ON the evening of Monday, September 7, 1914, hundreds of young Bradford men got out their best Sunday suits, ready for an early start the next morning. They were to register at Bradford Mechanics Institute on Bridge Street, and they wanted to make the right impression.

In his book Bradford Pals, David Raw writes: "On Tuesday morning, there were scenes of great excitement and patriotic fervour as the Mechanics Institute was besieged by young men anxious to register. The band of the 6th West Yorks Territorials had been specially recalled to set the tone with military music, while a Sergeant Major resplendent with waxed moustache supervised the queue.

MORE 'REMEMBERING THE FALLEN' STORIES

"Scrubbed faces, polished boots, pressed suits, birthday tie-pin, grandad's watch, macassared hair and bright eyes under best caps. Adventure, a patriotic glow, doing one's bit, approval from the most powerful figures in the city, no more boredom at the ledger desk or noise, sweat and drudgery in the mills, the chance to be a hero, to thrash the Hun, admiring glances from young women, or possibly to get away from a nagging wife or the creditors. Who knows what mixture of motives and emotions these young men felt as they joshed and chatted in the queue as the band played that late summer morning."

Five days earlier, the Bradford Daily Telegraph reported that a Citizens’ Army League would be inaugurated in the city. Similar arrangements were being made in other towns and cities across in response to Kitchener’s call to raise more men. In Bradford long list of leading citizens, “putting politics aside”, formed a Committee to raise £7,000 supporting a new Bradford Battalion, lasting for the duration of the war and distinct from the Territorials and the old Regulars, recruited at the Labour Exchange.

Formed from bands of friends and colleagues, the aim was that the 'Pals Battalion' would serve shoulder to shoulder. Men who had grown up on the same streets, attended the same schools, and worked together in the same mills, factories and offices would fight together in a war expected to be "over by Christmas".

Philip Main Crowther, a 24-year old solicitor from Manningham, was first to sign up, given the number 1, and rewarded with a handshake from the Lord Mayor. Two days later an analysis of trades and professions showed 106 occupations listed. Over 1,000 men attended the first drill in Lister Park on September 15, although an estimated 10per cent fell short of the height requirement. For a few weeks, in the absence of khaki, the men were wore navy blue uniforms and returned home each evening.

Tricia Platts, president of Bradford World War One Group, explains how volunteers were recruited and made the journey to the Somme: “After August 4, 1914 towns and cities wanted to ‘do their bit’ in raising volunteers. In Bradford this was done through the Citizens’ Army League which, with the approval of the War Office, set about raising a Bradford Battalion for which the League would bear the cost of clothing, feeding and training the men.

“Rooms in Bradford Mechanics’ Institute were offered free of charge as the recruiting centre and the Bradford Daily Telegraph urged men to enlist. Within a month 1,069 men had enlisted and the first Battalion, Bradford Pals was born.

“Such was the number of volunteers, a second battalion was formed during the next few months and the long process of training these civilian volunteers could begin. The men were in camp at Skipton, then Ripon then Fovant, Wiltshire. Their first overseas posting was to Egypt where, for the first time, they encountered men of the British Indian Army: the Mysore Lancers were camped nearby and supplied the Bradford men with a welcome alternative to monotonous army rations in the form of bowls of curry.

"The Bradford Territorials had already come across men from the Punjab fighting with the Lahore Division at Neuve Chapelle. Described in the Regimental History as ‘tall men of fine physique who marched with wonderful spirit and élan’, these men were much admired by the Bradford lads."

In February 1916, the Bradford Pals were shipped to Marseille and taken by train to northern France. By that time, families back home in Bradford understood the full meaning of the recruiting slogan: ‘Join Together; Serve Together’ now also meant ‘Die Together’.”

MORE NOSTALGIA HEADLINES