By early 1915, recruiting numbers across Britain had begun to subside after the patriotic rush of 1914, this was probably due to the rapidly changing economic circumstances. Unemployment was falling rapidly, as industry began to switch to wartime production and so the ‘Pal’s Movement’ as it became known was created as a way to boost recruiting .

German Forces crossed into Belgium in early August after issueing an ultimatum, that Belgium should not impede the Imperial German Army as it crossed Belgium to invade France. Britain who having guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality with the 'Treaty of London', declared war on the 4th August 1914, following demands that German Forces leave Belgium. 

The Schlieffen-Moltke plan, a hybrid of the original 1908 plan, saw two German Armies rapidly moved down through Belgium and into Northern France, however they were held up trying to reduce the fortress cities of Namur and Liege...

Troops of the three Divisions of the newly created 'British Expeditionary Force' began arriving in France within days, they rapidly moved North into Belgium and initially clashed with German formations in the summer battles at Mons and Le Cateau. What followed was a well ordered retreat towards the river Marne. Where finally the exhausted BEF, badly depleted but still an effective fighting force were ordered to set up defensive positions. 

Back home in Britain men had begun volunteering in huge numbers. Some apparently saying ‘It’ll be over by Christmas’…but did they actually say that? certainly Douglas Haig thought the war would be a long one and Lord Kitchener also echoed this opinion and in my research, there appears to be no actual evidence of this sentiment in the Press or Public at the time, so perhaps this was a general feeling of the men of the BEF, or maybe another myth of the Great War...

The British War Cabinet very quickly agreed in August 1914, to Lord Kitchener’s appointment as Minister for War and endorsed fully his call for men, and to begin efforts towards raising the first 100,000 men of what became quickly known as ‘Kitchener’s New Army’. This initial 100,000, was very soon increased to 500,000 and eventually these men formed the largest citizen army ever raised by Britain, numbering around 8.5m by the wars end in 1918. 

What however, caused this rush to the colours by millions of not only working class men but also huge numbers of middle class men, was it ‘Nationalistic Patriotism’, which had certainly been on the rise ever since German unification in 1871, or was it a thirst for ‘Adventure’ a way out of the harsh life of toil that was reality for most working-class men. 

The majority of men had never really left the confines of their local town or village, but volunteer they did, so it doesn’t really matter what urged them to ‘join up’ in such huge numbers. The plain fact was that hundreds of thousands of men thronged the recruiting places in the initial weeks of August 1914. 

In those first six months of the war, the bureaucracy of the British peacetime British army became totally overwhelmed, men were signing up and then were being sent home! the Army had nowhere to accomodate them, never mind train them! 

In peace time around 30,000 men would normally enlist in any one year, joining what was essentially an Empire peace keeping force. Here though were a similar number of men enlisting in one day alone at its peak across Britain. By the summer of 1915 however, the recruiting figures had begun to see a marked tailing off following this initial patriotic fervour. 

This was most probably due to the surge in civilian employment being provided by industry, as it increasingly began to gear up for full war production. Jobs were becoming plentiful after years of uncertainty, wages were also rising for the first time in decades. Men, especially married men, began opting to remain in industry and earn vastly more than the 1 Shilling per day offered by the British Army, realizing that Conscription would eventually be brought in which would call them up in turn so why go now? 

The War Office had acknowledged Lord Derby’s recruiting efforts in Liverpool, where he had raised at least three Battalions of the Liverpool Regiment alone. He had reasoned that, appealing for recruits from specific areas, towns, clubs and workplaces, men would be willing to enlist with their ‘mates’ or ‘Pals’ and so began what eventually became the ‘Pals’ Battalions. A good idea which wasn't borne out over the next 4 years and battles such as the infamous Somme saw towns and villages experiencing disproportionate losses of the 'Local' Pals. 

Men were entreated that "This should be a Battalion of Pals. A battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and for the credit of Liverpool.

"Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby. 

This, hopefully ensured that no one would be sent to a depot to train where they would be among total strangers. The reality of this meant that Managers became the Officers, Foremen and Supervisors became the Serjeant Majors and Serjeants, and the ordinary workers became the Private soldiers. The work to create cohesion within a unit in training, was made far easier as these men were taking orders from people they were used to getting instructions from in civilian life. 

On seeing the success in recruiting in this fashion the War Office was prompted to send communications to the Mayors and Corporations of all cities and towns in Great Britain, asking them to raise ‘local’ Battalions for ‘Kitchener’s New Armies’. 

Consequently, following these meetings recruits began to turn up specifically wanting to join the ‘Local Teesside Battalion’. Unfortunately, it seems that some of these men, including my grandfather George William Spenceley were 'mis-directed' elsewhere by the Yorkshire Regiment Depot at Richmond, possibly more interested in refilling the Regular battalions following larger than anticipated casualties in the early battles of 1914. 

