12th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol's Own)
The 12th (Service) Battalion (Bristol's Own) of the Gloucestershire Regiment (the 'Glosters') was a 'Pals battalion' of 'Kitchener's Army' raised immediately after the outbreak of World War I through the initiative of the City of Bristol. It saw action at the Somme, Arras and Ypres, before moving to the Italian Front. It returned to the Western Front to fight in the German spring offensive and the victorious Allied Hundred Days Offensive. Recruitment On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army, and the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'. A flood of volunteers poured into the recruiting offices across the country and were formed into 'Service' battalions of the county regiments. However, the Bristol Chamber of Commerce considered that the city's response was inadequate and formed a Bristol Citizens' Recruiting Committee under the leadership of the former Lord Mayor, Sir Herbert Ashman,