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Overview
An indispensable guide to the British Army during the First World War covers the men who fought for Britain: from the 'Old Contemptibles' – the professionals who stemmed the German advance at the beginning of the war – to the Territorials, the 'Derby Men', Kitchener's 'New Army' and the conscripts who eventually defeated the Kaiser's armies four years later. Andrew Rawson examines the impressive contributions made by the Dominions and the Empire and explores aspects of doctrine, training, communications, strategy and tactics, together with divisional organisations, histories and the roles of the different Arms and Services. He reviews all aspects of the soldier's everyday life – uniforms, equipment, rations, trench life, leave and military discipline – and profiles the commanders and the legacy of the war in art, as well as providing information on cemeteries and places of interest. It is all here, in one book.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750958653 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 07/07/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 384 |
| File size: | 11 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The British Army 1914â"1948
By Andrew Rawson
The History Press
Copyright © 2014 Andrew RawsonAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-5865-3
CHAPTER 1
BACKGROUND
A Century of Peace?
The year 1815 marked the end of Great Britain's involvement in European campaigns for nearly a century (with the brief exception of the Crimean War). While political and military struggles flared across the continent, the British Empire expanded round the world. Private enterprise conquered territories in the search for new resources while the Army followed and the Royal Navy patrolled the oceans, protecting the shipping routes.
China was a source for opium and tea while Burma was a major supplier of teak, but, after complaining about trading, both were forced to submit to British rule; China handed over Hong Kong while Burma was totally annexed.
India was Britain's main concern but attempts to secure the North-West Frontier in 1838 to protect against a feared Russian invasion ended in disaster; fifty years of skirmishing followed before the Afghans accepted a British envoy in Kabul. There was trouble in Lahore in 1848 when the Sikhs invaded the British East India Company's territories and in 1857 Indian Sepoys mutinied, massacring British garrisons before they were suppressed. After quelling the uprisings the Army took control of the East India Company's area, starting the era of the British Raj and peace in India. A final uprising by Chitral tribesmen at the end of the century resulted in the annexation of the area.
Tensions with Russia flared in 1854 and Britain sent 30,000 troops to the Crimea as part of an alliance with France, Turkey and Sardinia to prevent the Russians extending their influence over Turkey. The Army suffered setbacks at Balaclava and Inkerman, while thousands died of sickness during the siege of Sevastopol. A new medal, the Victoria Cross, was introduced as the highest award for valour during the war and, when the French captured a key position in the Sevastopol fortress the following year, the Russians withdrew and made peace.
In Africa, Britain had annexed the Cape Colony from the Dutch East India Company as early as 1814, establishing a toehold at the southern tip of the continent, but further colonization was delayed by the threat of malaria. The annexation caused tension with the Boers and they withdrew into the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to retain their independence.
The discovery of quinine in 1850 allowed travellers to explore more readily and, once they returned with news of vast untapped riches, European traders with private armies staked their claims. Professional armies soon followed to protect the new provinces. The British Army pursued an aggressive occupation policy, annexing Basutoland, the Gold Coast, the Transvaal and Zululand (where British troops suffered a humiliating defeat at Isandlwana). An invasion of Natal in 1881 resulted in the First Boer War and stirred the Boers to arm themselves with modern rifles and guns bought from Europe.
Great Britain had staked its claims in North Africa by purchasing the Egyptian share in the French Suez Canal project, and then took over the Sudan in 1882 after crushing a rebellion by the Mahdists and the Dervishes. General Gordon's attempt to rescue isolated garrisons ended in disaster and his force was cut off and massacred in Khartoum. General Kitchener finally regained control of the Sudan after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.
Germany, a late starter in the colonization of Africa, claimed rights to German South-West Africa (now Namibia), Kamerun (Cameroon), Togo and German East Africa (Tanzania), stirring protests among the other European powers. The German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, held a conference in Berlin in 1884 where the European powers agreed to divide Africa up to avoid conflict in Europe. It did not mean peace for the natives, however. Soon after Cecil Rhodes' small army occupied Matabeleland with the help of the new Maxim machine gun, renaming the area Rhodesia.
