Battle of the Somme: Pudsey's Greatest Loss
The Battle of the Somme did not begin on 1st July 1916. For communities such as Pudsey, Stanningley and Farsley, it had begun almost two years earlier , this is their story. When Britain entered the First World War in August 1914, the country faced an immediate shortage of trained manpower. Across the district, men volunteered in their hundreds, answering Lord Kitchener's call to serve. Others joined their local Territorial battalions, believing they would reinforce Britain's professional army rather than replace it. During September 1914 the great Yorkshire "Pals" battalions were formed, including the 15th (Leeds Pals) and the 16th and later the 18th (Bradford Pals) . These enthusiastic volunteers were ordinary civilians – clerks, mill workers, teachers, apprentices, shop assistants and sportsmen – who had little expectation of immediate front-line service. They required months of training and conditioning, much of it carried out on the Yorkshire moors at Colsterd...