The Hull Pals were a brigade of four battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment (the "East Yorks") raised as part of Kitchener's Army in 1914. They served in 31st Division at Serre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, though they escaped the worst of the disaster. However, they suffered heavy casualties in the same area later in the year, and again at Oppy Wood in early 1917. They continued to serve on the Western Front for the rest of the war, including hard fighting against the German spring offensive and in the final Hundred Days Offensive.