King's Own Royal Regiment Museum

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Lancaster and The King's Own go to War.

Generously supported by the Sir John Fisher Foundation.

Recruiting Kitchener's Army

As soon as war was declared men started to volunteer for service.
Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, did not expect a quick victory and realised many thousands of men would be required. He made the famous appeal for 100,000 men to enlist and train for form a New Army; this quickly became known as Kitchener’s Army.

All across the country men enlisted in their thousands, nearly 300,000 in August alone.

Monthly Recruiting:

August                  298,923
September            462,901
October                136,811
November             169,862
December              117,860

In 1914, the Museum was the old Town Hall. It was used by the military authorities as a recruiting office. Men also enlisted at Bowerham Barracks and before too long recruiting offices were established in Barrow, Fleetwood, Morecambe and Ulverston. A motor car was used for recruiting in country areas.

Accurate figures for enlistments in Lancaster are hard to find, but local newspaper reports show that the daily averages were 50 in mid August, 200 in early September, 150 in mid September falling to 25 in November. Nationally the busiest day was 3rd September when 33,204 men joined the army.

By May 1915 it was reported Lancaster had provided 4,000 men for the army.

Newspaper Report  Lancaster Guardian 5th September 1914

Recruiting Brisk at Bowerham.

Unique scenes have been witnessed at Bowerham Barracks this week in connection with the enrolment of recruits in the various branches of the service. Each train brings a number of men who have been sent out from various Lancashire towns, and owing to the abnormal demands on the military clothing factories, there was been some delay in their equipment. The time has not been lost, however, as the men have been drilled in mufti in the Barracks Fields and Belle Vue Field, and have been licked into shape by old colour sergeants. The 6th (Kitchener) Battalion can be raised to 2,000 strong, and efforts are being put forth to bring up the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion to the same strength. Nearly 300 men from the 3rd Battalion in the South have been drafted to the Expeditionary force to replace the losses in the 1st Battalion. The recruits have been attested at the rate of about 200 per day. At the Old Town Hall business has been brisk. There have been as many as 1,600 recruits at the Barracks at once, and they have been accommodated in the Bowerham Council School, in bell tents in the football field on the north of the Barracks, and also in a large marquee in Mr. Mitchell’s field, Belle Vue. Thanks to townspeople, recruits who turned up in rags were promptly dealt with, being rigged up in more presentable clothing sent by sympathetic Lancastrians. The YMCA have erected a tent just inside the entrance to the field opposite Bowerham School, and the men have an opportunity to write letters and purchasing temperance refreshments, etc.
The men have been despatched in big batches during the past week. About 250 went on Friday, 120 on Tuesday morning, 500 on Tuesday night, 150 on Wednesday night, and 600 on Thursday night, the latter being additions to the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve).
In every case when the men have marched through the town they have been most cordially cheered, and they have shown splendid spirit, singing on the march.

Oath to be taken by recruit on Attestation

I _____________ swear by Almighty God, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King George the Fifth, His Heirs, and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, in Person, Crown, Generals and Officers set over me. So help me God.
 

Bowerham Barracks

After the mobilisation and equipping of the Regular Reserves and the Special Reserve Battalion was mobilised and sent to Saltash according to schedule, Bowerham Barracks, the King’s Own Depot, was free to deal with the recruitment of the men of the Kitchener’s Army. By the end of September 1914 nearly 7,000 men had passed through the Depot.

Group of Reservists at Bowerham Barracks, Lancaster, 8th August 1914. The photo was taken in the morning; the men were on the train to Saltash that evening.
Accession Number: KO2546/27

Kitchener’s Army Battalions

The 1881 localisation of the infantry had brought the King’s Own to Lancaster and given them North Lancashire as a recruiting area. However, the population of the area was never enough to provide the number of men needed. The same applied to the Kitchener Battalions, which were made up of men who enlisted in towns and cities right across the North West and arrived in Lancaster to join the King’s Own.

Between August and December 1914 just over 7,000 men enlisted into the King’s Own joining the either the 3rd Battalion in Saltash, or one of the new Kitchener Battalions.

