The volunteers were initially sought at The Kings Regiment Liverpool HQ in St Anne Street on 28 August 1914, and were addressed by Lord Derby, who said:I am not going to make you a speech of heroics. You have given me your answer, and I can telegraph to Lord Kitchener tonight to say that our second battalion is formed. This should be a Battalion of Pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool. I don’t attempt to minimise to you the hardships you will suffer, the risks you will run. I don’t ask you to uphold Liverpool’s honour, it would be an insult to think that you could do anything but that. But I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here tonight and showing what is the spirit of Liverpool, a spirit that ought to spread through every city and every town in the kingdom. • 17th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (1st City), formed at
Liverpool, 29 August 1914 by
Lord Derby; reduced to
cadre in France, June 1918; reconstituted from personnel of 28th (Service) Bn, King's (Liverpool Regiment), 3 July 1918; disbanded at
Ripon, 13 September 1919 • 18th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (2nd City), formed at Liverpool, 29 August 1914 by Lord Derby; absorbed
1/1st Lancashire Hussars 24 September 1917 and redesignated 18th (Lancashire Hussars Yeomanry) Bn; absorbed 13th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (Pioneers) 13 August 1918; disbanded at
Barrow-in-Furness 20 May 1919 • 19th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (3rd City), formed at Liverpool, 29 August 1914 by Lord Derby; absorbed into 14th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) 31 July 1918 • 20th (Service) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (4th City), formed at Liverpool, 16 October 1914 by Lord Derby; disbanded in France 16 February 1918 • 21st (Reserve) Battalion – formed at
Knowsley Park, August 1915 from depot companies of 17th and 18th Battalions; became 67th Training Reserve Battalion 1 September 1916; disbanded at Ripon 14 December 1917 • 22nd (Reserve) Battalion – formed at Knowsley Park, August 1915 from depot companies of 19th and 20th Battalions; became 68th Training Reserve Battalion 1 September 1916; disbanded at Ripon 14 December 1917 ==References==