Trouble again flared in South Africa when gold was discovered in the Transvaal in 1886, sparking an influx of settlers eager to stake their claim. An abortive raid in 1896 stirred resentment and when the British failed to secure rights for their citizens in 1899, the Boers retaliated by invading the Cape Colony, besieging the towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley. The British Army responded with huge task forces but setbacks at places such as Colenso and Spion Kop showed that it was lacking in many areas when British soldiers were confronted by determined men armed with modern weapons. It was the start of a new learning curve, one that would stand the British Army in good stead for the war in Europe a decade later.
Overwhelming numbers and an aggressive resettlement policy, in which families were imprisoned in concentration camps, forced the Boers to roam the veldt as guerrillas and, when supplies dwindled, they eventually sued for peace. The annexation of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State meant that one-third of Africa was now British.
Reorganization of The Army
Between 1899 and 1902 the British Army was engaged in its first major campaign of the twentieth century, facing the well equipped and highly motivated Boers in South Africa. The experience was a rude awakening for the War Office and high command; it was time to reform all areas of the armed services.
A report was published in 1903 and the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Lord Roberts, implemented many of the recommendations, but the Cabinet refused to sanction conscription and plans to expand the Army had to be scrapped.
Lord Esher's committee strengthened the Committee of Imperial Defence and set up the Army Council to replace the post of commander-in-chief in February 1904. Members reported to the Secretary of State for War on a wide range of military, civil and financial matters. Before long they had authorized the establishment of a General Staff and its three main branches, setting up directorates to improve training, staff work and operational planning.
Many of the changes were in place before 1914, the majority implemented during a major reorganization in 1908. The following were the most noteworthy:
Expeditionary Force
Regular units across the United Kingdom were made ready to mobilize as an Expeditionary Force of 6 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division.
Army Corps
There had been no plans to operate a corps structure in the field but on mobilization the decision was taken to correspond with the French command system. Corps staff at Aldershot were joined by 2 improvised corps staffs, each controlling 2 divisions.
Staff
Staff officers were trained at the Staff College, Camberley, while the Administrative Staff were trained at the London School of Economics; Indian Army Staff attended Quetta Staff College.
Officers
Volunteer Corps at the universities and public schools were transformed into the Officers' Training Corps to ease the pressure on the Sandhurst and Woolwich Military Colleges. Sandhurst waived the entry examination for candidates with exemplary records to speed up their training schedule.
Cavalry
A census of horses available across the country was taken and requisition powers were introduced.
Artillery
Field batteries were armed with quick-firing field guns equipped with shock absorbers to reduce the amount of recoil after each shot. The divisional field artillery was grouped into 3 x 18-pounder and 1 x 4.5-inch howitzer brigades, each with 3 x 6-gun batteries, and ammunition columns were introduced to manage the distribution of shells. The general reserve of artillery had doubled to 81 batteries by 1912 and the Garrison Artillery Militia was trained and made ready to be mobilized as a Special Reserve.
Infantry
Steps were taken to balance the numbers of battalions at home and overseas, with each regiment having a battalion in Great Britain and another serving abroad. The numbers were eventually set at 84 home battalions and 73 in overseas garrisons. Command in the infantry battalions was streamlined by reducing the number of companies from 8 to 4. The infantry were issued with the new Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle and marksmanship training with rapid fire was improved.
Army Service Corps
Subsidies were offered to private vehicle owners providing they would make them available during a national emergency. Specially designed military vehicles were introduced for private sale and again listed for requisitioning. Divisional transport was reorganized in 1912, grouping all but the first-line transport into companies. A fleet of lorries was allocated to each division to bring forward supplies and evacuate the wounded.
