TGW-009 – $ 100.00 The Pals 4 Tommies Advancing through 2 Barbed Wire Scenic Pieces, 1:32 Scale (54mm). With just 450,000 men, Britain’s professional army was badly equipped and minuscule in comparison to the conscript-heavy armies on the continent. Although many famously expected the war to be ‘over by Christmas,’ Lord Kitchener, the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, was unconvinced. He warned the government that the war effort would need at least one million men but with conscription politically unpalatable, Kitchener decided to raise a new army of volunteers. On 6 August, Parliament sanctioned an increase in Army strength. ....The call to arms was augmented by the decision to form the units that became known as Pals Battalions. General Henry Rawlinson initially suggested that men would be more willing to join up if they could serve with people they already knew. Lord Derby was the first to test the idea when he announced in late August that he would try to raise a battalion in Liverpool, comprised solely of local men. Within days, Liverpool had enlisted enough men to form four battalions. ....Once they had been formed, most Pals Battalions spent 1914 and 1915 training in Britain. They would see their first major action in 1916, for many it would also be their last. That action was the Somme. Next