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<\/a>Recruitment Poster
\u00a9 National Army Museum<\/p><\/div>\n
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Within weeks of the war beginning, it became clear that the British Expeditionary Force (the force originally sent to France to fight) was not big enough to fight meaningfully in a war likely to last years. Domestically, the War Office mobilised its Reserve and Territorial Force, and embarked on an accelerated recruitment drive designed to build, train and deploy new armies. Where colonial forces existed already, they too were mobilised, and the recruitment drive was rolled out across the Empire, Commonwealth and Dominions.<\/p>\n
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In the second year of the war the number of volunteers dwindled, so the government reluctantly introduced conscription in Britain (but not in Ireland, nor in the rest of the Empire) in 1916 through The Military Service Act. From now on all British males were \u2018deemed to have been duly enlisted\u2019, and were called up when they came of age.\u00a0When they joined, recruits signed an attestation certificate promising to serve for the duration of the war.<\/p>\n
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Reservists Recruitment Poster
\u00a9 National Army Museum<\/p><\/div>\n
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This poster explains the legal obligation of all \u2018reservists\u2019 (in this case any man aged 20-30) to report to a designated depot, or their local recruiting office.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The age limit of soldiers varied during the war. At the start, a volunteer had to be 18 to join up, and couldn\u2019t serve overseas until he was 19. By the end of the war, the age limit was dropped by six months. There are many examples of men younger than 18, or older than the upper age limit of 42, successfully volunteering. Sometimes this was with the connivance of the recruiting sergeant or officer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n As Britain scrambled to enlist recruits at home, the British Raj provided its battle-ready army, made up entirely of volunteers comprising some 240,000 men. This was the largest volunteer army in the world at the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unlike Kitchener\u2019s New Army of 1916, which was made up of conscripts, Indian soldiers were all recruited as volunteers. This was in part due to the propaganda that had created expectations of a return: men were going to war, not to die away from home, but to return raised in economic independence, self-assurance and standing with government.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Soldiers undertook a rigorous training routine before being sent out to the Front.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6.30 \u00a0 Reveille<\/p>\n 6.45 \u00a0 Rouse Parade<\/p>\n 7.00 \u00a0 Breakfast<\/p>\n 8.15 \u00a0 Company Officer\u2019s Parade<\/p>\n 8.45 \u00a0 Manoeuvres<\/p>\n 11.15 \u00a0 Swedish Drill<\/p>\n 13.00 \u00a0 Dinner<\/p>\n 14.15 \u00a0 Rifle Drill<\/p>\n 15.15 \u00a0 Lecture by Officer<\/p>\n 16.30 \u00a0 Dismiss<\/p>\n 17.00 \u00a0 Tea<\/p>\n 18.00 \u00a0 Free Time<\/p>\n 22.00 \u00a0 Last Post<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Troops being inspected in Jamaica in preparation for being sent to the Western Front \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On 6 March 1916, the Verdala left port in Jamaica carrying the third contingent of the BWIR: 25 white officers and 1,115 Jamaicans of other ranks. To avoid German submarines, the ship was ordered to detour via Halifax in Canada. Before it arrived, however, it ran into a blizzard. The ship was not adequately heated, and the men had not been issued with warm clothing. As a result, about 500 men suffered from exposure and frostbite. Of these, 5 died immediately, 106 had to remain in Halifax and have amputations, ranging from toes to both legs, and 200 others, whose feet were not so swollen, were sent to Bermuda to recover.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The British press hushed up the incident initially, but Canadian papers, which were read in the West Indies, reported on it and exaggerated reports soon spread. The incident seriously damaged recruitment in Jamaica, and afterwards, large numbers of women and children attended recruitment meetings but very few men did. As a result, women were pressed to encourage men to volunteer, and the recruiters resorted to going house to house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a>
Recruitment Poster
\u00a9 National Army Museum<\/p><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/span>Read the story of Ernest Quarless, who kept joining the BWIR underage<\/a><\/div>\nTraining<\/h5>\n
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\u00a9 IWM Q 52423<\/p><\/div>\nThe Halifax Incident<\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Read the story of Eugent Clarke, who was part of the Halifax incident.<\/a><\/div>\n