}
Bristol's Own
‘When I heard that a city battalion was being raised in Bristol, I came home in mid-September and joined up’
William Ayres, enlisted 22nd September 1914
When war was declared on 4th August 1914, Bristolians flocked to join the Army. The Bristol Citizens’ Recruiting Committee took charge of recruitment, and decided to form a Citizens’ or Pals’ Battalion, the 12th Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment, which was always known as ‘Bristol’s Own’.
The BCRC appealed to middle class professionals, who had been slow to volunteer. They called for unmarried applicants between 19 and 35 ‘engaged in mercantile or professional work, but not necessarily a public school man’.
Within two months, 990 Bristol men had joined the 12th. Men who joined up later were more likely to be sent to rebuild regiments that had lost men in the fighting than to a local regiment.
When war was declared on 4th August 1914, Bristolians flocked to join the Army. The Bristol Citizens’ Recruiting Committee took charge of recruitment, and decided to form a Citizens’ or Pals’ Battalion, the 12th Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment, which was always known as ‘Bristol’s Own’.
The BCRC appealed to middle class professionals, who had been slow to volunteer. They called for unmarried applicants between 19 and 35 ‘engaged in mercantile or professional work, but not necessarily a public school man’.
Within two months, 990 Bristol men had joined the 12th. Men who joined up later were more likely to be sent to rebuild regiments that had lost men in the fighting than to a local regiment.