Conscription in the British army as of

[Patrick]

Conscription in the British army as of when?

The British army was a professional army in 1914

Then with Lord Kitchener it was one of volunteers

As of when was it decided to in store the conscription one ,

And when did this conscription had it first effects on the battlefields

I would guess after the Somme tragedy 1917

Patrick

[Chris_Baker]

There is a detailed section on this at www.1914-1918.net. Click on 'Joining Up' on the homepage.

[Simon Furnell]

I seem to remember,that it was early in 1916 that the conscription act was passed.

Before that there was the Derby scheme,where men could sign up for service,but would not be called until they were needed.

My Great-grandad signed up in December 1915 under this scheme,and was finally called up in the July of 1916,serving with the 3/4th Royal Berks for a time,but being based at home,from what i can tell.

A good book that covers conscription during WW1 is,Conscripts.The lost legions of the WW1,written by an Israeli professor who's name escapes me at the moment.

I think her surname is Bet-Al.

All the best.

Simon Furnell.

[Patrick]

Hi Guys

Indeed very excellent article chris

Thanks for prompt response .

Patrick

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi Patrick

Conscripts had arrived with 7th K.S.L.I. by August or September 1916 if I remember rightly, they were not liked at first but after a few mouths treated just like volunteers.

Regards

Annette

[Sue Light]

The book that Simon referred to is 'Conscripts: Lost Legions of the Great War' by Ilana Bet-El [sutton Publishing]. The author seems to be strongly convinced that when these men finally reached the trenches [and after the war] their lives were in many ways different to that of the Volunteers - to her they remain 'conscripts' and not 'soldiers', which I would think is not a generally held view. But the book does give a good in depth account of their recruitment, training, and life before going overseas, and also excellent information about day to day life in the trenches in the later part of the war - whether conscript or volunteer.

Regards - Sue