WATCH: Leeds Pals battalion train in Colsterdale in 1916

The troops, most of whom came from the city, suffered huge losses in just a few minutes at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

But in the months before their departure for France, the soldiers were sent to the Yorkshire Dales to prepare them for action - as this fascinating archive footage shows.

The men camped at Colsterdale, near Masham, with some soldiers staying in old huts left behind by Irish navvies. The townspeople of Leeds also donated tents, bedding and other items for the troops' comfort.

In this film, produced by British Pathe, the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Sir Charles Lupton, is shown visiting the camp and inspecting the lines in 1915-16.

Many of the men in this footage would have been among the 24 officers and 504 other ranks who were killed or injured at the Somme later that summer. The depleted battalion was amalgamated with the 17th battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment a year later.