The Accrington Pals – “The Men Are A Good Deal Rattled”Rattled”

On July 1st 1916, during the first 60 minutes of The Battle of The Somme, The Accrington Pals (11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment) were seemingly “wiped out”. But despite this disaster, they regrouped and fought on until the end of the 1st World War.
What is it about this battalion that gives it such notoriety? Why is it that this battalion has garnered so more coverage than other battalions who also fought as courageously on The Somme?
For one thing, Accrington, in raising a battalion, was punching way above its weight. This battalion was the only battalion to be raised by a non-county borough, Accrington, and this town in East Lancashire was the smallest town in Great Britain to have raised a battalion. When the battalion was finally raised, the town’s folk’s pride in this feat was surely justified. On August 11th 1915, The Deputy Chief of The Imperial General Staff, having inspected the battalion, had had the following to say – “I have inspected tens of thousands of troops in Kitchener’s Army but I have never seen a smarter better turned-out battalion. A great deal of trouble has been taken and I am delighted.
The townsfolk’s pride in this accolade received a massive hammer blow on that fateful summer’s day in 1916, a day which was to effect generations from this town for years to come. The film describes, against the backdrop of the 1st World War, how Accrington raised a battalion and how the men of the battalion, initially a group of eager civvies, were trained to be a fighting force ready and willing to do battle. But there was only one man in the battalion whom had had experience of military combat. This was the battalion’s commanding officer. On the eve of the battle, this officer wrote the following to the town’s mayor – “The lads realise the seriousness of what is to come and I feel they will do their part. It is a page of history that will take some writing”.