WW1 RECRUITING POSTER BRITISH ARMY RAMC ROYAL ARMY MEDICALS CORPS NEW A4 PRINT
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WW1 RECRUITING POSTER BRITISH ARMY RAMC ROYAL ARMY MEDICALS CORPS NEW A4 PRINT:
$3.75
WW1 RECRUITING POSTER
ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
THIS IS A NEW REPRODUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL.
SIZE A4 (11.7 X 8.3 INCHES) PRINT (READY FOR MOUNTING AND FRAMING)
U.K £1.75 POST
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WORLDWIDE POSTAGE £4.95
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Military recruitment is recruitment for military positions, that is, the act of requesting people, usually male adults, to join a military voluntarily. Involuntary military recruitment is known as conscription. Even before the era of all-volunteer militaries, recruitment of volunteers was an important component of filling military positions, and in countries that have abolished conscription, it is the sole means. To facilitate this process, armed forces have established recruiting commands.
Military recruitment can be considered part of military science if analysed as part of military history. Acquiring large amounts of forces in a relatively short period of time, especially voluntarily, as opposed to stable development, is a frequent phenomenon in history. One particular example is the regeneration of the military strength of the Communist Party of China from a depleted force of 8,000 following the Long March in 1934 into 2.8 million near the end of the Chinese Civil War 14 years later.
Recent cross-cultural studies suggest that, throughout the world, the same broad categories may be used to define recruitment appeals. They include war, economic motivation, education, family and friends, politics, and identity and psychosocial factors.The British Army came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1754. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland. The Army has traditionally relied upon volunteer recruits, the only exceptions to this being during the latter part of the First World War until 1919, and then again during the Second World War and for fifteen years after it until 1960, when conscription was enacted.
At the start of 1914 the British Army had a reported strength of 710,000 men including reserves, of which 247,432 were regular troops, also including 80,000 regular troops formed as the British Expeditionary Force.[22] The recruitment drive would be spearheaded by Lord Kitchener once war had been declared in August 1914.
It was abundantly clear that the army which the Kaiser had referred to as a \"contemptible little army\", would need thousands more recruits. Young Britons answered the call, for King and Country, and voluntarily joined the British Army. By early 1915 much of the regular army had been killed and were now replaced by the part-time volunteers of the Territorial Force and Kitchener\'s new volunteer army. A feature of the volunteer army was the Pals battalions, recruited from single communities or even factories, who were allowed to serve together. The Kitchener recruitment campaign had proved to be very successful, as on September 1, 1914, over 30,000 men enlisted.[23] With each day passing, thousands more were clamouring to be taken. The British Government soon realized the main drawback of this campaign, as opposed to the French and German conscriptions which selected each individual men, a high proportion of men from skilled industries left their works which would prove to be costly in the war effort. A better-controlled enlistment program would be required.[23]
The Military Service Bill was enacted with effect from January 1916 and specified that men from the ages of 18 to 41 were liable to be called up for service unless they were married (or widowed with children), or else served in one of a number of reserved professions. By the end of World War I almost a quarter of the total male population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland had joined up, over five million men.
Inter-war period 1919-38After the Great war and the inevitable defence cuts that would follow, the army was reduced in size, and by 1920 had fallen to a strength of 370,000. There were a number of factors for the reductions in the size of British Army, and the cuts to the budget of the Army. The army now had competition from the new armed service, the Royal Air Force, which could patrol far greater land areas, and keep the far flung corners of the Empire policed from the sky at a relatively cheaper cost. The defence budget for the army was repeatedly cut yearly, as in 1923 the army defence budget was 43.5million pounds sterling, and during the Great Depression in 1932 to just under 36million pounds sterling. Only with the rise of Germany, would the budget for the British army again increase, by 1938 to 123million pounds sterling; the army again started a rapid recruitment program.[24]
Second World WarFurther information: Conscription in the United Kingdom during Second World War
The pre-war army was an all-volunteer army and recruits were allotted to the corps of their wishes. The only pre-conditions placed on candidates were an interview with a recruiting officer, who could only glean partial information on a recruit, a medical examination, and some educational tests. If these requirements were met the recruit was posted to the arm of his choice, there was no scientific selection process unlike the rapidly growing German army. This led to men being allocated to the wrong or unsuitable corps. The Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha attempted to address these problems, and the wider problems of the British army.[25] The process of allocating men would remain ad hoc at the start of the war. The army would be without the quotas of men required from skilled professions and trades, which modern warfare demanded. With the army being the least popular service compared to the navy and airforce, a higher proportion of army recruits were said to be dull and backwards.[26]
The following memorandum to the Executive Committee of the Army Council highlighted the growing concern.
