Kitchener's Army: The Raising of the New Armies 1914 - 1916

by Peter Simkins

Numbering over five million men, Britain's army in the First World War was the biggest in the country's history. Remarkably, nearly half those men who served in it were volunteers. 2,466,719 men enlisted between August 1914 and December 1915, many in response to the appeals of the Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener. How did Britain succeed in creating a mass army, almost from scratch, in the middle of a major war ? What compelled so many men to volunteer ' and what happened to them once they had taken the King's shilling ? Peter Simkins describes how Kitchener's New Armies were raised and reviews the main political, economic and social effects of the recruiting campaign. He examines the experiences and impressions of the officers and men who made up the New Armies. As well as analysing their motives for enlisting, he explores how they were fed, housed, equipped and trained before they set off for active service abroad. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, ranging from government papers to the diaries and letters of individual soldiers, he questions long-held assumptions about the 'rush to the colours' and the nature of patriotism in 1914. The book will be of interest not only to those studying social, political and economic history, but also to general readers who wish to know more about the story of Britain's citizen soldiers in the Great War.

Genres: World War I, History, Nonfiction, Military History

583 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 1988

About the author

Peter Simkins worked at the Imperial War Museum for over 35 years and was its Senior Historian from 1976 until his retirement in 1999. Awarded the MBE that year for his services to the Museum, he is currently Honorary Professor in Modern History at the University of Birmingham, a Vice-President of the Western Front Association and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an in-depth look at the raising of Kirchener's New Armies after the outbreak of World War 1. Britain had a small, all volunteer professional force at the outbreak of hostilities, and had to raise a big army from almost scratch to meet the demands of the conflict. At first it was still voluntary, but later Britain had to enforce conscription to replace the horrendous losses suffered in the trenches. The book looks at the numbers of volunteers during the early months of the war, the forming of the Pals battalions and how they were officered which is quite interesting. Less interesting is the political squabbling behind the scenes. I also expected that there would be some combat chronicles of the New Army, which was sadly absent.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitchener’s Army – Brilliant Reprint

Kitchener’s Army by Peter Simkins is a reprint of an earlier addition to remember the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. This is probably one of the best accounts of the raising of the army that had to take place at the beginning of the war. Many do not know that the British standing army at the beginning of the war was not very big and certainly needed men to back up the professional soldier.

Kitchener’s reputation especially after he died was sullied by Lloyd George amongst others who played down the hard work he did to expand the army in such a short time. History has also not been kind to Kitchener’s reputation but with research by Simkins amongst others his once good reputation is being restored and rightly so. Churchill was a man who recognised how successful Kitchener was in raising an army in such a short time and called it ‘among the wonders of the time’ and who am I to argue?

When Field Marshal Lord Kitchener was appointed Secretary of State for War in August 1914 he was able to offer the government of the time with the priceless commodity of confidence from the public in his leadership of the armed forces at a time of war. Within the war cabinet Kitchener was part of a powerful triumvirate with Churchill and Asquith, Asquith needed Kitchener’s military judgement and Kitchener needed Asquith to guide him through politics. This book remembers this and the work they did together to build an army from 1914 until 1916.

The book deals clearly with the recruiting boom that happened as well as the establishment of the Pals Battalions. The book deals head on with the issue of when the recruitment went in to decline but also the establishment of conscription. We also see all the training issues especially with equipment as well as the ordinary man dealing with the transition from Civvy Street to army life.

This is an excellent book produced in association with the Imperial War Museum and it is a wonderful part of the canon of historical research on the British perspective of the First World War. If you want to understand the army from that time then this is an important book that you will consistently come back to as it is an important source of information with excellent references. This is an important book for all those interested in the First World War.

[Thomas Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simkins' work on Kitchener's new armies offers a sympathetic perspective on the controversial officer. His efforts to create a massive British army to confront the German war machine is praised as heroic but burdened by years of military neglect and expected difficulties in the drastic changes necessary to fight this new war.