WRITER Barney Alston is compiling a book on the 13th (Service) Battalion (West Ham) Essex Regiment, which was raised during the Great War, and he needs your help to tell this amazing story.
The Regiment was raised in the borough of West Ham in December 1914
and formed part of Lord Kitchener¹s Volunteer Army. Many
of the volunteers were local men from West Ham, East Ham, Forest
Gate, Custom House, Barking and Stratford. They were not
professional soldiers but ordinary working-men, many of who came
from the Thames Ironworks, the company owned by Arnold Hills where
West Ham United has its roots. It was this connection that earned
the Battalion¹s nickname, OThe Hammers.
On 17th November 1915 the West Ham Battalion, made up of 1200 men,
landed on the coast of France. Their battle cry of ³Up
the Irons² was heard on some of the Great
War¹s bloodies battlefields, including Vimy Ridge, the
Somme and Cambrai before the West Ham Battalion was disbanded in
February 1918. Sadly, by this time many of the original Battalion
members had been killed in the fighting, and in the intervening
years all of those who served in the West Ham Battalion have passed
away.
However, the local area remains rightly proud of the West Ham
Battalion and Barney Alston is looking to speak to anyone who may
have had connections to it. So, did your relative or anyone you
know serve with the Battalion? Do you have any letters, anecdotes,
personal memories, diaries, photographs, newspaper cuttings,
medals, postcards or any other items of memorabilia that can help
provide an insight into the lives of the men from West Ham who
volunteered to fight in one of the most horrifying wars in
history.
If you can help please contact Barney Alston on 07904 255933. With
your help, this remarkable Battalion will forever be
remembered.