The Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel of April 17th 1915 reported, “Route March in Biddulph District: There will be at route march through to Black Bull, Biddulph Moor and Biddulph District today (Saturday) in support of recruiting for the Third Battalion of the 5th North Staffords. About 250 of the new recruits for the 3rd Battalion will be on parade along with the Biddulph District members of the 2nd Battalion who are coming from Harpenden under the command of Lieutenant Harding. The procession will start from Brindley Ford at 3.30pm. Dr. Craig will examine recruits at the public hall. There will be meeting at Biddulph Moor, Black Bull, and Biddulph. Speakers will be Colonel Bizzard, Mr. D.B. Wayne, Mr. Harding, Mr. John Cole, Mr. J.A. Leese. The procession will include the Tunstall boy scouts and a band.”

The route march, which Col. Blizzard hoped would draw 120 men of the 700 needed for the new 3rd Battalion of the 5th North Staffords. Over 300 men were on parade, all in uniform, arriving from Stoke on a special train. The recruitment parade was reported in the Sentinel the following week. “They brought with them their mascot, a little, long-haired white dog, which yaps excitedly round the room when there is anything unusual stirring. He goes by the name of ‘Corporal’, and round his neck hangs an Iron Cross, mounted on the two chevrons which denote his rank. ‘Corporal’ yapped himself hoarse on Saturday.

Before the procession started, a brief meeting was held in the Station Yard at Black Bull. Before the meeting, Mr. Cole was distributing cigarettes amongst the Biddulph men from Harpenden, and the Reverend W. Rowley, of Newchapel, was busy renewing his acquaintance with the many men he knows amongst the Biddulph detachment.

There was a large crowd of people and they gave the procession a hearty send off. Headed by the bands, the men marched along the Mill Hayes Road. At every crossroad little groups of people assembled to watch them pass. Along these quiet country lanes, breathing the freshness of spring, the sight of 350 uniformed men is unique and they created no end of excitement. The route was along the switchback road to Rock End, where the sandstone rocks planted there by some mysterious means, project gaunt against the sky. Marching along that hilly, sand strewn road was pretty good practice for some of the processionists, not the least for the double bass man in the band who trudged along with his giant instrument perched perpendicular on his shoulder. At Rock End there was at 10 minutes breather, and soon after we were at Biddulph Moor, overlooking the picturesque valley in which lies the town of Biddulph. Opposite the Rose and Crown Hotel the meeting was held, Alderman Ball’s motor lOrry serving as a platform.”

It was said, “Biddulph Moor had not done much in sending men to the colours, and he urged that there were many colliers who could go, and the breakdown of the industrial system could be prevented if the older men who remained would not be content with putting in four or five shifts a week, but put in a full week.

The procession left the Moor to call at Biddulph Grange, where Mr. Robert Heath entertained the processionists to refreshments. The officers had tea with Mr. Heath. Afterwards, the procession dropped down to the valley, a welcome change from the climb to the height of the Moor. It was after 7 o’clock when the procession reached Biddulph town. The town gave the soldiers a great reception. The high street - that long, straggling street, typical of North Staffordshire coal getting centres, is practically Biddulph - was crowded with people. Buildings round the public hall, where the meeting was held, were plastered with recruiting posters. From the steps of the Biddulph Gymnasium speeches were made by Mr. J.A. Lees, of the Moorhouse, Col. Blizzard, Mr. Robert Heath, and Mr. G.H. Rittner.

There were many girls and young women in the audience and after appealing to the men, Colonel Blizzard told his feminine hearers that if he were a girl, he would not look at a young man who was eligible and did not don a uniform. What sort of husband will a man make if he will not defend you in this critical hour, when the Germans have threatened to serve us far worse, if they ever get here, than they did the Belgians?

The meeting closed shortly before 8.30pm, and with it ended a day which will be long remembered in the Biddulph countryside.”

Although Col. Blizzard had hoped to attract 120 men - numbers attesting as a result of the recruitment march amounted to only a handful:

Fred Oultram, 26, Stringer Street

Edwin Moss, 10, Stringer Street

Henry Travis, 66 High Street, Newchapel

Joseph Hancock, Holly Lane, Harriseahead

Ernest Mayer, 4, Charles Street

Frank Brookes, Prospect Terrace, Mow Cop

Clarence George Hollinshead, 5 Fan Row, Brindley Ford.

Biddulph was astir with excitement early on the afternoon of Saturday April 17th as there was to be a recruiting march. A large crowd watched the ‘Terriers’ (who looked very fit) fall in before the Public Hall, and march to Black Bull, headed by the brass band where they joined about 300 more and proceeded to Biddulph Moor, and from there to the Biddulph Public Hall where they halted whilst Col. Blizzard thanked Mr. Robert Heath in the name of the men for his kindness in providing them with refreshments at the Grange. After three cheers for the King and the Prince of Wales they marched on to Biddulph Station where a special train awaited them. [The May 1915 edition of the St. Lawrence Parish Magazine].