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20th (4th Salford Pals) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
20th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers were known as the 4th Salford Pals, the battalion was raised in Salford on the 23rd of March 1915, by Mr Montague Barlow MP and the Salford Brigade Committee as a Bantam Battalion (troops who were under the normal regulation minimum height of 5 feet 3 inches). After initial training close to home, they moved to Conway in July 1915 and joined 104th Brigade, 35th Division at Masham, North Yorkshire in June 1915. The Division moved to Salisbury Plain for final training in August. They were ordered to Egypt in late 1915, but the order was soon cancelled and they proceeded to France on the 30th of January 1916, landing at Le Havre and the division concentrated east of St Omer. They were in action during the Battles of the Somme at Bazentin Ridge, Arrow Head Copse, Maltz Horn Farm and Falfemont Farm. The division received new drafts of men to replace losses suffered on the Somme, but the CO. soon discovered that these new recruits were not of the same physical standard as the original Bantams, being men of small stature from the towns, rather than the miners and farm workers who had joined up in 1915. A medical inspection was carried out and 1439 men were transferred to the Labour Corps. Their places being taken by men transferred from the disbanded yeomanry regiments, who underwent a quick training course in infantry methods at a Divisional depot set up specifically for that purpose. In 1917 they were in action during The pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, at Houthulst Forest and The Second Battle of Passchendaele. In early 1918 the army was reorganised and the 4th Salford Pals were disbanded in Belgium on the 16 February 1918 with the troops transferring to other units.
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with20th (4th Salford Pals) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers during the Great War 1914-1918. - Clemson Thomas Henry. Pte. (d.26th March 1918)
- Eccles Richard. Pte.
- Edwards Henry. Pte.
- Gibbons Edwin Ingram. 2nd Lt. (d.29th Apr 1917)
- Hall William Ewart. Pte. (d.13th Apr 1917)
- Heywood James Robert . Pte. (d.21st Aug 1916)
- Jones Thomas William. Pte.
- McGawley Robert. Pte. (d.25th July 1916)
- McIntyre James Ferguson. Sgt. (d.23rd October 1917)
- Muscat Rudolph. L/Cpl. (d.22nd Oct 1917)
- Potts Joseph A.. Pte. (d.11th Jan 1918)
- Redford A . Pte. (d.15th April 1917)
- Rhodes John. Pte. (d.8th Jan 1918)
- Thornton Lawrence. Pte (d.2nd Nov 1917)
- Williams Maurice C.. Pte. (d.8th May 1916)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 20th (4th Salford Pals) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers from other sources.
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2nd Lt. Edwin Ingram Gibbons 20th Btn Lancashire Fusiliers (d.29th Apr 1917)  Edwyn Gibbons was born on 2nd of November 1891. He is shown as Edward on CWGC. Edwin on Registration of birth. Edwyn on Probate and Marriage Registration). His parents were Alfred Robert Gibbons, a newspaper proprietor and author, and Annie Marie Snedker, a reporter. They were married at Lambeth, London in March 1885. Their address, at the time of Edwyn's baptism on 28th of November 1891 in the Parish of St. Clement Danes, Middlesex, was recorded as 172 The Strand, London. His mother's death was recorded at Grasse, France in 1898.
Between 1906 and 1911 Edwyn attended Charterhouse Boarding School at Godalming, Surrey. In September 1915 he was cited as the third party in the divorce petition of Herbert Francis Fenn, an officer in a UPS battalion. Fenn had married Gladys Archbutt in 1909. Gladys was a well known London-based theatre actress and comedienne of the time. In the 3rd quarter of 1916 Edwin married Gladys Fenn (nee Archbutt).
Edwyn may have joined the 20th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers soon after the raising of the regiment, although, on 20th of February 1916, he is recorded as having attained a Proficiency Certificate in flying a Maurice Farman Biplane at the Military School, Brooklands in Surrey.
His death was recorded near Arras on or soon after the 29th Apr 1917.
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Pte. John Rhodes 20th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (d.8th Jan 1918) John Rhodes was my Dad's older stepbrother.
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Pte. Joseph A. Potts 20th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (d.11th Jan 1918) Joseph Potts was my dad's uncle.
He is buried at Minty Farm Cemetery.
My parents visited his grave many years ago so he has always been remembered within our family.
I've since learnt that he enlisted in the Eccles Bantams (for men under 5ft 3").
In a letter to his mum, from the army chaplain, it states that his company commander described him as being one of the pluckiest men in his Battalion.
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Sgt. James Ferguson McIntyre 20th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (d.23rd October 1917) James McIntyre served with 20th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers.
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Pte. Thomas William Jones 20th Btn., D Coy., 14th Platoon Lancashire Fusiliers  Born in Rossendale in August 1898, my grandfather Thomas William Jones enlisted in the 4th Salfords on 22nd June 1915, giving his age as 19 years and 2 months, (he was actually 16 years and 10 months). My mother knew that he had served in WW1 but nothing more, as men of his generation never spoke about it. I think he enlisted in the bantams because of his small size at that age, probably thinking he would get away with it, which he did.
