Recruitment in the British Army
Encyclopedia
The British Army
came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain
in 1707. 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.
, and stood at 7,000 troops at home and 14,000 based overseas, with recruits ranging from 17 to 50 years of age. The army was kept small by the government during peacetime, mainly due to the fear that the army would be unduly influenced by the Crown or used to depose the government. The Bill of Rights
of 1689 specifies that Parliamentary authority is needed to maintain a standing army in peacetime.
For much of the 18th century, the army was recruited in a wide variety of places, and many of its recruits were mercenaries from continental Europe, including Danes, Hessians and Hanoverians
. These mercenaries were hired out by other rulers on contracted terms. Other regiments were formed of volunteers such as French Huguenots. By 1709, during the War of the Spanish Succession
, the British Army totalled 150,000 men, of whom 81,000 were foreign mercenaries. The rest of the army consisted of natives of the British Isles
, apart from the officers mainly recruited from the poorest sections of society. Each regiment was responsible for the recruitment of its own troops, and individual colonels would lead recruiting parties on tours of the towns and villages. This was emphasized by a popular play of the time called The Recruiting Officer
. Other powers were given by the British government to allow the forcible enlistment of vagrants and vagabonds
. Some of these powers were abused by recruiting officers desperate to fill their quotas, although a legalized Royal Navy
press-gang system
would not be implemented yet, even though normal recruiting methods failed to supply the required annual influx of troops, as the army was not a popular profession, with low pay, flogging and other barbarous disciplinary measures. The army's recruiting methods and treatment of its soldiers would remain the same for the rest of the 18th century.
During the American Revolutionary War
, a policy similar to the Navy's Press Gangs
was introduced. Two acts were passed, the Recruiting Act 1778
and the Recruiting Act 1779
, for the impressment of individuals. For some men this would have been for being drunk and disorderly. The chief advantages of these acts was in the number of volunteers brought in under the apprehension of impressment. To avoid impressment, some recruits incapacitated themselves by cutting off the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. Both acts were repealed in 1780. The British Government also released criminals and debtors from prison on the condition they joined the army. Three entire regiments during the American Revolution were raised from this early release programme. Of the Volunteer recruits, some would find they had been enticed to take the King's shilling
under false pretenses and many men would find they had signed to a lifetime in the army.
After the defeat of Great Britain by the American revolutionaries, the British Army fell into dereliction (it should be noted that the army in 1775 was in a poor state anyway), morale and discipline were low, and troops levels fell. The Army was neglected as never before and its total strength in 1793 stood at 40,000 men.
The United Kingdom
's struggle with France
during the Napoleonic wars
required the British Army to expand rapidly. Ordinary recruiting methods failed to supply the number of men required to fill the Army ranks. The main methods used for recruiting were: private individuals were recruited for their own interests; volunteers from the militia
and, placing obligations on communities to enlist. Generals called for conscription for the first time in British History, although this was never enacted for the regular army. During this period Great Britain was at a disadvantage to her enemy, as due to the Industrial revolution
potential recruits were instead drawn to the cities to earn more money in the many factories now being built in the country, while France was still largely an Agrarian Society. Competition from civilian occupations was intense and highlighted in the disparity in pay; where a private could earn 7s per week in 1806, a dockworker could expect to earn 28s. However soldiers would expect to supplement this meagre income with promotion and loot on campaign. During the early phases of the war joining the Army could still mean effectively joining for life, which was frequently brutally cut short. For instance a posting to the Caribbean in 1790 was seen as a near death sentence, as thousands of men died or were disabled by disease there.
(as head of the army) slowly improved the lot of the ordinary soldier. York oversaw a crackdown on corruption and removed the threat of corporal punishment
for a large number of petty offences (while it was still retained for serious derelictions of duty). He also stamped down on the abuse of buying officer commissions, making it necessary for officers to serve two full years before either promotion or purchase to captain and six years before becoming a major
The establishment of the Royal Military Academy
for officers was instigated due to York's influence, while regular recruits to the army were allowed to join under contract for limited periods, rather than for life. Men such as Sir John Moore, Thomas Sydney Beckwith
and Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
characterised the new breed of officers who sought to improve the relationship between officers and men, motivating troops through mutual respect, reward and promotion rather than by relying on punishment. The Shorncliffe System for light infantry
was established, being devised by Lt-Col Kenneth Mackenzie, and trained soldiers to think for themselves and act on initiative while the light infantry officers drilled alongside the men fostering comradeship. In addition, the introduction of new tactical and organisational flexibility contributed a great deal to the successes of the Peninsula and Waterloo.