Royal Army Medical Corps
Bearer companies and field hospitals were reorganized and each division received a self-contained field ambulance unit. Clearing hospitals were organized to treat casualties evacuated from the battlefield.
Civilian Medical Services
Plans were put in place to use hospitals and voluntary aid in the United Kingdom (allowed under the 1906 Geneva Convention) while the Army Nursing Service was given official recognition.
Reserves
Steps were also taken to provide a pool of reserves to reinforce the Regular Army.
The National Reserve
A register of officers and men with military experience was started in 1910 and by 1914 it had 350,000 members.
Special Reserve
The Militia was renamed the Special Reserve.
The Territorial Force
Individuals and units of the Volunteer forces were invited to become Territorial troops or disband and the Territorial Associations (not the War Office) were given responsibility for organizing and maintaining the Territorial Force. The Territorial infantry formed 14 divisions along the same lines as the Regular divisions while the Yeomanry was reorganized into 14 brigades as the second line of cavalry. Although numbers were far below the establishment of 316,000 in 1914, retired Territorials were expected to re-enlist during a national emergency.
Imperial Military Forces
In 1907 staff officers were sent out to the Dominion staff colleges to teach new candidates. Dominion forces also agreed to standardize their organizations in line with the British Army but they reserved the right to abstain from Britain's conflicts.
Britain's Standing Army
The Regular Army numbered 247,000 men in August 1914; 129,000 were stationed across Great Britain, while the rest were serving with the Indian Army or at other overseas postings across the Empire.
Dispositions At The Outbreak Of War
Six infantry divisions and 4 cavalry brigades were stationed as follows:
1st Division: Aldershot.
2nd Division: 1 brigade in London and Windsor and 2 brigades at Aldershot.
3rd Division: Southern Command area along the south coast.
4th Division: Eastern Command area on the south-east coast.
5th Division: Deployed across Ireland.
6th Division: 1 brigade in Northern Command, 2 brigades in southern Ireland.
Cavalry: 4 cavalry brigades were stationed at Aldershot, Tidworth, south-east England and Ireland; they assembled as the Cavalry Division when war was declared.
Enlisting
Men joined the Regular Army for a variety of personal and financial reasons, but the majority were looking for a steady job with a regular income. Minimum requirements were 5 feet 3 inches in height, and age between 19 and 38; and once at the regimental depot or a recruiting office the potential soldier had to pass a series of physical tests. A new recruit enlisted for 7 years' service and he would be kept on the National Reserve for 5 years after he was discharged.
Training
The Combined Training manual was released in 1902 drawing on lessons learnt in South Africa and it was quickly renamed Field Service Regulations. An updated version was released in two parts in 1909: Part I (Operations) and Part II (Organization and Administration).
The annual training cycle began with physical exercise, drill and route marching while the recruits learnt basic skills including musketry, hand-to-hand fighting, signalling and scouting. The winter months were spent on education and rifle drill, with unit training beginning in the spring, starting with company, squadron and battery exercises, working through combined arms training up to large-scale manoeuvres by the end of the summer.
Those wishing to be commissioned as Royal Artillery and Royal Engineer officers attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, while those seeking commissions in the cavalry, infantry, Indian Army and Army Service Corps went to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Rather than attend Sandhurst, a third of infantry and cavalry officers had trained with the Officers' Training Corps at the universities and public schools or had previous experience with the Militia; only a handful of men were commissioned from the ranks.
Infantrymen did bayonet training with padded jackets and rifles armed with spring-loaded plungers while the Musketry School at Hythe focussed on training the men to deliver a high rate of aimed fire with the rifle. Instructors taught the recruits to concentrate on short bursts of rapid fire. Recruits were expected to be able to fire between 12 and 15 rounds a minute. Individual firing was recommended and platoon volleys were rarely used. Commands were restricted to starting and ending firing, with officers stepping in if the firing was getting out of hand.