This prompted Mayor Bruce to write to Lord Kitchener complaining that the ‘Local Territorial Associations’ were ‘intercepting’ his recruits and sending them to other Battalions of the Yorkshire Regiments within the Middlesbrough Recruiting Area.

Finally in the Monday 18th January edition of the ‘North Star’, printed in Darlington, ran the leader. 

“Following requests from the War Office, details had been settled and Major Rance, Officer in Charge of Recruiting issued the order that “men who volunteered in the Middlesbrough Recruiting Area, be allocated to this Battalion”.

Recruiting had already started promptly, and Alderman Robert Hermiston is shown as being the first to enlist, whilst attending one of the first recruitment meetings at the town hall in Middlesbrough. 

Within months eight hundred men had enlisted in this ‘Teesside Battalion’ and when a further ‘Final 200’ were called for in the local press, the Battalion was completed and now formally attached to the Yorkshire Regiment as the 12th (Service) Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, they were part of Kitchener’s Fifth Volunteer Army or K5.

Major Fleming, who was a member of the local North Riding Territorial Association, was present to hear this news, and though he was named as one of the accredited speakers on the committee's list compiled in August 1914, he didn't usually attend these meetings. The minutes of the meeting record that the only time Major Fleming spoke was to reiterate the contents of his original letter to the mayor.

Major W Fleming of Cornfield Road, Linthorpe, 

“wanted to highlight the fact that a town like Middlesbrough, with its many advantages, including location and its large male population, did not have a single soldier stationed there”. 

Continuing his theme, he felt 

“that if a public-spirited man could raise a battalion called the Teesside, Middlesbrough or Cleveland Battalion, it would be a great success and seriously improve local recruitment”. 

Fleming's ideas won immediate written support from the mayor, always enthusiastic to demonstrate his leadership of the war effort in Middlesbrough, Alderman W J Bruce (above) also wrote directly to Lord Kitchener requesting 'advice' on the raising of a local battalion using Fleming's ideas to support his case. 

Intriguingly, there is however no acknowledgement of Major Fleming's role, apart from the articles published in the ‘Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough’ from where these quotes come.

Built originally by Henry Bolckow, he died in 1878 and having no direct heirs, it was bequeathed to his nephew Carl. Initially Carl moved into Marton Hall with his family but unfortunately, Carl didn’t possess the business acumen of his uncle, and when the iron trade hit a slump in the 1880's Carl’s fortune was lost. 

Marton Hall was closed in 1892, the year of the first Durham coal miners’ strike and things got so bad it was said, that Carl being almost bankrupt by the turn of the century, had moved out of the hall and into one of the gate lodges, ‘shooting rabbits off the estate to stay alive’.

Eventually money matters improved, and Carl retired to Torquay in 1905, where died in 1915 aged almost 80. Marton Hall with its 60 rooms, marble staircases and fine statues sadly remained empty. This Hall then became the main accommodation for around 400 men and the very large stables at the rear of the Hall, were also converted to house the remaining 300 Teesside Pioneers.   

A description of the Hall from the souvenir booklet produced for the opening of the Stewart Park in 1928, reads as follows 

"The Hall had a tessellated pavement of white and black marble, the walls relieved by columns of Carrara marble while the broad staircase and the balcony above were of the same material. The glazed roof let in a flood of light upon one of Handseers greatest paintings hung above the first landing”. that particular painting is hung in the 'Captain Cook Birthplace Museum' now in Stewart Park. 

Whilst Henry Bolckow was the Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough, the grounds of his mansion were frequently thrown open for 

“the delectation of his constituents, and in aid of the funds of religious bodies.…" 

In 1858 Bolckow erected a granite vase to mark the location of Captain Cook's birthplace cottage, which originally had stood in the grounds behind the magnificent hall. 

C.F.H. Bolckow died on the 18th of June 1878 and had bequeathed Marton Hall, 

“together with grounds, furniture, paintings etc., to his nephew, Carl F.H. Bolckow with provision that it should remain, in succession for four generations”. 

This then was the palatial ‘barracks’ that the Teesside men moved into. 

In order, to fit nearly 1000 men into the accommodation available at Marton Hall, major alterations were required and a company of Civil Engineers S E Burgess Ltd. was appointed initially; to survey the Hall and ascertain how many men could be fitted into each of the rooms, given that the War Office Field Service Regulations 1907 prescribed ‘600cub.ft. of space be allowed per man in Barrack accommodation’. 

Field Service Regulations, Sanitary Orders of 1913, reduced this however to 40sq.ft, with 400cub.ft. of surrounding space’. 

