"In that grim autumn of 1914, the young men came from everywhere to take the King's shilling and to offer him their dedicated services. From mills and mines, from office chairs and civic departments, from loom and bench and lathe and counter, they flooded the recruiting centres in answer to the nation's call for young manhood. With a patriotic fervour rarely equalled in the annals of our history, these lads turned themselves from a citizens' army into a highly skilled professional fighting force whose determination and fortitude would earn them the admiration of the world. The Pals' Battalions, in Bradford and elsewhere, gave all their physical and mental energies in a total commitment to the preservation of the homeland and the defence of assaulted freedom. In the case of the Bradford Pals, the majority also gave their lives." Leslie Sands

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