The Army still struggled to raise the troops required to replace the discharged, wounded and dead as the war against France continued. As early as 1794, 18,596 soldiers died on active service and another 40,639 men were discharged. This would remain a constant theme during the Napoleonic wars, and the British Army also used foreign volunteers, such as French Royalists
, Germans, Greeks
and Corsica
ns to supplement its forces. In 1813 one fifth of the army, 52,000 men, were such volunteers. The British Army in 1813 contained over 250,000 men., though this was much larger in comparison to the army at the beginning of the war, the all volunteer British army was still much smaller than that of France, which with conscription had an army over 2.6 million.
were implemented in the 1870s. The Crimean War
nevertheless highlighted several defects and weaknesses in the Army's organisation. Although in theory, 70,000 soldiers were stationed in Britain, it was found that this number included several units in transit from distant outposts of the Empire, and some underdeveloped recruits and many old soldiers whose constitution had been ruined by harsh climate and disease and who were no longer capable of serving in the field. As a result, the provision of an expeditionary force of only 25,000 in the Crimea stripped Britain of almost every trained soldier.
Some of the Cardwell's reforms included the abolition of sale of commissions
, banning of flogging and other measures such as reducing the length of service, to make recruitment more appealing. An Enlistment Act saw a change in the terms of enlistment, which could at last produce some trained reserves and also made soldiering a more tempting career. A Localisation Scheme resulted in the pairing of single-battalion regiments via administrative depots on a county-based system.
, with most having attended public schools
. It was said that the Battle of Waterloo
in 1815 was 'won on the playing fields of Eton
'. Often officers were from families with a military tradition. This was due in part to the sale of commissions, finally abolished in the Cardwell reforms, and the further Childers Reforms
. In spite of its abolition, the status of an officer being from a privileged background and that of another rank being from a less privileged one has, for the most part, endured into the 21st century.
The Royal Family
traditionally had its members serve in the Armed Forces, usually with the Royal Navy though many have served with the Army. This occasionally warped operations in the field, for example at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir where Wolseley was forced to leave an entire brigade of Guards in reserve to avoid harm coming to Queen Victoria's third son, the Duke of Connaught
. The tradition has continued into the 21st century, with Prince Harry and Prince William both joining the Army as officers. However, Royals are no longer deliberately kept out of harm's way; Prince Harry served in Afghanistan until the publicity posed a threat to the troops serving with him (and Prince Andrew
served as a front-line helicopter pilot with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War
).
Foreign Royals have also served in the Army, such as Eugène Bonaparte
the son of Napoléon III, who was commissioned into the Royal Artillery
, but was killed in 1879 while serving in South Africa
during the Anglo-Zulu War
. Later in the 20th century, King Abdullah II of Jordan
served as a Second Lieutenant with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
, and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman
with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
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. 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 battalion
s, 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. 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.
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.
After 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 43.5 million pounds sterling, and during the Great Depression
in 1932 to just under 36 million pounds sterling. Only with the rise of Germany
, would the budget for the British army again increase, by 1938 to 123 million pounds sterling; the army again started a rapid recruitment program.
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. 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.
The following memorandum to the Executive Committee of the Army Council highlighted the growing concern.
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. 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.
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.
By the end of the war and the final demobilisations in 1946, over 3.5 million men had been enlisted in the British Army
.
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.
, 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 back to an all professional volunteer service, which it remains to this day.
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, effectively ending the British Army of the Rhine
. The current strength of the British army is approximately 102,000 regular personnel.
The 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.
During 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.
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.
The 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
.
The 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. In some years there are over 60,000 applying to join, and from 2010, women for the first time will be allowed to join. Candidates must be between 17½ and 21 years of age.
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Irish volunteers formed the backbone of recruitment to the British Army for more than two centuries until Irish independence. At one point 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. 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 about 6 percent (65,000) of the army were Irish recruits and were encouraged by the leaders of Ireland to rally to the cause of the allies; recruits were known as National Volunteers
. Post-independence during World War II over 70,000 were recruited from the Irish Free State
. 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,
origin volunteers comprised approximately 6.7% of the Army's total strength. In total 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas. After Gurkhas, the nation with most citizens in the British Army is Fiji
, with 1,900, followed by Jamaica
and Ghana
with 600 each; soldiers also come from more prosperous countries such as Australia, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland
. Levels of recruitment amongst Irish nationals have also been increasing, and figures for recruitment in Northern Ireland reveal that 16% came from south of the border during 2008. With Levels growing year on year since 2005 and up from 5% in 2006.
