# Grimsby Chums > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Grimsby_Chums > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Grimsby_Chums.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby_Chums > Source revision: 1309663487 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British battalion in the First World War}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Lincolnshire Regiment Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1071727.jpg|thumb|Memorial in [St James' Church, Grimsby](/source/Grimsby_Minster)]] The '''Grimsby Chums''' was a British [First World War](/source/World_War_I) [Pals battalion](/source/Pals_battalion) of [Kitchener's Army](/source/Kitchener's_Army) raised in and around the town of [Grimsby](/source/Grimsby) in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire) in 1914. When the [battalion](/source/battalion) was taken over by the [British Army](/source/British_Army) it was officially named the 10th (Service) Battalion, [The Lincolnshire Regiment](/source/The_Lincolnshire_Regiment). It was the only '[pals battalion](/source/pals_battalion)' to be called 'chums'. When the call came from [Lord Kitchener](/source/Horatio_Kitchener%2C_1st_Earl_Kitchener_of_Khartoum) for volunteers, the headmaster of [Wintringham Grammar School](/source/Wintringham_School) in Grimsby decided to raise a 250-strong [company](/source/company_(military)) of former pupils which would be based at the armoury of the school's [Officer Training Corps](/source/Officers'_Training_Corps). The company was offered to the local [Territorial Force](/source/Territorial_Force) unit, the [5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment](/source/5th_Battalion%2C_Lincolnshire_Regiment), but by then the battalion was full.Maj-Gen C. R. Simpson (ed), ''The History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914–1918'', London: Medici Society, 1931//Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-84342-355-3}}, pp. 53–4. When other Grimsby men expressed a wish to join, the process was handed over to the town council which set about recruiting sufficient men to form an entire battalion for 'Kitchener's Army'.[https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/lincolnshire-regiment/ Lincolns at Long, Long Trail.] Men were accepted from neighbouring towns such as [Boston](/source/Boston%2C_Lincolnshire), [Louth](/source/Louth%2C_Lincolnshire) and [Scunthorpe](/source/Scunthorpe). In order to complete the battalion, a group was sent from [Wakefield](/source/Wakefield) in Yorkshire. The Grimsby Chums joined the [101st Brigade](/source/101st_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)) of the [34th Division](/source/British_34th_Division) where they were joined by the two battalions of the [Edinburgh City Pals](/source/Edinburgh_City_Pals). The division moved to [France](/source/France) in January 1916 and first saw action in the [Battle of the Somme](/source/Battle_of_the_Somme_(1916)). On 1 July 1916, the [first day on the Somme](/source/first_day_on_the_Somme), the Grimsby Chums were in the first wave attacking the fortified village of [La Boisselle](/source/La_Boisselle), just south of the [Albert](/source/Albert%2C_France)–[Bapaume](/source/Bapaume) road. To aid their attack, a massive mine, known as the [Lochnagar mine](/source/Lochnagar_mine), was detonated beneath the German trenches at 7.28 am, two minutes before Zero hour. At 7.30 am, the Grimsby Chums rushed forward to occupy the [crater](/source/subsidence_crater). Here many were trapped for the rest of the day, harassed by both German and British artillery.Martin Middlebrook, ''The First Day on the Somme, 1 July 1916'', London: Allen Lane 1971/Fontana, 1975, {{ISBN|0-00-633626-4}}. A few of the Grimsby Chums made it into the German trenches. The only officer to make it was [2nd Lieutenant](/source/2nd_Lieutenant) Harold P. Hendin who led five men to the German reserve trench (the third trench in the front-line system) and, gathering stragglers as the day progressed, he held off a series of German counter-attacks before having to retire. In total the Grimsby Chums suffered 502 casualties on 1 July; 15 officers and 487 [other ranks](/source/Other_ranks_(UK)). Only two of the officers came back unwounded, and only about 100 men. In February 1918 the battalion moved to the [103rd Brigade](/source/103rd_(Tyneside_Irish)_Brigade), 34th Division. The 10th Battalion was disbanded on 3 June 1919. A memorial in [St James' Church](/source/Grimsby_Minster), Grimsby, was erected to the memory of the 810 members of the 10th (Service) Battalion who were killed in action or died on service. ==References== {{Reflist}} == External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20041111094643/http://www.eebo.freeserve.co.uk/chums.htm The Story of The Grimsby Chums] *[http://www.rootsweb.com/~englin/mem/grimsby.htm Grimsby Roll of Honour (printed 1919/20)] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOKp299CKeo ''Grimsby Chums March'' composed by Stuart Boyd](accessed 15-05-2016) *[http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk The Long, Long Trail] Category:Pals battalions Category:Military units and formations in Grimsby Category:Military units and formations in Lincolnshire Category:Royal Lincolnshire Regiment Category:Military units and formations established in 1914 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Grimsby Chums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby_Chums) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsby_Chums?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.