“The British Army is wasting manpower in this war almost as badly as it did in the last war. A man is posted to a Corps almost entirely on the demand of the moment and without any effort at personal selection by proper tests. ”[27]
Only with the creation of the Beveridge committee in 1941 and their subsequent findings in 1942, would the situation of skilled men not being assigned correctly, be addressed. The findings led directly to the creation of the General Service Corps, and would remain in place long after the war.[28] Hore-Belisha had sought permission to introduce conscription in 1938 but was rebuffed by Neville Chamberlain, who would not agree to increased defense spending. In early 1939, he was finally allowed to introduce conscription to meet the threat of Germany, with the Military Training Act of 27 April 1939. The act required all men aged 20 and 21 to take six months military training. This act was extended on the declaration of the war, to include all fit men between the ages of 18 and 41. Conscription was gradually brought in, starting in October 1939 and applying to all fit men between 20–23, and the age group was increased as the war continued.[29]
At the start of the Second World War the British Army Strength stood at 897,000 men including reserves. By the end of 1939 the strength of the British Army stood at 1.1 million men, and further increased to 1.65 million men during June 1940.[29] [30] [31] By the end of the war and the final demobilisations in 1946, over 3.5 million men had been enlisted in the British Army.[32]
The Local Defence Volunteers was formed early in 1940. Very large numbers of civilians too old or too young for the Army, or barred from serving if they were in reserved occupations, volunteered for the new force. The organisation was eventually renamed the \"Home Guard\" and was to be part of the defence of Britain in the advent of a German invasion of Britain.
From National Service to all-professional armyFurther information: National ServiceAs with the previous World War, the end of wartime conscription saw the army reduced in size and reverting to its peacetime role of maintaining the Empire. In 1947 British India was given Independence, which meant the loss of the British Indian Army and thousands of volunteer soldiers. The British Government had relied upon the British Indian Army for Imperial matters. Now without this army, the regular British Army was judged to be too small for the demands of an impending Cold War and maintaining the Empire. To meet this demand which volunteers alone would not, peacetime conscription was enacted by the government and passed by the House of Commons in 1947. In the United Kingdom, it is this period of peacetime conscription that is usually referred to as \'National Service\'. It remains the only period of peacetime conscription in UK history, apart from the periods immediately before and after World War II. The majority of National Servicemen went into the Army and by 1951 National Servicemen made up half the force, leading to a reduced level of voluntary recruitment to the regular army. The last intake of National Servicemen took place in 1960, with the last National Serviceman being demobbed on 16 May 1963. The army reverted to an all professional volunteer service, which it remains to this day.[33]
The decision to abolish National Service was taken in 1957 with the 1957 Defence White Paper, which led to an enormous reduction in the number of soldiers between 1958–63, from about 330,000 to 165,000 by the end of National Service. In the decades that followed cuts in the Army were the constant theme. Between 1963 and 1992 strength was reduced to 153,000, however never on a large scale until the end of the cold war. In 1990 the Government started another defence review which concluded with the Defence White Paper of 1992. In a post-Soviet world the white paper would again further reduce the army by 50,000,[34] effectively ending the British Army of the Rhine. The current strength of the British army is approximately 102,000 regular personnel.
