A bantam, in

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

usage, was a soldier of below the army's minimum regulation height of . During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the British Army raised

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s in which the normal minimum height requirement for recruits was reduced from to . This enabled shorter but healthy young men to enlist. Bantam units enlisted from industrial and coal-mining areas where short stature was no sign of weakness. The name derives from the town of Bantam in Indonesia, from which a breed of small domestic fowl allegedly originated.

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

was a weight category in boxing that had originated in the 1880s and had produced many notable boxers. The first "bantam battalions" were recruited in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, after

Alfred Bigland Alfred Bigland (1855 - 1936) was an English industrialist and an MP from 1910 to 1922. Life Bigland was born on 15 March 1855, son of Edwin Bigland, of Birkenhead. He was educated at the Quaker school at Sidcot. As a supporter of the First Wor ...

, MP, heard of a group of miners who, rejected from every recruiting office, had made their way to the town. One of the miners, rejected on account of his size, offered to fight any man there as proof of his suitability as a soldier, and six men were eventually called upon to remove him. Bantam applicants were men used to physical hard work, and Bigland was so incensed at what he saw as the needless rejection of spirited healthy men that he petitioned the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

for permission to establish an undersized fighting unit. When the permission was granted, news spread across the country and men previously denied the chance to fight made their way to Birkenhead, 3,000 successful recruits being accepted for service into two new bantam battalions in November 1914. The requirement for their

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...

was between and . Chest size was one inch (2.5 cm) more than the army standard. The men became local heroes, with the local newspaper, ''The Birkenhead News'', honouring the men of the 1st and 2nd Birkenhead Battalions of the Cheshires with enamel badges - "BBB" - "Bigland's Birkenhead Bantams". Soon renamed the 15th and 16th (Service) Battalions, Cheshire Regiment, they undertook gruelling training and served in some of the hardest-fought battles of the war, such as the Battle of Arras in 1917. Other bantam battalions included the

14th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (West of England) The 14th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (West of England) ('14th Glosters') was a Bantam battalion recruited in World War I as part of 'Kitchener's Army' from men who were below the minimum height normally required by the British ...

, and the

23rd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (8th City) The 23rd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (8th City) was a Bantam battalion recruited in 1914 as part of 'Kitchener's Army' from men who were below the normal minimum height required by the British Army. It served in 35th Division (Unite ...

raised in 1915 and sent to France in 1916. Eventually the whole of the 35th Division and most of the 40th Division, were formed from "Bantam" men, who were virtually annihilated during the Battles of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

and the

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

respectively. Heavy casualties, transfers to specialized Army tunneling companies and tank regiments, the introduction of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, and replacements by taller men, eventually led to Bantam units becoming indistinguishable from other British divisions.

Notes

References

* * Lt-Col H.M. Davson, ''The History of the 35th Division in the Great War'', London: Sifton Praed, 1926/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-84342-643-9. * Stephen McGreal, ''The Cheshire Bantams: 15th, 16th and 17th Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment'', Barnsley:Pen & Sword, 2006, ISBN 1-84415-524-2. * Caroline Scott, ''The Manchester Bantams, The Story of a Pals Battalion and a City at War: 23rd (Service) Battalion, The Manchester Regiment (8th City)'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78346-389-3. * . * Lt.-Col. F.E. Whitton, ''History of the 40th Division'', Aldershot; Gale & Polden, 1926/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-843428-70-1.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bantam (Military) British Army in World War I Human height

See also

Notes

References

External links