The Manchester Pals were part of Kitchener's New Army

Kitchener's Army

The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...

. They were formed into seven battalions in The Manchester Regiment

The Manchester Regiment

The Manchester Regiment was a regiment of the British army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 63rd Regiment of Foot and the 96th Regiment of Foot...

.

• 1st Manchester Pals (16th Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 2nd Manchester Pals (17th Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 3rd Manchester Pals (Clerks' and Warehousemen's Battalion) (18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 4th Manchester Pals (19th Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 5th Manchester Pals (20th Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 6th Manchester Pals (21st Battalion, Manchester Regiment)
• 7th Manchester Pals (22nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment)

Almost 10,000 men enlisted in the Manchester Pals battalions, of whom 4,776 were killed. Overall, the Manchester Regiment lost about 13,000 men. In 1993, a memorial was unveiled in Heaton Park

Heaton Park

Heaton Park, covering an area variously reported as , 247 hectares, , over and is the biggest park in Greater Manchester, England and one of the biggest municipal parks in Europe. The park comprises the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall...

, where the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th battalions were trained between September 1914 and April 1915.