6th Battalion

This was the first Kitchener Battalion to be raised for the King’s Own on 9th August 1914 and by 25th August the first two companies were sent to Blackdown Camp, Tidworth on Salisbury Plain, to begin their training,

In July 1915, the battalion went overseas to Gallipoli, moving on to Egypt and eventually to Mesopotamia (Iraq).


A group of the 6th King’s Own, Blackdown Camp, Surrey, 1914.
Accession Number: KO1930/47-14

7th Battalion

Raised in Lancaster in September 1914 they were also trained at Tidworth. They went to the Western Front on 17th July 1915 where they fought until the battalion was disbanded in early 1918. The soldiers were transferred to other battalions.


Platoon group of the 7th Battalion, at Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth. Fifth from the left on the back row is Private James Miller of Withnell, near Chorley, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916.
Accession Number KO1851/01

8th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster on 11th October 1914 it consisted of 400 men who had enlisted at the outbreak of the war. The battalion moved to Codford on Salisbury Plain, later moving to Boscombe near Bournemouth where the men’s training was continued.

This battalion went overseas to the Western Front at the end of September 1915, where it remained until the end of the war.

A group of 8th Battalion soldiers wearing blue serge uniforms and “8 KOR” lapel badges. Private Wilfred Knott, number 15377, from Denton, Lancashire, was wounded but survived the war.
Accession Number: KO2895/03

The entire 8th Battalion on parade in 1914. All are wearing issued webbing but many still wear civilian clothing.
KO1553/01

The 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions were made up to full strength with drafts of 350 men each from the Border and Manchester Regiments.

9th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster and trained at Seaford, near Eastbourne.
In September 1915 they arrived on the Western Front where they remained for only a few weeks. They were then transferred to Salonika where they fought until the end of the campaign against Bulgaria, in September 1918.

Number 4 Platoon of ‘A’ Company, 9th Battalion, King’s Own, 1915.
KO1047/01

With not enough khaki uniforms available, blue serge uniforms with black buttons and a blue field service cap with red facing were worn by many of the new recruits. Private Billy Poole and a comrade are seen wearing their blue uniforms. The lapel badge states “8 K O R” and was worn prior to the issue of cap badges.
Private William Poole, from Little Urswick, Ulverston, number 14705, enlisted in around October 1914 and was killed in action with the 8th Battalion, at Ypres, on 20th October 1915, at the age of 23 years.
Accession Number: KONEG0222

Corporal Leonard Williamson, number 15929, of the 8th King’s Own, wearing a battalion lapel badge on his khaki tunic. Williamson enlisted in November 1914 and was killed in action on 13th November 1916
Accession Number: KO1773/10

General view of the camp of the 9th Battalion, King’s Own, at Seaford, near Eastbourne, 1914.
Accession Number: KO2709/30

Postcard sent home…
“King’s Own Holding Their Own at Bournemouth”
Accession Number KO2948/02

War Horse!

The expanding army not only needed men to fill the ranks, they also required horses. A Remount Depot was established at the Artillery Drill Shed on Dallas Road, Lancaster. Local suppliers worked with the army to provide horses which were used both at home and overseas. The depot could accommodate 150 horses at any one time, which came from as far away as Canada with 50 reportedly arriving in October 1914.

‘A’ Division of Kitchener’s Army, in 1915, was formed of 19,614 men and 5,818 horses and mules.

How Old?

Lord Kitchener looked to recruit men between the ages of 19 and 30. The minimum age for active service was 19 years.

Whilst only a few records survive showing details such as age we know that two men who were about 48 years signed up at the end of August 1914. Privates Charles Dance and Arthur Dickin both served with the 2nd Battalion and were killed in action on 8th May 1915 during the Battle of Frezenberg.

The youngest soldier to enlist in the King’s Own, who we know of, was Private John Trepenaitis who may have only been 14 years of age when he signed up in August 1914. He died of wounds on 4th May 1915 aged 15. Serving as ‘John Trett’ he was the son of Peter and Mary Trepenaitis of Kovno, Lithuania.

 

© Images are copyright, Trustees of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum.
 You must seek permission prior to publication of any of our images.