorials to other Pals battalions.

The stone will be placed there in the coming months to mark the centenary year of the Battle of the Somme.

The Honour the Pals memorial itself is a replica of the existing Pals memorial at the cenotaph in Bradford city centre, and reads: “To the memory of the soldiers of the Bradford Pals and the other servicemen of West Yorkshire who served in the Great War 1914-1918.

“And Lo a mighty army came out of the North.”

Any money left will be used to fund its ongoing maintenance.

Donations are still being accepted. Visit telegraphandargus.co.uk/news/honourthepals or send cheques, made payable to the Honour the Pals Appeal, to Honour the Pals Appeal, Telegraph & Argus, Hall Ings, Bradford, BD1 1JR.