The Sheffield City Battalion was a 'Pals battalion' formed as part of 'Kitchener's Army' during World War I. Raised by local initiative in the City of Sheffield, it became the 12th (Service) Battalion of the local York and Lancaster Regiment ('12th Y&L'). After almost two years of training, it was virtually destroyed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in a disastrous attack on the village of Serre. The battalion continued to serve on the Western Front, including the Arras offensive, but it was disbanded early in 1918.
Recruitment
On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army, and the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward to form the 1st New Army ('K1').War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8; Appendix I. A flood of volunteers poured into the recruiting offices across the country and were formed into 'Service' battalions of the county regiments. However, these were soon joined by groups of men from particular localities or backgrounds who wished to serve together. Starting from Liverpool, Manchester and London, the phenomenon of 'Pals battalions' quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units to the War Office. One such unit was raised by the Lord Mayor and City of Sheffield, following an initiative by the Duke of Norfolk, a former Lord Mayor of the city, and Sir George Franklin of the University of Sheffield. A meeting held on 1 September 1914 resolved to form the Sheffield University and City Special Battalion of the local York and Lancaster Regiment. The War Office accepted the proposal on 5 September, enrolment began at the Town Hall on 10 September and later at the Corn Exchange. Placards bearing the slogan 'To Berlin – via Corn Exchange' encouraged men to come forward. The first parade was held at Norfolk Barracks (the Sheffield Volunteer Artillery's Drill Hall on Clough RoadSheffield at the Drill Hall Project.) on 14 September, commanded by Colonel Herbert Hughes, former commanding officer (CO) of the volunteer Hallamshire Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment.Frederick, pp. 324–5.James, p. 100.York & Lancaster Regiment at Long, Long Trail.Sparling, pp. 2–3.War Office Instruction No 56 of September 1915, Appendix IX.Army List, various dates.
At that parade, it was noted, were 'many men whom no other conceivable circumstances would have brought into the Army; £500 a year business men, stockbrokers, engineers, chemists, metallurgical experts, University and public school men, medical students, journalists, schoolmasters, craftsmen, shop assistants, secretaries, and all sorts of clerks'. The postwar music hall performer Stainless Stephen was a member.Sparling, p. 1.Gibson & Oldfield, p. 30.
Training The rush of Kitchener recruits had overwhelmed the Army's ability to absorb them, so the Pals Battalions (mainly in the Fifth New Army, 'K5') were left for some time in the hands of the recruiting committees. The men of the Sheffield City Battalion, soon to be officially the 12th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield), underwent their initial training at Bramall Lane cricket and football ground and in Norfolk Park. A number of retired Regular Army non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were taken on to drill the men. For nearly three months the men lived in their own homes or lodgings in Sheffield, and drilled in their civilian clothes until the recruiting committee obtained uniforms for them. With khaki cloth unobtainable, these were of dark blue-grey cloth, with a small field service cap with a red stripe. Vickers Limited supplied 23 rifles and loaned a machine gun, which allowed some instruction to take place. On 10 October Col C.V. Mainwaring of the Indian Army, was appointed the first permanent CO of the battalion. On 5 December the battalion went into huts erected by the City Architect at Redmires Camp, a former racecourse on the moors outside the city. At that point the battalion had reached its full establishment strength of 1131 men.Sparling, pp. 4–7, 12.
On 10 December the battalion was assigned to 115th Brigade of 38th Division, formed of Pals Battalions from across Northern England: 115th Bde consisted of the Grimsby Chums (10th (Service) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment), the Sheffield City Battalion, (12th(S) Bn, Y&L Regiment) and the 1st and 2nd Barnsley Pals (13th and 14th (S) Bns, Y&L Regiment). In April 1915 the Fourth New Army (K4) was converted into reserve units for K1–K3, and the K5 formations took over their numbers: thus 115th Bde became 94th Bde in 31st Division. Soon after it was renumbered, the new 94th Bde was concentrated in May at Penkridge Bank Camp on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, where it was joined by the Accrington Pals (11th East Lancashire Regiment). in place of the Grimsby Chums. The other battalions were envious of the 12th's machine gun. and rifles supplied by Vickers, but it was only on 21 June that the battalion fully equipped with rifles. Even then, these were obsolete Magazine Lee–Metfords in bad condition; 80 modern Short Magazine Lee-Enfields (SMLEs) arrived for instruction on 17 June. The 31st Division concentrated at South Camp, Ripon, at the end of July 1915, then in September it moved to Hurdcott Camp where it carried out final intensive battle training on Salisbury Plain. Colonel Mainwaring was graded medically unfit for overseas service and gave up the command on 28 September, being replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel J.A. Crosthwaite from the Durham Light Infantry. The battalion finally received its full allocation of SMLE rifles at the end of November 1915.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 11–9.31st Division at Long, Long Trail.Sparling, pp. 9–13, 16–7.War Office Instruction No 96 of 10 April 1915.Cooksey, pp. 85–8, 96–7.Jackson, pp. 41, 62–71.
