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.

This interdisciplinary account explores how English infantrymen in Belgium and France experienced and coped with war between 1914 and 1918.

In September 1914 the 16th (Irish) Division was formed, comprised of 47th, 48th and 49th Brigades, and among the infantry battalions allocated to the 49th Brigade was the 7th R Inniskilling Fusiliers, formed on 2nd October 1914. In the initial stages recruiting was difficult but a gradual improvement received an almighty set-back when in June 1915 the battalion was required to send a draft of 300 to the 10th Irish Division then in England, getting ready to embark for Gallipoli. This nearly resulted in the disbandment of the battalion, which had to start all over again, but by the time the division began its move to England in September 1915 the battalion was about 700 strong. After final training the division embarked for France in December, less the artillery and 49th Brigade which eventually crossed in February 1916. All this is recounted in Part I of the history. Part II is the story of the battalion on the Western front where it served till August 1917 when, on the 23rd, during Third Ypres, heavy losses resulted in amalgamation with the 8th Bn and henceforward it was the 7th/8th Bn. At this point the story ends. The battalion's introduction to trench warfare was in the Loos salient where it spent six months, and the memorial to this period is the plot in Philosophe Cemetery where 115 officers and men lie side by side in five rows; at the end of the book there is a plan of the cemetery showing the graves and who is buried in them. The battalion also fought on the Somme, notably at Ginchy and Guillemont. 7th Inniskillings were to the fore in the assault on Messines Ridge on 7th June 1917; in this major attack the battalion lost only 22 killed and died of wounds. It was after this assault that the feature known as 'Unnamed Wood' became 'Inniskilling Wood.' The battalion's final action before amalgamating with the 8th Bn was at Langemarck during Third Ypres. Almost the last photo in the book is one of the survivors of the original “Seventh” taken in March 1918 - they number twenty-two. At the end is the Roll of Honour. This is a competent and well written account, based on the War Diary, Battalion orders, records and personal memoirs. The author, who served as Signal Officer in the battalion for nearly two and a half years, stresses he took special care to avoid matters which might have led to political, military, or religious controversy.

The island of Bougainville in the South Pacific was the site of one of the largest and most gruelling campaigns fought by Australian forces during the Second World War. During the offensive against the Japanese from November 1944 to August 1945, more than 500 Australians were killed and two Victoria Crosses awarded. A veteran later described Bougainville as 'one long bloody hard slog'. Despite this, little is known about the campaign, which was dismissed as an unnecessary and costly operation. In the first major study of the Bougainville campaign since 1963, Karl James argues that it was in fact a justifiable use of Australia's military resources. Drawing on original archival research, including wartime reports and soldiers' letters and diaries, James illustrates the experience of Australian soldiers who fought. Generously illustrated with over forty photographs, this important book tells how this often overlooked battle played an important part in Australia's Second World War victory.

Endurance was an inherent part of the First World War. The chapters in this collection explore the concept in New Zealand and Australia. Researchers from a range of backgrounds and disciplines address what it meant for New Zealanders and Australians to endure the First World War, and how the war endured through the Twentieth Century. Soldiers and civilians alike endured hardship, discomfort, fears and anxieties during the war. Officials and organisations faced unprecedented demands on their time and resources, while Maori, Australian Aborigines, Anglo-Indian New Zealanders and children sought their own ways to contribute and be acknowledged. Family-members in Australia and New Zealand endured uncertainty about their loved ones’ fates on distant shores. Once the war ended, different forms of endurance emerged as responses, memories, myths and memorials quickly took shape and influenced the ways in which New Zealanders and Australians understood the conflict. The collection is divided into the themes of Institutional Endurance, Home Front Endurance, Battlefield Endurance, Race and Endurance, and Memorials.

This is one of the most valuable books in the armoury of the serious student of British Military history. It is a new and revised edition of Arthur White's much sought-after bibliography of regimental, battalion and other histories of all regiments and Corps that have ever existed in the British Army. This new edition includes an enlarged addendum to that given in the 1988 reprint. It is, quite simply, indispensible.

“A fantastic overview of one of Britain’s untold stories from the Great War”—the Salonika Campaign that pitted Allied forces against the Bulgarians (Burton Mail). The authors have researched the Salonika Campaign in every detail, from the arrival of the first British troops in 1915 to final victory. During this period large numbers of British and Allied troops were tied up in the strategically vital Balkans. Salonika was converted into a vast military base and over 70 miles of defensive works were created. We learn of the disappointments of the British XII Corps offensive in April/May 1917 (The First Battle of Doiran) and the more successful aggressive raiding in the Struma Valley. Using firsthand accounts, a vivid picture of life in the British Army is painted, with the roles of the Royal Flying Corps/RAF and RNAS well covered. The campaign drew to a victorious conclusion with the defeat of the Bulgarians in 1918 but the British Salonika Army remained in place until 1921. The effect of this slow demobilization is also covered. “This impressive work demonstrates vividly that the Allied involvement in this region was anything other than a ‘sideshow.’ This would be a superb book to add to any Great War collection.” —Great War Magazine “The authors have addressed one of the great omissions by historians covering WWI. This is a well-researched study of a subject that has received far less than its deserved attention. The photo-plate section is well selected and maps in the body of the book help in the understanding of this unfamiliar part of WWI—Very Highly Recommended.” —Firetrench