The British Army in World War I (1): The Western Front 1914–16 vol 1

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the British Army was unique: unlike the massed conscripts of the continental powers, it was a small force raised entirely by voluntary recruitment. While the first campaigns brought admiring praise from the enemy for its incomparable soldiers, the British Expeditionary Force had been virtually eliminated by the end of 1914. Kitchener's call for volunteers to build the 'New Armies' drew such an astonishing patriotic response that by the 'Big Push' on the Somme in mid-1916 the BEF had grown from five to 55 divisions. However, that summer's hideous casualties forced Britain to adopt conscription at last.

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the British Army was unique: it was a small force raised entirely by voluntary recruitment. The first campaigns of the British Expeditionary Force brought admiration from the enemy, but by the end of 1914 it had been virtually eliminated. Kitchener’s call for new volunteers drew such a patriotic response that by mid-1916 the BEF had grown to 55 divisions. This book explains and llustrates the uniform, equipment and organization of the British Army up to the end of the battle of the Somme.

This volume covers the pre-war British Army that became the first British Expeditionary Force which was virtually wiped out in the first year of the war and the "New Armies" that answered Lord Kitchener's call - "Your Country Needs You". It looks at organization, uniforms, equipment and weapons. WHEN THE NATIONS OF EUROPE went to war in 1914, most mobilised huge armies of conscripts numbered in their millions, produced by long established systems that took the whole able-bodied youth of the nation for brief compulsory military service followed by years in the reserves.