The British Army and the People's War, 1939-1945

by Jeremy A. Crang

During the Second World War the British army absorbed approximately three million new recruits, the majority of whom were conscripts. Drawn from all occupational groups and social classes, the military authorities were confronted with the task of molding these civilians in uniform into an effective fighting force. This book analyzes the impact of this process of integration on the army as a social institution. Exploring such aspects of the army’s social organization as other rank selection, officer selection, officer promotion, officer-man relations, the soldier’s working life, army welfare, and army education, it assesses the ways in which the army changed in relation to its new intake, what the extent of any change that took place actually was, and how different the army of 1945 was to that of 1939.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2000

Reviews

[Matt Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough examination of the soldiers relationship with the British Army in the Second World War. Particularly good chapter on Army Welfare.