Cavalrymen had the extra responsibility of caring for their horse and tack; artillery drivers had two horses to look after. After completing basic riding skills, troopers learnt the art of attack riding, fencing with blunted swords and musketry.
Pay And Promotion
New recruits started on one shilling (1s – £0.05) a day but numerous deductions were made for food and equipment. However, soldiers could earn extra pay by increasing their skills or gaining promotion and a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) could earn around 6s a day. Soldiers received field allowances if they were serving overseas. They were paid in local currency, at around 25 francs to £1 in France.
A well-behaved private could expect to be promoted to lance-corporal after two years and might make corporal after four; few reached the rank of sergeant unless they re-enlisted. A few sergeants were promoted to colour sergeant (or staff sergeants in some arms) and senior NCOs and warrant officers usually stayed with the Army for the full 21 years' service.
New subalterns received 7s 6d a day while those with specialized skills earned more. Army officers bought their own uniforms but received a uniform grant of £50 towards the cost. A part-time Territorial infantry subaltern earned 5s 3d a day while his lieutenant-colonel received 18s.
Accommodation
Purpose-built barracks had been erected in the garrison towns across Great Britain towards the end of the nineteenth century. While the officers and sergeants had comfortable messes and a higher standard of accommodation, the other ranks lived in barrack rooms with 20–40 beds. There were married quarters but men had to be 26 years old and have served at least 5 years before applying for permission to marry. A man could marry without the Army's consent but he had to support his wife, paying for her lodgings outside the barracks; many opted to stay single and visit the prostitutes living nearby.
The Territorial Force
The previously-existing local Militia and Volunteer units were reorganized into the Territorial Force during the 1908 reforms, creating 14 Territorial infantry divisions and 14 Yeomanry cavalry brigades modelled on the Regular Army formations. Units recruited locally to form a full range of units with strong ties to the local community.
Infantry battalions were affiliated to line regiments. While most county regiments had 2 Territorial battalions, 4 had just 1 Territorial battalion (and no Regulars) to begin with (Cambridgeshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire and Monmouthshire); the London Regiment was also all-Territorial with 24 battalions grouped into 2 divisions.
Life In The Territorial Force
The minimum age was 18 but the physical standards on joining were the same as for the Regulars. Men trained one or two evenings a week at local drill halls and they were often called the Saturday Night Soldiers or the Terriers. The annual summer camp was the highlight of the calendar where the men took part in large-scale exercises; over 250,000 Territorial soldiers were on annual manoeuvres when war was declared on 4 August 1914.
Territorials agreed to full-time service if war was declared and they could be posted anywhere in the United Kingdom. Overseas service in times of conflict was optional but over 17,000 signed the Imperial Service Obligation before the outbreak of the First World War.
The principal role of the force during a war was supposedly home defence, and the Territorials were intended to protect the ports and coastline after the Expeditionary Force left for the Continent.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The British Army 1914â"1948 by Andrew Rawson. Copyright © 2014 Andrew Rawson. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
TITLE,ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,
CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND,
CHAPTER TWO MOBILIZATION AND TRAINING,
CHAPTER THREE THE HIGHER DIRECTION OF THE WAR,
CHAPTER FOUR ARMS, CORPS AND REGIMENTS,
CHAPTER FIVE THE ARMS,
CHAPTER SIX THE SERVICES,
CHAPTER SEVEN DIVISIONAL ORGANIZATION AND HISTORY,
CHAPTER EIGHT THE SOLDIER,
CHAPTER NINE WEAPONS,
CHAPTER TEN TACTICS,
CHAPTER ELEVEN MAPPING,
CHAPTER TWELVE BEHIND THE LINES,
CHAPTER THIRTEEN LEGACY,
APPENDIX 1 PRINCIPAL COMMANDERS OF THE BRITISH AND DOMINION FORCES,
APPENDIX 2 ABBREVIATIONS,
APPENDIX 3 SOLDIERS' SLANG,
BIBLIOGRAPHY,
COPYRIGHT,