15th (Reserve) Battalion
Authorisation was received in early December 1914 for a fifth, reserve company (E Company), to be formed to provide reinforcements for the Sheffield City Battalion. Recruiting was carried out at Sheffield Town Hall in the third week of December and like the first volunteers the men were initially billeted in their own homes. Drills were carried out at Norfolk Park on fine days, or on wet days in a building in Hawley Street known as 'The Jungle', formerly a skating rink. E Company joined the battalion at Redmires Camp on 10 April and remained there when the battalion left for Cannock Chase, when authority was received for a second reserve company to be formed. On 9 June Northern Command ordered the depot companies of the regiments to be concentrated, so E and F Companies moved from Redmires to Silkstone outside Barnsley, to join those of the 1st and 2nd Barnsley Pals (13th and 14th Y&L). In July 1915 the depot companies of all three battalions were formed into 15th (Reserve) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, through the battalions continued their own local recruiting. At the end of the year the 12th Bn took over Hyde Park Barracks (the Hallamshire Battalion's Drill Hall in St John's Road) as its recruiting depot until April 1916.Sparling, pp. 9–10, 13–5.
Service Egypt On 29 November 1915, 31st Division received warning orders to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, and advance parties set out for the embarkation ports of Folkestone and Southampton. At the last minute, the destination was changed to Egypt, the advance parties were recalled, and on 7 December the troops embarked at Devonport, 12th Y&L aboard HM Transport Nestor of the Blue Funnel Line. The Nestor reached Alexandria on 1 January 1916 and the battalion then entrained for Port Said where 31st Division concentrated by 23 January. It took over No 3 Section of the Suez Canal defences at Qantara and El Ferdan, where the men underwent training as well as providing working parties for the defences. On 26 February orders arrived to reverse the process and the division began re-embarking at Port Said, 12th Y&L aboard HMT Briton on 10 March. It unloaded at Marseille on 15 March and then joined the division concentrating in the Somme area. It remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.Sparling, pp. 18–30.Cooksey, pp. 105–41, 149–50.Jackson, pp. 73–8, 86–7.
31st Division was part of the BEF's concentration of troops in the Somme sector preparing for that summer's 'Big Push', the Battle of the Somme. On 27 March the battalion arrived at Vignacourt, from where a party of officers and NCOs went into the line for instruction on Trench warfare by 8th Bn Worcestershire Regiment. From 29 March the battalion was accommodated in canvas huts at Bertrancourt. It then spent four periods in April–June holding the line in front of Colincamps, suffering its first battle casualties from enemy shellfire and trench raids. Out of the line it provided working parties to repair damaged trenches and to dig new assembly and communication trenches for the forthcoming offensive. On 5 June the battalion moved to Gézaincourt for a week's training, including a practice assault by the whole brigade over a mock up of the German trenches.Sparling, pp. 30–50.Cooksey, p. 189.Jackson, pp. 87–8, 91–4.
First day of the Somme Despite all the preparation and high hopes, the First day on the Somme (1 July) was a disaster for 31st Division. Its task was to take the village of Serre and form a defensive flank for the rest of Fourth Army. 94th Brigade moved into its assembly trenches in a line of copses (named 'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke' and 'John') in front of Colincamps on 30 June. Just beforehand, Lt-Col Crosthwaite was evacuated to hospital and Major A. Plackett was hurriedly recalled from commanding the divisional school to take command of 12th Y&L for next day's attack. 94th Brigade on the division's left was to attack on a two-battalion front with the 12th Y&L (left) and 11th East Lancs (right) leading, followed by a company of the divisional pioneer battalion, the 12th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The leading waves left their trenches at 07.20 when the nearby Hawthorn Ridge mine was exploded, 10 minutes before Zero. They then laid down in no man's land about in front of the trenches while the final intensive bombardment of the enemy positions was fired. The second wave moved out at 07.29 and lay down about further back. Thus alerted, the enemy put down their own heavy artillery barrage on the British line and their machine gun teams came out of their dugouts. When the two leading waves set off at 07.30, followed by the third and fourth emerging from the trenches, they were almost annihilated by German fire. The 12th Y&L was hit in its left flank from German trenches that were not being attacked, and which had not been adequately screened by a planned smokescreen. The left half of C Company was shot down before reaching the German barbed wire, and only a few of the right half and of A Company were able to get through the wire into the German frontline trench; most were soon killed or driven out.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 441–4, Sketch 23.Middlebrook, pp. 122–9, 143.Cooksey, pp. 187–8, 201–12.Sparling, pp. 31, 51–56, 59–69.
Private A. Fretwell reported that 'When I got near the German trenches I could see some of them coming out with their hands up, but when they saw how many of us had been hit, they changed their minds and ran back again'.Middlebrook, p. 129.