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From: Tom Morgan <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] Fw: [Lon] WORLD WAR 1 HELP NEEDED
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 12:54:00 +0100
References: <001001c015d0$df7d8520$fa5101d5@mypc>
In-Reply-To: <001001c015d0$df7d8520$fa5101d5@mypc>


In article <001001c015d0$df7d8520$>, Denis Phillips
<> writes
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Denis Phillips <>
>To: <>
>Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 9:07 PM
>Subject: [Lon] WORLD WAR 1 HELP NEEDED
>
>
>> Dear all,
>> Could someone on the list give me some help , I am tracing
>my husbands family tree and I am looking for information on his great
>grandfather .
>> I know he was in the army in the first world war but all I know was he was
>in a regiment nicknamed THE BANTAMS .
>> Is there someone on the list who can tell me the real name of such a
>regiment as he lived in London at the time was it a local regiment .
>> Any information would be very helpful.
>> Thanks everyone.
>> lyn.
>>
Hello, Lyn,

When the war began, and men rushed to volunteer, there was one section
of the male population which was always rejected. These were the men who
were fit, strong, used to hard work but - short, unable to meet the
army's minimum height requirement of 5 feet 3 inches.

There was a lot of public sympathy for them and eventually some
battalions were formed specifically for them. These became popularly
known as the "Bantam Battalions." There weren't many of them, relative
to the total number of new battalions being formed, and determined but
short men often had to travel great distances to enlist.

The first Bantam Battalion was the 15th (Service) Battalion (Ist.
Birkenhead) the Cheshire Regiment, which was formed in Birkenhead in
November, 1914.

There is a very good book on the subject (the only one as far as I know)
which tells the full story:

"The Bantams"

Sidney Allinson
ISBN 0-88962-190-X (paperback)
ISBN 0-88962-191-8 (hardback)

Best wishes -

Tom





--
Tom Morgan -
Hellfire Corner Great War Web-Pages:
http://www.fylde.demon.co.uk/welcome.htm
Hellfire Corner Battlefield Visits Ltd.

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