rly parades of the Regiment took place at Rose Hill Police Station,
and the Corn Exchange, Brunswick Street, until Headquarters were
established at 16, Soho Street.

To those who took part in these parades great credit and thanks are due.
Through their efforts an organised battalion came into being, men were
trained for the bearing of arms and the defence of their country should
the occasion ever arise, and the soldierly spirit was inculcated in many
who followed a civilian occupation. Those who survived until the Great
War, though not privileged to lead on the battlefield, had at any rate the
satisfaction of realising that their work was not in vain. Directly
attributable to the efforts of the early volunteers is the fact that in
1915 the Territorial Force was ready for the reinforcement of the Regular
Army in the Western Theatre of the War, and this afforded the New Armies
which Lord Kitchener had formed ample time for the completion of their
training.

In 1884 the Headquarters in Soho Street were changed for more commodious
and better equipped premises at 59, Everton Road, where the Battalion
remained domiciled until 1914. During the South African War the Battalion
sent out a company, and the experience the men gained there proved very
useful at the annual camps. Several of the men who went to South Africa
were privileged to serve in the next war. On the formation of the
Territorial Force the Battalion was once again renumbered and henceforth
it was known as the 9th Battalion of The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Territorial Force.

The recruiting area of the Battalion embraced the Everton district of
Liverpool, a locality inhabited chiefly by members of the tradesmen and
artisan classes, which furnished the Regiment with the bulk of its
recruits. There was a detachment located in the country at Ormskirk, from
which the Battalion drew some of its finest fighting material.
Agriculturalists make good soldiers, and this was evidenced on many
occasions later by the behaviour and ability of the men from this town. In
the ranks there was a sprinkling of sailors and miners, whose several
callings equipped them with knowledge which proved useful in their new
profession. The officers for the most part were drawn from the
professional class and business houses of the city.

There came on the 4th August, 1914, a telegram to Headquarters containing
only the one word "Mobilize." On that day Great Britain declared war on
Germany.