The BEF of the 100 Days

[PhilB]

The BEF did a great job in the 100 days. What would a reasonable estimate of its composition be, particularly the bayonet toting end? Very few regulars and a mix of roughly 50/50 volunteers and conscripts?

[Old Tom]

Hello,

No bites on this as yet! I have a note from 'Doctrine and Dogma, German and

British Tactics in WW1' by Martin Samuels that, at the end of the war 7 of 8 of the BEF were wartime volunteers or conscripts. He also says that in the German army the comparable figure was 2 of 3. Other notes suggest that some 3,000,000 were conscripted and that by the introduction of conscription some 2,500,000 had volunteered. I guess your 50/50 is likely to be correct.

Old Tom

[truthergw]

I was eager to see some hard figures Phil. I would assume that a lot of the surviving old contemps who were still at the ' sharp end ' would be officers, commissioned and non commissioned. Lots of them in the Labour corps and ASC, working on LoC etc. Of course, by then, it would be difficult to distinguish between T.F, New Army men and regulars as far as experience and ability went. They had been out since 1915 and had taken part in every battle since Loos for New Army, Neuve Chapelle for TF men.

[PhilB]

I also wondered if, by 1918, even many of the volunteers who survived might have gravitated to safer jobs and that the impressive series of victories were largely a conscript campaign and that the high casualty rates incurred were largely theirs too. It makes the performance all the more remarkable.

[salesie]

The general consensus seems to be that volunteers fight better than conscripts - but is this a realistic perception? Can a distinction be drawn between "willing" and "unwilling" conscripts? And would the willing-conscript not fight better than the unwilling - fight as well as a volunteer?

The German army in 1914 went to war with a hard-core of "trained" conscripts - National Service being a feature of "normal" life in Germany for some time, giving them a massive reserve of "trained" men to recall to the colours in time of war. Yet this German army of 1914 is often spoken of as being highly-professional when in reality, from the very beginning, the majority of its soldiers were willing-conscripts. And, every male (apart from reserved occupations) in Germany, before as well as during the war, knew that by a certain age he would be called to the colours - of course, as attrition took its deadly toll the age for call-up decreased remarkably - but it seems the conscripts of Germany only became less-willing in mid-1918.

Official conscription in the UK was introduced for the very first time in 1916 because voluntary recruitment was falling (though, unofficially, it had been going on for some time, what with peer-pressure and the "white-feather campaign" - how many "volunteers" were "conscripted" this way?) But there can still be a distinction drawn between willing and unwilling-conscripts i.e. any volunteers after the introduction of conscription would await call-up, and thus be classed as conscripts when joining the colours - plus, how many conscripts tried to get out of it? I have no figures for those who appealed against call up (perhaps someone would oblige), but it seems to me that if the percentage of appeals to the total called-up is relatively low then the vast majority were willing-conscripts and just as good in the field as volunteers.

The BEF's remarkable display of determination and courage in the hundred-day campaign must surely be down to the willing, whether conscripts or not?

Cheers-salesie.

[Petroc]

The conscription period, both in terms of its application in the UK regions and military performance, is a subject that has unfortunately had little attention devoted towards it.

However, a few points might be worth considering. First, those survivors of the original pre-war Regulars and Regular Reservists, together with the early surving Kitchener volunteers, were unlikely to have been transferred to non-combatant or 'safer' support units without their own implicit and determined application or their commissioning; these men were now the hard-core of trench experience on which the Army would have to had rely upon if only for the skills and education they could have imparted to the new boys.

Second, the idea of the universal conscript as the unwilling, disgruntled and stubborn is a myth. True, many men resisted conscription, and I reckon (based upon what few surviving records there are) up to a third of those called-up applied for exemption; many of these appeals, assessed as they were on a local basis by Tribunals acutely aware of local economic and industrial concerns, were accepted and upheld. On the other hand, one should remember that many young conscripts, being unable due to age to enlist earlier in the war, were perfectly willing soldiers who would have happily volunteered if not for the fact that the Military Service Acts removed this option. Their performance and contribution should undoubtedly be adequately acknowledged, but sometimes should be seen in the same light as the more-celebrated 'happy warrior' of the Somme era

[truthergw]

A related subject with regard to willing and unwilling. How many Kitchener men enlisted for the short war, home before Xmas. How many of those bitterly regretted their action a year or more later, at Loos or the Somme? This does not detract from the bravery shown, in my eyes, it magnifies it. I suspect they did what they did through a sense of duty, reinforced by comradeship.