As the blueprints seen above of SE Burgess M.I.C.E. show, they worked out that the main hall could hold 478 men, allowing this prescribed 400cub.ft. of space per man. 

Marton Hall, together with its grounds, furniture and paintings etc., came with a provision that it should remain, in family succession for four generations and after the war Councillor Thomas D. Stewart, a former Middlesbrough Mayor, bought the hall and some of the land from Mr. H.W.F. Bolckow (Carl's eldest son) for £25,000 and this property, Councillor Stewart presented to the Council on 5th. February 1924 for use as a public park. The park was formally declared open to the public on Wednesday, 23rd May 1928. 

Henry Bolckow, along with John Vaughan had been the principal men responsible for the rise of  the Iron and Steel industry in Middlesbrough, and this ‘Infant Hercules’ on the river Tees…

Bolckow and Vaughan through their Iron and Steel Works, Mines and Bolckows appointment as one of Middlesbrough’s first Mayors, had a major effect on the place that became Middlesbrough from 1850 onwards.

The constant presence of ‘Hard Tack’ the famous tough biscuit, intended as a bread alternative was constantly fed to soldiers, so teeth of an acceptable standard were a requirement and there are many instances of ‘Dental Caries’ in the service records of men of the Teesside Pioneers indeed Dental Treatment was common in many Service Records nationally of men enlisting. 

Following the initial raising of the Battalion, mayor Bruce immediately sent the following telegram to 

Major Becher, Duke of Wellington Regiment, at the Barracks, in Halifax: 

“Colonel Watson General Officer Commanding York suggested your name to me as a most suitable person to accept appointment of Commanding Officer.”

Major Becher sent his acceptance the following day adding, in a personal letter to the mayor dated Saturday 26 December 1914, 

“That he hoped that they would not expect too much of him as since having resigned his commission in 1907, he had been out of the army as a reserve for eight years”.  

In fact, Becher, was the third son of Sir John Wrixon Becher the 3rd Baronet of Fermoy, Becher was born in Fermoy, Ireland, on 27th July, 1866, and by the outbreak of War in 1914 had over twenty years' of military experience, including war service in South Africa 1900-02 where he was Mentioned in Despatches. 

He proved to be a good appointment, remaining with the battalion until it ceased to exist in 1918, and in a letter to ‘The Ironduke’ the Regimental magazine of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment following Becher’s death in 1951 one of his past comrades records… 

LIwyn-Celyn, Pennal, Machynlleth. December 6, 195I.

THE LATE LT.-COL. H. W. BECHER, D.S.O.

The Editor,

Becher was a great sportsman, and keen polo player, and was very clever with his hands at any job, from gardening to building a block house. He came out to the 1st Battalion at Bloemfontein, from the Regimental Depot in May 1900 and served with it until the end of the South African War. I got to know him very well during August and September 1901, when I went as his Subaltern on Trek with B Company in the Magaliesburg Range, West of Pretoria. We were almost entirely on our own for most of the time, I had an unbounded admiration for him, and I enclose a copy of a pencil sketch I made of him at that time; the beard he grew during the war was very becoming to him. The last time I saw him was in 1918 in London, when he had just recovered from a severe head wound. On my congratulating him on his lucky escape, he replied that his head was too hard for any Boches to break. 

(LIwyn-Celyn, December 6, 195I.)

It appears that the Officers were well appreciated by the men at Marton Hall as in this letter from 42564 Private Davies...

Dear Wife, I received your letter today at dinner time and I saw our Commanding Officer about it this afternoon, he asked me if he could read it and I told him yes and let him do so. When he had read it he asked me a few questions about me and he took our address on some paper and he said he would do what he could for me as he wanted to help me if he could for he was very nice about it indeed, he asked me who Mr day was and I told him he was our landlord and he wanted to know who the lady was who called on you from City Hall and of course I said I did not know them.

Oh my darling I only pray please God that he will be able to get me home soon and I think he will if he can for he is a very nice man that is a good thing about this place there is a good lot of Officers here they do not bully or sneer at any of us but are always nice to us. Well darling I am very sorry to hear indeed how you are going on but pray please God you will soon be alright again give my love to baby and kiss him for me and expect the same for yourself from your ever-loving husband  

            X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X    X     X      X     X   X    X     X     X     X      X 

Pte. H. J. Davis 42564

E Coy 1st (R) Garr.   Batl.    KOYLI

Room 24   Marton   Hall,   Marton   near   Middlesbrough.

As can be seen here from the original letters, held in the Teesside Archives collection. It was written on Y.M.C.A headed note paper, which was provided free of charge to the men at Marton Hall from the Y.M.C.A Hut in the grounds of Marton Hall.

Next time...Where the Tesside Lads went next, stay tuned...