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Jon Cooksey
Barnsley Pals
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Hardback. £25
 This popular book has now been reprinted in an attractive hardback format by the Barnsley-based publishers Pen & Sword Books.
It is far easier to handle and longer lasting than the old large paperback version but contains the very useful Nominal Roll and Casualty Roll listing; and also an Officers and Medals list. The story of the 13th and 14th Battalions of the York & Lancaster Regiments during the Great War, Jon Cooksey’s book about the Barnsley lads who joined up with so much enthusiasm but tragic consequences, is essential reading for the increasing number of people interested in our recent military history. For family historians it is a superb source of reference too. It’s amazing that the Borough of Barnsley, much smaller than neighbouring Sheffield, managed to raise two battalions of eager volunteers. Coal miners, factory workers and young men from a variety of other occupations and social backgrounds responded to Kitchener’s Call in their hundreds. Such was the response, the Army was unable to supply enough uniforms, many of the men having to sleep in their own clothes until supplied with official attire. Some of the basic training took place at Newhall Camp, Silkstone. There was a great civic send-off on Market Hill when local solicitor and Territorial officer Joseph Hewitt addressed the ‘Barnsley Terriers’, speaking about the importance of ‘duty’ and that the Patriotic Fund would be accessed to care for any dependants.
Because of their mining skills, 50 of the Barnsley volunteers became part of the Royal Engineer Tunneling company, part of the incredible ‘underground war’ that raged during the conflict. A good number of these brave men also died.
The Barnsley Pals went over the top on 1 July 1916 against a professional German army, suffering many casualties via a hail of gun and shell fire. Frank Lindley, aged 16, 14th Y & L Regiment, had this to say about a typical day in ‘Nairne Street’ trench on the Somme in 1916, when a deluge of shells fell on the Pals:
‘We were cheek by jowl because we had a stoppage. As we stood there one of their ‘coal boxes’ dropped on the top and covered us all. We scattered ourselves out a bit. My knees must have been red raw with the soil hitting me. The next bloke next to me started shaking. He was absolutely unhinged, couldn’t do a thing. We had to bypass him and travel on because they were shoving us forward. They were ‘blotting’ us from the rear. I was next to one of our Sergeants, Sergeant Jones, and this salvo of shrapnel came right over the top of us, rattled our tin hats. Some must have gone down the back of this Sergeant and he was done. Blood was coming out of his back between him and his haversack. he had to be shoved back.’
Optimism at home soon turned to despondency as news came through of the hellish conditions and deaths of loved ones.
This is an excellent book, one that should be in all local school libraries as younger generations should never forget this short but terrible period of Barnsley and world history. |
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