The St Helens Townships Family History Society has been awarded a £40,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to research the history of the heroic St Helens Pals.
Pals battalions were special units of the British Army for men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives - with the promise of serving alongside their friends instead of being sent to serve in regular army regiments.
The name St Helens Pals tended to be applied to all men from St Helens who fought in the army, but the project will concentrate on the 11th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment - raised by Lord Derby - which became known as The St Helens Pals.
The research is being led by military historians Dave Risley and Richard Waring, but it is local people who will hold the key to unearthing much of the material.
Local historian and Project Manager, Peter Harvey explained: Everyone can take part - by finding out about members of their family who served in the First World War.
Anyone who has any papers, information, photographs or a family story can go along to the Archive Library in the Gamble Building, Victoria Square, where we will set up a contact register for people to be involved throughout this exciting project.”
The grant award was helped with advice from experts at St Helens Council.
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