by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, War Stories
AFTER their baptism of fire during their first five days in the trenches, the Durham Pals received the order to withdraw, and at 8pm on April 3, 1916 they were relieved by the 12th Yorks and Lancs. During their first five-day taste, they’d been constantly under threat...
by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, War Stories
AT dusk on March 29, 1916, the Durham Pals silently filed into the battered frontline trenches to the east of Auchonvillers, in northern France, and under cover of darkness took over the posts from the Royal Irish Rifles. Earlier that day, the battalion’s commanding...
by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, War Stories
AT the end of March, the Durham Pals received the order to move up into the frontline trenches. Having volunteered in the heady days of late summer 1914 to do their duty, they now finally had the chance to face the enemy. On March 25, 18th Battalion of the Durham...
by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, War Stories
AFTER a 50-hour train journey across the length of France, the Durham Pals arrived at Pont Remy in northern France, in the early hours of March 14. It was bitterly cold, but the men of the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry were simply glad to be off the train in...
by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, War Stories
THE Durham Pals had spent a week at sea but, 100 years ago this week, within six hours of their feet touching the steady dry land of the port of Marseilles, they were packed into trains for the long journey north across France. The 18th Battalion of the Durham Light...
