Helpful nominal roll for the 11 Battalion East Lancashire Regiment
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Here is a helpful nominal roll for the 11 Battalion East Lancashire Regiment which I have been tagging. Some of the different Author’s writing is sometimes not so clear, especially for names. Diary for (1 Mar 1916 - 31 Jan 1918)
Link http://www.pals.org.uk/roll/index.htm
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Also Part of a very sad Article for 11th East Lancashire Regiment.
11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment, better known as the Accrington Pals. The Battalion suffered devastating losses in the attack on Serre on 1st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The losses were hard to bear in a community where nearly everyone had a relative or friend who had been killed or wounded. Although the battalion was to fight again, its Pals character had been irretrievably lost. Link: http://www.pals.org.uk/pals_e.htm
The Aftermath: “On reading the pages of the Accrington Observer & Times for the months of July and August 1916, the impact the disaster had on the town is all too clear. The initial accounts of success on the Somme, including an erroneous report of the capture of Serre, soon gave way to pages filled with photographs of the killed, wounded and missing. Few, if any, of the town's population could have been untouched by the tragedy. Percy Holmes, the brother of an original Pal, recalled "I remember when the news came through to Accrington that the Pals had been wiped out. I don't think there was a street in Accrington and district that didn't have their blinds drawn, and the bell at Christ Church tolled all the day."
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by
cyngast
moderator
Thanks for posting these, Marie.
The roll looks very useful.
Even with the description, it is impossible for me to imagine the emotions the people of Accrington must have felt as the news came through. So sad.
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