He fought in all the major battles, The Somme, Ypres, Passchaendale, being wounded twice, the first time on 22nd October 1917 during the attack on Houthulst Wood and the second time on 10th August 1918 during the advance along the Amiens-Roye road.
In August 1916 his father John Jones wrote to the battalion in an attempt to have Thomas removed from the front line as he was not yet 19 years of age even offering to pay, but I doubt that with his poor background it was unlikely he could afford to. Thomas William transferred to the 15th battalion when the 20th was disbanded and remained with them until 1919. After the war he married and had two daughters. He served in the Home Guard in WW2. He died in 1958.
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L/Cpl. Rudolph Muscat 20th Btn Lancashire Fusiliers (d.22nd Oct 1917)  Rudolph Muscat served with the 20th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers and formally served in 65th Divisional ASC.
He was killed in action on the 22nd of October 1917 and was posthumously awarded the British War Medal, the British Star and the Victory Medal. These medals have not survived in the family.
Rudolph Muscat was born in London in October 1888, the eldest son of German parents, his father had moved to England in 1872, his mother was born in Germany, they married in England is 1885. The 1911 Rudolph was living with his mother in Aldershot, working as a general carman. In 1912 he married Ethel Clifford in Farnham and joined the army in August 1914. In 1915 his only child was born, but the infant died, aged 3 months. Rudolph served first in the ASC and later transferred to the Lancashire Fusiliers. He was killed in action in Flanders on 22nd October 1917, the day after his 29th birthday. His body was later found on a war site and identified. He was reburied in the Cement House War Graves cemetery at Langemark-Poelkapelle, Belgium.
Shortly after Rudolph's death his mother died, it is said she died of a broken heart. Rudolph was one of three brothers who fought for England. His brother Edward died of injuries in Salonika in October 1918. The youngest son Paul was injured three times and survived the war. Family history talks of cousins fighting cousins. In fact the WW1 War memorial in the home village of Grossengottern Germany, shows that one of their German cousins was also killed in the war.
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Pte. Robert McGawley 20th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (d.25th July 1916) Private Robert McGawley was my late grandfather. He was killed in action and left behind a wife and young children. My late father was two years old at the time of his father's death.
God bless my grandfather, may he rest in peace. And thank you for giving your life for the freedom of future generations. We will never forget you and all the brave men who fought alongside you. God bless them all.
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Pte. James Robert Heywood 20th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (d.21st Aug 1916) James Heywood is a distant cousin but sadly he was just 17 when he died at France and Flanders and he needs to not be forgotten for giving his life
He served with the 20th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers and died on the 21st August 1916.
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Pte. Henry Edwards 20th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers Henry Edwards was the grandad I never met. My father used to talk of him with great affection. Henry joined up in August 1915 to E Company, 20th Lancashire Fusiliers (4th Salford Pals), Embarked for France in Jan 1916,and saw action at Peronne, The Somme, Arras, Bullecourt, Messines, Ypres, Passchendale, Cambrai and Haverincourt Wood, where he was gassed.
He did return to his Battalion and was with them until they were disbanded in Feb 1918. Here his Army life gets a bit confused for me as on one website it shows that he was transferred to the Labour Corps and on another he joined the 104th Brigade Machine Gun Company.
He returned from France in early 1919. He married my grandmother and raised a family. Henry died in 1945 and is buried in Agecroft Cemetery in Salford. A true Salford Pal through and through. God Bless you Grandad, and Thank you to all your Pals.
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Pte. Thomas Henry Clemson 20th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (d.26th March 1918) Tom Clemson was my great uncle killed in March, 1918 aged 21.
I never knew him, but I have a memory from when I was a child of a sepia photograph taken of him before the War of a smiling man. Unfortunately this photograph is now lost.
All I know was that he was wounded in France and I believe my Great Grandmother (his mother) visited him after he was wounded before he died.
As I knew all his brothers and sisters (my great Uncles & Aunts) I have often thought about him and what he was really like. It seems that everybody liked him. It seems such a tragedy that he was killed at only 21.
In 2010 I traced his burial to the Etaples Military Cemetery near Le Touquet. I had the opportunity to visit the cemetery and it was a very emotional experience. We found the grave from a plan amongst the nearly 12,000 others buried there. The cemetary was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and is an imposing site from the terrace where you enter. The thousands of graves are laid out in lots of rows and make you realise how many soldiers lie there. We walked along the row where he lies and there is a simple headstone like all the others giving his name,regiment and date of death. We placed some flowers on the grave and I believe I am the first person from my family to visit his grave.
When I think about Tom now I have the picture in my mind of this peaceful place in Northern France where a member of my family lies and I hope he is at peace at last.
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Pte. A Redford 20th Battalion (d.15th April 1917) I knew nothing about Pte. Redford, while doing my family tree I found were he was buried and went over to France to see his grave stone and leave flowers. I just want to pay my respects to him, and put him name on here. He will never be forgotten.
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