Unlike its near neighbour, working-class Salford, Manchester proved able to raise eight Pals battalions. Initially, these battalions were composed of middle-class men whose experience before the war years was within the commercial, financial and manufacturing interests which formed the foundations of Edwardian Manchester's life and prosperity. Manchester was undeniably proud of its pals battalions; that the area was capable of raising. Seven months after their arrival in France the battle of the Somme was launched, on the fateful 1st July, 1916. On the right of the British Army's extraordinary efforts that day, the Manchester Pals were part of one of the few successful actions, taking the villages of Montauban and Mametz and making a deep incursion into the German defences north of the River Somme. AUTHOR: The Author, Michael Stedman, was born in Salford in 1949. From the 1970's to the 1990's he taught history and economics in schools in nearby Stockport, developing his interests in the history of the Salford and Manchester Pals during many visits to the Battlefield with students and colleagues. He is married with sons. He is the author of Salford Pals, Fricourt-Mametz, Guillemont, La Boisselle, Thiepval. Illustrated