The Ministry of Defence
now caps the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries at 10% of any corps or regiment in the Army, although this will not affect the Gurkhas. If the trend continues 10% of the army will be from Commonwealth countries before 2012. The cap is still debated, as some fear the army's "Britishness
" is being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seen as employing too many mercenaries.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. 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
Conscription in the United Kingdom
Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1919, the second was from 1939 to 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963...
was enacted.
18th and 19th centuries
At the beginning of the 18th century the standing strength of the British Army was reduced after the Treaty of RyswickTreaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
, and stood at 7,000 troops at home and 14,000 based overseas, with recruits ranging from 17 to 50 years of age. The army was kept small by the government during peacetime, mainly due to the fear that the army would be unduly influenced by the Crown or used to depose the government. The Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
of 1689 specifies that Parliamentary authority is needed to maintain a standing army in peacetime.
For much of the 18th century, the army was recruited in a wide variety of places, and many of its recruits were mercenaries from continental Europe, including Danes, Hessians and Hanoverians
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
. These mercenaries were hired out by other rulers on contracted terms. Other regiments were formed of volunteers such as French Huguenots. By 1709, during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, the British Army totalled 150,000 men, of whom 81,000 were foreign mercenaries. The rest of the army consisted of natives of the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, apart from the officers mainly recruited from the poorest sections of society. Each regiment was responsible for the recruitment of its own troops, and individual colonels would lead recruiting parties on tours of the towns and villages. This was emphasized by a popular play of the time called The Recruiting Officer
The Recruiting Officer
The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers...
. Other powers were given by the British government to allow the forcible enlistment of vagrants and vagabonds
Vagabond (person)
A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....
. Some of these powers were abused by recruiting officers desperate to fill their quotas, although a legalized Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
press-gang system
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
would not be implemented yet, even though normal recruiting methods failed to supply the required annual influx of troops, as the army was not a popular profession, with low pay, flogging and other barbarous disciplinary measures. The army's recruiting methods and treatment of its soldiers would remain the same for the rest of the 18th century.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, a policy similar to the Navy's Press Gangs
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
was introduced. Two acts were passed, the Recruiting Act 1778
Recruiting Act 1778
The Recruiting Act 1778 is an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. It was a press act "for the more easy and better recruiting of his Majesty's Land Forces"...
and the Recruiting Act 1779
Recruiting Act 1779
The Recruiting Act 1779 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. It was a press act for the recruiting of his Majesty's Land Forces. After the losses in the American Revolutionary War and the apprehended hostilities with France, the existing voluntary enlistment measures...
, for the impressment of individuals. For some men this would have been for being drunk and disorderly. The chief advantages of these acts was in the number of volunteers brought in under the apprehension of impressment. To avoid impressment, some recruits incapacitated themselves by cutting off the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. Both acts were repealed in 1780. The British Government also released criminals and debtors from prison on the condition they joined the army. Three entire regiments during the American Revolution were raised from this early release programme. Of the Volunteer recruits, some would find they had been enticed to take the King's shilling
King's shilling
For many years a soldier's daily pay, before stoppages, was the shilling given as an earnest payment to recruits of the British Army and the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries...
under false pretenses and many men would find they had signed to a lifetime in the army.
After the defeat of Great Britain by the American revolutionaries, the British Army fell into dereliction (it should be noted that the army in 1775 was in a poor state anyway), morale and discipline were low, and troops levels fell. The Army was neglected as never before and its total strength in 1793 stood at 40,000 men.
Napoleonic wars
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
's struggle with France
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
during the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
required the British Army to expand rapidly. Ordinary recruiting methods failed to supply the number of men required to fill the Army ranks. The main methods used for recruiting were: private individuals were recruited for their own interests; volunteers from the militia
Militia (United Kingdom)
The Militia of the United Kingdom were the military reserve forces of the United Kingdom after the Union in 1801 of the former Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland....
and, placing obligations on communities to enlist. Generals called for conscription for the first time in British History, although this was never enacted for the regular army. During this period Great Britain was at a disadvantage to her enemy, as due to the Industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
potential recruits were instead drawn to the cities to earn more money in the many factories now being built in the country, while France was still largely an Agrarian Society. Competition from civilian occupations was intense and highlighted in the disparity in pay; where a private could earn 7s per week in 1806, a dockworker could expect to earn 28s. However soldiers would expect to supplement this meagre income with promotion and loot on campaign. During the early phases of the war joining the Army could still mean effectively joining for life, which was frequently brutally cut short. For instance a posting to the Caribbean in 1790 was seen as a near death sentence, as thousands of men died or were disabled by disease there.