Present dayThe Army mainly recruits within the United Kingdom, and normally has a recruitment target of around 25,000 soldiers per year. Low unemployment in Britain has resulted in the Army having difficulty in meeting its target, and in the early years of the 21st century there has been a marked increase in the number of recruits from mostly Commonwealth countries.
The minimum recruitment age is 16 years, after the end of GCSEs, although soldiers may not serve on operations below 18 years; the maximum recruitment age was raised in January 2007 from 26 to 33 years. The normal term of engagement is 22 years, and once enlisted soldiers are not normally permitted to leave until they have served at least 4 years.
Empire and CommonwealthDuring both World Wars, subjects throughout the British Empire volunteered to help the United Kingdom. During World War I the Dominions raised their own armies, but were under the British command structure, and very much integrated into the British fighting forces. Over 2.5 million men, which included Canada sending 418,000 men overseas, Australia sent 322,000,South Africa sent 230,000, New Zealand 124,000, and other volunteers from the Crown Colonies.[35]During peacetime the British Empire soldiers were usually recruited into indigenous regiments to garrison their own land, thus ensuring that the Army did not have to allocate its own units to garrison the territories. Such as the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, one of the oldest regiments raised from the empire was the West India Regiment raised in 1795, and was formed as an integral part of the regular British Army. The recruits of West India Regiment were originally raised from freed slaves from North America and by purchase of slaves in the West Indies, it was disbanded in 1927. Other units such as the Fiji Infantry Regiment, raised in 1920, garrisoned the Pacific territory, consisting of one battalion. One of the largest was the Royal West African Frontier Force which garrisoned British West Africa, consisting in 1928 of The Nigeria Regiment.
British Indian ArmyThe largest of the colonial military forces was the British Indian Army. Up to Indian independence, this was a volunteer army, raised from the native population and staffed by British officers. The Indian Army served both as a security force in India itself and, particularly during the World Wars, in other theatres. The Indian Army proved a very useful adjunct to British forces wherever it served. Recruitment was entirely voluntary; about 1.3 million men served in the First World War, many on the Western Front, and 2.5 million in the Second. Initially the soldiers and NCOs were Indian, with British officers, but later Indian officers were promoted King\'s Commissioned Indian Officer.
GurkhasThe Gurkhas have been employed as an integral part of the Indian Army since the early 19th century and after Indian independence some Gurkha units were transferred to the British Army. There are approximately 3,500 Gurkhas currently serving in the British Army. Joining the British Army is one of the few ways Nepalese have of escaping poverty and earning a good salary. As a result each year, there are thousands of applicants, as in 2007 when over 17,349 applied for just 230 posts.[36][37] In some years there are over 60,000 applying to join, and from 2010, women for the first were allowed to join.[38] Candidates must be between 17½ and 21 years of age.
Irish regimentsIrishmen have served in large numbers with the British army since its inception in the early 18th century and into the Seven Years\' War, the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. During the 19th, century 42 percent of soldiers in the British Army were Irish born which meant there were more Irish soldiers in the army than English.[citation needed] Levels would remain high, although recruitment steadily dropped from the period of the Irish Famine until 1900, but the Irish would remain over represented compared to the size of the population. At the turn of the 20th century, numbers of Irish volunteers reduced, as the criticism by nationalists of recruitment to the army grew. Over 28,000 Irishmen served in the army during the Second Boer War, but by 1910 recruitment levels had fallen to 9 percent and for the first time were below Ireland\'s share of the UK population. During World War I, over 200,000 Irish soldiers volunteered to serve;[39][40] many recruits from the new Southern state were known as National Volunteers. During World War II, over 70,000 were recruited from the Republic of Ireland[41] and 38,000 from Northern Ireland.[42]
The importance of the Irish in the British Army was summed up by Rudyard Kipling, who lost his son, Lt John Kipling of the Irish Guards, in World War I,
“For where there are Irish there’s bound to be fighting, And when there’s no fighting it’s Ireland no moreWW1 RECRUITING POSTER BRITISH ARMY RAMC ROYAL ARMY MEDICALS CORPS NEW A4 PRINT:
$3.75