[Petroc]

I think that you're correct in terms of what sustained men through the years of hardship; mates, small-unit ideology (the so-called 'buddy-group'), letters and information from home (remember that civilians at home were remarkably MORE aware of what was going on than some histories would lead one to believe), local identity, regimental feeling, etc. But one thing stands out in many first-hand accounts of the War, namely a dogged determination to 'see things through' to the fianlity, a true sense of 'we're here..but we'd better go back home victorious'. This kind of mentality sems to have been imposed upon and/or happily accepted by the conscript troops, so that whilst conditions at the Front may have caused discomfort and, in true British fashion, criticism of those in authority, there was a very real sense of what later may have been termed the 'Dunkirk Spirit'

[PhilB]

On the other hand, one should remember that many young conscripts, being unable due to age to enlist earlier in the war, were perfectly willing soldiers who would have happily volunteered if not for the fact that the Military Service Acts removed this option.

Could a man be conscripted before he had had any chance of volunteering? My reading of this from the LLT indicates otherwise? :-

"The Military Service Act of 27 January 1916 brought conscription into play for the first time in the war. Along with the Defence of the Realm Act, it was possibly the most important piece of legislation in placing Britain onto a "total war" footing.

Every British male subject who

- on 15 August 1915 was ordinarily resident in Great Britain and who had attained the age of 19 but was not yet 41 and

- on 2 November 1915 was unmarried or a widower without dependent children

unless he met certain exceptions or had met the age of 41 before the appointed date, was deemed to have enlisted for general service with the colours or in the reserve and was forthwith transferred to the reserve. He now came under the controls specified in the Army Act. This was as of Thursday 2 March 1916."

[Terry]

As a bit of an aside, roughly 24,000 Canadian conscripts reached France by Nov.11. Obviously they would have been distributed throughout the Canadian Corps, but I assume that most went to the infantry. As there were 48 infantry battalions in the corps, it might be possible that each unit ended up with several hundred conscripts in those last months.

[Petroc]

Yeah, I believe that a man could well be conscripted before he had any opportunity of volunteering, which might have attached a degree of stigma to his subsequent service..but I also recall seeing somewhere the fact that, much like the Derby Scheme, an individual could semi-officially register his willingness to volunteer despite the fact that, on attaining the relevent age and physical requirements, he would be duly called-up anyway. I think a considerable number of the youngsters (see Fred Hodges' 'Men of 18 in 1918') viewed and acepted conscription as the most natural method of joining the Army; if it hadn't been in force they would have joined-up anyway

[PhilB]

Post #9 indicates that only men of 19+ were conscripted, so couldn`t any man enlist by volunteering while 18?

[Petroc]

I'll have to check; but I'm pretty certain a man could volunteer, and maybe have his name on a national recruitment register, at below 19 and be called up when and if he reached the age for overseas service as early as 1917.

In any old case, the conscription terms extended to these youths and it was only the pressure of battlefield experiences and casualties that compelled the government to relax the regulations regarding the overseas service of soldiers under the age of 19.

Many 18 year olds undergoing, or completing, training in the last year of the War were unceremoniously drafted to the Western Front and were quite often sent to alien units in the spring and summer of 1918 due to the desperate need to supply battalions with infantrymen but, despite a few publicised accounts, what i have found is that most were perfectly willing to to 'their bit' and to fight to the end with the petulant exubirance of youth

[Charles Fair]

1/19th London Regiment, 47 Division, based on analysis of medal roll data combined with CWGC/SDGW info leads me to believe that at at least 70% of the battalion in the last 100 days were conscripts. The remaining 30% consisted of a mix of volunteers (a handful of which were pre-war), Derby scheme men, and some of which I am uncertain (could be either conscripts or Derby scheme).

[Karvinen]

How did the authorities know who to conscript, and where to send the notices? Or did Britain have a population register?

[PhilB]

1/19th London Regiment, 47 Division, based on analysis of medal roll data combined with CWGC/SDGW info leads me to believe that at at least 70% of the battalion in the last 100 days were conscripts.

That`s high! Particularly when you think that many non-conscripts would have gravitated to safer jobs in signals/transport/HQ/etc. It puts the % of conscripts in the teeth jobs even higher.

[truthergw]

How did the authorities know who to conscript, and where to send the notices? Or did Britain have a population register?

On reaching a certain age, every man had to register. He was then called up, as and when required.

[Karvinen]

Did it work in the UK?

In the US, they appear to have had over 300 000 "draft dodgers" during their call-up period