An Accrington Pal

The First Battle of the Marne was one of the most pivotal battles in history. Fought outside Paris in September 1914, it turned the tide of the German invasion of France, and robbed Kaiser Wilhelm II of his best chance of winning the First World War.

September 1914, and the whole of Europe was at war following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his beloved wife Sophie by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914. In France and Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force were struggling to hold back the German hoards as their casualties began to mount. Back in Britain the call went out for volunteers to join the ‘Pals’ battalions which were springing up in the northern towns of England, and one of the first to volunteer was young Jack Smallshaw of Accrington. On 15th September 1914, Jack became an ‘Accrington Pal,’ a member of a battalion of men who are remembered more than any other of the Pals battalions because of the appalling tragedy which befell them on the killing fields of the Somme. On that fateful day on 1st July 1916, the battalion attacked the fortified village of Serre and were virtually wiped out on the slopes in front of the village. Jack was one of the very few who survived. He continued to serve on the front throughout the remainder of 1916 and into 1917, where he took part in the battle at Oppy wood in May of that year. Shortly afterwards he was struck down by a second bout of trench fever and spent the rest of the year recovering in England. By February 1918 he was back in France serving on the front line, but Jack was never the same man. He was in the thick of the action again in March when the Germans launched their spring offensive against the allied lines. He weathered that too, and stuck it out to the bitter end. This then, is the story of a quite remarkable survivor of the ‘war to end all wars’, whose diaries have lain unpublished, in the possession of his family, since 1919.

A battlefield guide to the World War I exploits of the 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, made up of volunteers who had enlisted together. Follow the footsteps of the Pals in their journey from Lancashire to their training camps in England and Wales and to the villages and battlefields of France. A comprehensive account, with maps and pictures, of a Pals Battalion’s service throughout the war. The Battleground series is designed for both the battlefield visitor and the reader at home. For the former, this book is an invaluable guide and each site is described in detail. For everyone there are graphic descriptions of action, often through first-hand accounts, supported by illustrations, diagrams and maps.

Accrington Pals is being re-released due to popular demand after being out of stock for sometime. The first book to be published in the now highly acclaimed Pals series. The Accrington Pals were the most famous of all the battalions, based upon research in local and national archives, and interviews with the battalion's handful of survivors, their many relations and descendants, it contains a great number of hitherto-unpublished eye-witnessed accounts and photographs. Accrington Pals will appeal to all those interested in the Great War, together with anyone in and around the Accrington area with an interest in family history.

Andrew Jackson's new history tells the story of the Great War as it was experienced by the men of the 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals), the 158th (Accrington and Burnley) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Howitzers) and their families. Using information gathered from years of painstaking research in national and local archives and in private collections, he reconstructs, in vivid detail, the role played by these men on the Western Front. His book, which draws extensively on diaries, memoirs and letters, follows both infantry and artillerymen into the British armys bloodiest battles of the war, giving a graphic close-up view of their experiences. It is a moving record of the wartime service of a select group of local men during a time of unprecedented conflict.

As long as he could remember, Albert had dreamt about leaving the slums of Accrington to find a better life to escape the relentless backbreaking drudgery of a life in the cotton mills-a life that had trapped his family for generations. Growing up, he thought hed find that escape in the army. He grew up amidst a strong family and surrounded by wonderful friends. As a young adult, Albert finally finds himself. He has everything a working-class young man needs-a steady job, a girlfriend, and the starring role in his football team. He has prospects, and life is looking up. Maybe he can find his way without resorting to the army. When war breaks out, along with thousands of other young men, Albert finds himself in uniform in the infamous Accrington Pals battalion. On the Western Front, he learns the true meaning of friendship and courage. Amid the carnage of the Somme, Albert must dig deep within himself to survive. On a fateful day in July 1916, Alberts youth comes to an end. He must come to terms with terrible loss and try to create for himself a new life, balancing hope for the future with heartbreaking pain. And he must do it without his closest friend-his lifelong pal, William. Albert becomes the reluctant hero-the one his pals turn to and rely on. Pals is a fictional account of one mans battle to grow up whilst coming to terms with the horrors of the First World War. At the Battle of the Somme, seven hundred Accrington Pals went into battle. Within thirty minutes, almost six hundred of them had fallen, almost an entire generation of men and boys from a small town.