Reform
From 1798 onwards, structural, training and logistical reforms implemented or authorised by the Duke of YorkPrince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...
(as head of the army) slowly improved the lot of the ordinary soldier. York oversaw a crackdown on corruption and removed the threat of corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
for a large number of petty offences (while it was still retained for serious derelictions of duty). He also stamped down on the abuse of buying officer commissions, making it necessary for officers to serve two full years before either promotion or purchase to captain and six years before becoming a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
The establishment of the Royal Military Academy
Royal Military Academy
The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers...
for officers was instigated due to York's influence, while regular recruits to the army were allowed to join under contract for limited periods, rather than for life. Men such as Sir John Moore, Thomas Sydney Beckwith
Thomas Sydney Beckwith
Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith, KCB was an officer of the British army who served as quartermaster general of the British forces in Canada during the War of 1812, and a commander-in-chief at Mumbai during the British Raj...
and Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB, GCH served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.-Early career:Educated at a school in Chester, Hill was...
characterised the new breed of officers who sought to improve the relationship between officers and men, motivating troops through mutual respect, reward and promotion rather than by relying on punishment. The Shorncliffe System for light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
was established, being devised by Lt-Col Kenneth Mackenzie, and trained soldiers to think for themselves and act on initiative while the light infantry officers drilled alongside the men fostering comradeship. In addition, the introduction of new tactical and organisational flexibility contributed a great deal to the successes of the Peninsula and Waterloo.
The Army still struggled to raise the troops required to replace the discharged, wounded and dead as the war against France continued. As early as 1794, 18,596 soldiers died on active service and another 40,639 men were discharged. This would remain a constant theme during the Napoleonic wars, and the British Army also used foreign volunteers, such as French Royalists
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
, Germans, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
ns to supplement its forces. In 1813 one fifth of the army, 52,000 men, were such volunteers. The British Army in 1813 contained over 250,000 men., though this was much larger in comparison to the army at the beginning of the war, the all volunteer British army was still much smaller than that of France, which with conscription had an army over 2.6 million.
Post-Napoleonic army
After the victory in the Napoleonic wars, there followed 40 years of peace in Europe during which the army would again revert to its peacetime role. The Army that won the war was again neglected in the peace. The Government's immediate priority was to cut taxes, to lessen the burden of taxation on the economy which had remained high over the previous twenty years, to pay for the expensive war that enabled Britain to be victorious over France. The British Army funding would be cut drastically in the short term, but as became evident this would apply for the next 40 years. The budget was cut from £43 million in 1815, to £10.7 million in 1820, £8 million in 1836 and only rose slightly 10 years later to £9.5 million. With the budget cuts, troop levels were inevitably cut from 233,592 men in 1815 to 102,529 men by 1828. There were further reductions in 1838, after which troop strength stood at 91,388. With the constant cuts, recruiting parties would achieve their reduced recruiting targets with greater ease.1870 reforms
The army during peacetime was deliberately kept small and the recruitment methods would only change once the Cardwell reformsCardwell Reforms
The Cardwell Reforms refer to a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874.-Background:...
were implemented in the 1870s. The Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
nevertheless highlighted several defects and weaknesses in the Army's organisation. Although in theory, 70,000 soldiers were stationed in Britain, it was found that this number included several units in transit from distant outposts of the Empire, and some underdeveloped recruits and many old soldiers whose constitution had been ruined by harsh climate and disease and who were no longer capable of serving in the field. As a result, the provision of an expeditionary force of only 25,000 in the Crimea stripped Britain of almost every trained soldier.
Some of the Cardwell's reforms included the abolition of sale of commissions
Sale of commissions
The sale of commissions was a common practice in most European armies where wealthy and noble officers purchased their rank. Only the Imperial Russian Army and the Prussian Army never used such a system. While initially shunned in the French Revolutionary Army, it was eventually revived in the...
, banning of flogging and other measures such as reducing the length of service, to make recruitment more appealing. An Enlistment Act saw a change in the terms of enlistment, which could at last produce some trained reserves and also made soldiering a more tempting career. A Localisation Scheme resulted in the pairing of single-battalion regiments via administrative depots on a county-based system.
