Volunteers in uniform were exempt from paying tolls, but in 1873 officials of the Woodside Ferry refused men of the Press Guard, and a fight ensued.

The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war.

[6][15] The VSC gained the 6th and 7th VBs the Battle honour South Africa 1900–01,[4] and these men's experience of active service proved valuable at postwar training camps.

[20][21][22][23][24] At the outbreak of World War I the West Lancashire Division had just begun its annual training and when mobilisation was ordered on 4 August 1914 the units were sent back to their drill halls.

Blankets for the men were donated by local people, and the Hon Colonel, William Hall Walker, gave money for extra clothing and other comforts.

[27] Indeed, as its units achieved a good level of efficiency the West Lancashire Division was progressively broken up to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force fighting on the Western Front.

[28][31][32] 1/9th King's returned to the front line on 20 May and spent the following weeks in the dangerous area of the Cuinchy brickstacks, where the trenches were so waterlogged that the men cut down their trousers as improvised shorts.

The battalion was relieved on 7 July and after spending two weeks in brigade and division reserve it went back into the line at Vermelles, in front of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

In late August the whole battalion went out into No man's land each night to dig jumping-off trenches for the forthcoming offensive in this sector (the Battle of Loos).

Progress was slow and casualties were heavy – the sections advanced by short rushes to minimise them – but by 15.30 the battalion had established itself close to the German trenches.

After a further short spell in the line at the Slag Heap, with billets in the ruined houses of Loos, the battalion was withdrawn to rest and reorganise.

The trench was no more than a shallow roadside ditch, and before the men were able to deepen it they were subjected to an intense artillery bombardment next day lasting from 10.30 to 16.30, followed by a German infantry attack from Bois Hugo.

Over the following months the battalion carried out several tours of duty in the Wailly trenches, interspersed with periods in the rear where it had to find working parties.

[39][40] Preparations for the next phase of the offensive (the Battle of Guillemont) were hampered by enemy shellfire, and 1/9th King's suffered a steady trickle of casualties.

The battalion bombers of 1/9th King's worked their way down a trench known as 'Cochrane Alley' while two companies advanced in waves down the left and the French attacked into the Maurepas ravine on its right.

Patrols went forward several hundred yards up the Flers road without finding any Germans, but consolidation of the captured position was hindered by enemy snipers and shellfire while the Battle of Ginchy raged nearby.

[22][24][45][46] After this considerable success 55th (WL) Division was withdrawn from the fighting, its battalions much reduced: 1/9th King's had suffered 650 casualties during the Battle of the Somme, including 15 officers killed.

164th (North Lancashire) Brigade passed through to continue the attack in the afternoon, but had to retire at nightfall, and 165th Bde was left to consolidate a frontline position in the Stuzpunkt line, which was churned up into a morass of muddy shellholes.

These reinforcements suffered casualties on the way up, and many rifles in the line were unserviceable due to mud, but the handful of defenders were spared the counter-attack when it was dispersed by British shellfire.

On 18 September 1/9th King's moved back into the shell crater positions at Bank Farm that it had captured on 31 July, which had not been advanced despite two more major attacks in the intervening weeks.

Zero was at 05.40, but there was heavy enemy shellfire just before and the German machine gunners inflicted many casualties as the battalion advanced behind the barrage in four successive company waves.

In full view of the enemy and subjected to shelling and air attack, 1/9th King's quickly dug a new trench running east–west on the high ground to the north to cover Lempire and Épehy, fortunately with few casualties.

Two days later it was moved to Hénu where it pitched camp and remained for two weeks, erecting rear lines of defence and awaiting orders as the fighting shifted from one sector of the front to another.

The battalions then began a routine of tours of duty in the trenches and patrolling No man's land, under occasional shelling and sniper fire.

Early in July the battalion came out of the line and went to Authie, where Lt-Col Lord Henry Seymour, DSO, of the Grenadier Guards, arrived to take command.

Marching up to its jumping-off line at Hendecourt the Intelligence Section, which had been guiding it through the broken trenches in the dark, was wiped out by a shell, and the battalion only reached its position 15 minutes before Zero, which was set for 05.00.

After reorganising, a new attempt was made on 30 September, but the suburb of Proville outside Cambrai was still in enemy hands and machine gun fire from the houses prevented 9th King's from advancing.

The Germans had left, and for the next three days the battalion was engaged in re-establishing administration in the city, and provided the guard of honour when it was visited by the Prime Minister of France, Georges Clemenceau.

[26][54][64][65] On 1 November 57th (2nd WL) Division handed over its sector of the front line on the west bank of the Schelde, north of Tournai, and went into billets in the eastern suburbs of Lille, with 9th King's at Hellemmes.

[3][21][23][70][73] When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920, the 9th Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) was not reformed, but instead was absorbed into 55th (West Lancashire) Divisional Engineers, based in St Helens.