Public Schools Battalions

rdf:langString Public Schools Battalions

rdf:langString 16th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Public Schools)

rdf:langString 18th–21st (Service) Battalions, Royal Fusiliers (1st–4th Public Schools)

rdf:langString Polygon Wood

rdf:langString Cap badge of the Middlesex Regiment

rdf:langString Cap badge of the Royal Fusiliers

rdf:langString Infantry

rdf:langString The Public Schools Battalions were a group of Pals battalions of the British Army during World War I. They were raised in 1914 as part of Kitchener's Army and were originally recruited exclusively from former public schoolboys. When the battalions were taken over by the British Army they became variously the 16th (Service) Battalion (Public Schools) of the Middlesex Regiment and the 18th–21st (Service) Battalions (1st–4th Public Schools) of the Royal Fusiliers. However, Kitchener's Army was faced with a dire shortage of officers and so 'young gentlemen'— public schoolboys and university graduates, including many of those who had enlisted in the Public Schools Battalions — were encouraged to apply for commissions. The battalions' depleted ranks were made up with ordinary volunteers (and later conscripts) and although they retained the Public Schools titles, their exclusive nature was doomed. Two battalions remained to serve on the Western Front: the original battalion was all but destroyed on the First day of the Somme. After hard service both battalions were disbanded in February 1918 before the end of the war.