How did Britain increase and - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

How did Britain increase and maintain the fighting force?

Learning ResourceSlide2

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IWM Learning Resources: Terms of UseSlide3

1. What was the public response to the outbreak of war?Slide4

British response to the outbreak of war, August 1914The First World War began in August 1914. No one knew what kind of war it was going to be or how long it would last, but men rushed to join up and go to war. This photograph shows recruits at the Whitehall Recruiting Office in London. © IWM (Q 42033)Men Queue to Enlist Slide5

A dismounted cavalry draft of the 1st Life GuardsIn Britain over one million men had volunteered to fight by December 1914. By the end of the war more than four years later, almost one quarter of the total male population had served in the armed forces. © IWM (Q 66196)One Million Men had

Volunteered

by the End of 1914Slide6

Lieutenant Alan LloydAlan Lloyd was born into a middle-class Quaker family in Birmingham in 1889. In January 1914 he became engaged to Dorothy Hewetson. When war broke out, Lloyd immediately volunteered. On his honeymoon in August he learned that he had been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Royal Artillery.© The rightsholderA Volunteer Slide7

A letter written by Alan Lloyd This letter was written by Alan Lloyd on 06 August 1914. It explains his reasons for enlisting.6/8/14My ownest little Dod

,

I got your wire & replied asking you to meet me 12.20 York, train from Birmingham. I have also had a wire from Mrs Burch asking me to come & see her. Everybody must put their personal considerations in the background now, & I don’t believe you’d be so selfish as to try & stop me doing my part. Possibly you don’t realize that this is a life & death struggle with Germany. Everybody who could do something & won’t is a beastly unpatriotic kind of person. I’m the last person to be a Jingo & hate flag-wagging & Union Jack hurrahing

etc

but I do feel that I might be useful, with my motor or without it, in case of attack by Germany & so I’ve offered my services…

© The

rightsholder

Reasons to

EnlistSlide8

Dummy RifleThe sudden increase in the number of soldiers meant that, at first, their were serious shortages of uniforms, weapons, and equipment. This dummy rifle is cut from wood and was used by the British Army for training purposes.© IWM (FIR 11580)Equipment Shortages Slide9

2. What methods were used to enlist new recruits? Slide10

Leeds Pals – shoulder badgeMany men were encouraged to sign up with their friends and colleagues with the promise that those who ‘joined together should serve together’. This led to what was known as ‘Pals’ battalions.© IWM (INS 7637)

'Pals

' BattalionsSlide11

Derby Scheme Armband As the war went on the British Government had to persuade more and more men to go to war. The Derby scheme was introduced in Britain in October 1915 and asked men to register their commitment to serve. Under the scheme single men would be called up before married volunteers.© IWM (INS 7764)The Derby Scheme Slide12

Young British RecruitsRecruiting Officers were paid for each man so some pretended to be unaware that they were recruiting underage volunteers. The British government had originally said that no one under 19 years of age would be sent overseas to fight. In April 1918 they lowered the age to 18 after suffering a near-defeat on the Western Front. This photograph was taken in July 1918, when the army were trying to find and remove underage soldiers. © IWM (Q 23586

)

Young British RecruitsSlide13

3. Where else did Britain turn to gain support? Slide14

Men of the 45th Sikhs (52nd Infantry Brigade, 17th Division)Men in the Dominions and Empire also volunteered. In Australia over 415 thousand men enlisted and over a million men of the Indian Army served overseas during the war. Over one hundred thousand New Zealanders, 425 thousand Canadians and Newfoundlanders, and 230 thousand South Africans also served overseas.© IWM (Q 24777)

Indian TroopsSlide15

West Indian troops stacking 8 inch shells at an ammunition dump near Ypres, Belgium, October 1917During the First World War the West Indies contributed about 15,000 troops for active service overseas. About two-thirds of these were from Jamaica. © IWM (E(AUS) 2078)West Indian Troops Slide16

4. How did women contribute to the war effort?Slide17

Men and women at work in the National Filling Factory, ChilwellThe First World War substantially increased the numbers of women in paid work and the range of jobs that they undertook. The majority of women supported the war effort by working in industry.© IWM (Q 30018)

Munitions W

orkersSlide18

The Women's Land Army and German Prisoners by Randolph SchwabeWomen took on jobs that had previously been done by husbands, brothers and fathers, who were now absent, as well as keeping households and families together. This painting shows members of the Women's Land Army German prisoners-of-war doing agricultural work.

© IWM (

Art.IWM ART 1179)

The Women’s Land Army Slide19

Women Wanted Urgently A number of the leading Suffragettes played an important role in setting up women-only organisations to support the war effort.  Their success influenced the decision to create branches of the armed services for women. The first of these was the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs), which was formed in January 1917.  © IWM (Art.IWM

PST 4881)

Women’s Auxiliary ForcesSlide20

5. Who was eventually forced to enlist? Slide21

New recruits have their kit fitted following enlistment In Britain and the Dominions the issue of conscription (forced military service) caused much controversy. Conscription was finally introduced in Britain and New Zealand in , 1916, and in Canada in 1917, although it was not introduced in Australia. © IWM (Q 30069)

ConscriptionSlide22

No-conscription FellowshipConscription was a hugely controversial step. Conscientious objectors refused to fight on religious or moral grounds, although the proportion of conscientious objectors to men in uniform was very small. This membership card for the No-Conscription Fellowship belonged to William Harrison, who went to prison because he refused to have anything to do with the war. He was a pacifist whose deep religious beliefs told him that killing was wrong. © IWM (Documents.163)

Conscientious objectors