Unique among the Pals battalions raised early in the war, the Cheshire Bantams - with an average height of just five foot - comprised small men from all over Britain. They fought and suffered heavy casualties at the Somme, Ypres and helped stop the 1918 German offensives. Some 900 Bantams died in the Great War.

Raised in Birkenhead on the Mersey in 1914, the Cheshire Bantams were unique at that early stage of the Great War, as the average height of the volunteers was just five foot. Refused enlistment in the regular Army - which then had a minimum height requirement - the Bantams seized the chance to join an all-volunteer ‘Pals' unit instead. Men from all over Britain - not just Cheshire - rushed to join, including Welsh miners, London dockers, Lancashire labourers and Merseyside mill workers. As part of the 35th (Bantams) Division they fought on the Somme where their casualties were so severe that by 1917 they had effectively ceased to exist. Reformed, they suffered again at Houlthust Forest in Flanders, yet survived to play a major part in halting the 1918 German Spring offensives. Some 900 men of the Battalions gave their lives during the Great War.

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Product Code:	21049
Author:	Stephen McGreal
ISBN:	9781844155248
Format:	SB 224 pp Published Price £15.99
Shipping Time:	This item is usually dispatched Next Day
Retail Price:	~~£15.99~~
Our Price:	£5.95 save 63%