Officers and Royals
The officers were mainly drawn from a narrow segment of society, the landed aristocracyAristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, with most having attended public schools
Public School (UK)
A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
. It was said that the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in 1815 was 'won on the playing fields of Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
'. Often officers were from families with a military tradition. This was due in part to the sale of commissions, finally abolished in the Cardwell reforms, and the further Childers Reforms
Childers Reforms
The Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....
. In spite of its abolition, the status of an officer being from a privileged background and that of another rank being from a less privileged one has, for the most part, endured into the 21st century.
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
traditionally had its members serve in the Armed Forces, usually with the Royal Navy though many have served with the Army. This occasionally warped operations in the field, for example at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir where Wolseley was forced to leave an entire brigade of Guards in reserve to avoid harm coming to Queen Victoria's third son, the Duke of Connaught
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
The title Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was granted by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur....
. The tradition has continued into the 21st century, with Prince Harry and Prince William both joining the Army as officers. However, Royals are no longer deliberately kept out of harm's way; Prince Harry served in Afghanistan until the publicity posed a threat to the troops serving with him (and Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
served as a front-line helicopter pilot with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
).
Foreign Royals have also served in the Army, such as Eugène Bonaparte
Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial
Napoléon, Prince Imperial, , Prince Imperial, Fils de France, was the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo...
the son of Napoléon III, who was commissioned into the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
, but was killed in 1879 while serving in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
during the Anglo-Zulu War
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.Following the imperialist scheme by which Lord Carnarvon had successfully brought about federation in Canada, it was thought that a similar plan might succeed with the various African kingdoms, tribal areas and...
. Later in the 20th century, King Abdullah II of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
served as a Second Lieutenant with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
The 13th/18th Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.-Formation:On 9 September 1922, the 13th/18th Hussars was formed by amalgamation of the 13th Hussars and the 18th Royal Hussars . In December 1935, it became known as the 13th/18th Royal Hussars ...
, and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
First World War
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
once war had been declared in August 1914.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. 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
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
. A feature of the volunteer army was the Pals battalion
Pals battalion
The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues , rather than being arbitrarily...
s, 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. 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.
The Military Service Bill
Military Service Act (United Kingdom)
The Military Service Act 1916 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War. It was the first time that legislation had been passed in British military history introducing conscription...
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 1919-38
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
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
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
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 43.5 million pounds sterling, and during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1932 to just under 36 million pounds sterling. Only with the rise of Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, would the budget for the British army again increase, by 1938 to 123 million pounds sterling; the army again started a rapid recruitment program.
Second World War
Further information: Conscription in the United Kingdom during Second World WarSecretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, Leslie Hore-Belisha
Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha
Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha PC was a British Liberal, then National Liberal Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He later joined the Conservative Party...
attempted to address these problems, and the wider problems of the British army. 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.
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. ”
Only with the creation of the Beveridge committee
Beveridge Report
The Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, known commonly as the Beveridge Report was an influential document in the founding of the Welfare State in the United Kingdom...
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
General Service Corps
The General Service Corps is a corps of the British Army. Its main function is to act as a holding unit for specialists who have not been assigned to other units or corps; these are primarily reservists and the GSC is usually only active in wartime....
, and would remain in place long after the war. Hore-Belisha had sought permission to introduce conscription in 1938 but was rebuffed by Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
, who would not agree to increased defense spending. In early 1939, he was finally allowed to introduce conscription to meet the threat of Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, 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
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
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.
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
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
stood at 1.1 million men, and further increased to 1.65 million men during June 1940.
By the end of the war and the final demobilisations in 1946, over 3.5 million men had been enlisted in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
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 army
As with the previous World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the end of wartime conscription saw the army reduced in size and reverting to its peacetime role of maintaining the Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. In 1947 British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
was given Independence, which meant the loss of the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
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
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and maintaining the Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. To meet this demand which volunteers alone would not, peacetime conscription was enacted
National Service Act 1948
The National Service Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament which extended the British conscription of World War II into peacetime, in the form of National Service...
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 back to an all professional volunteer service, which it remains to this day.
The decision to abolish National Service was taken in 1957 with the 1957 Defence White Paper
1957 Defence White Paper
The 1957 White Paper on Defence was a British white paper setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected was the British aircraft industry...
, 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, effectively ending the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
. The current strength of the British army is approximately 102,000 regular personnel.
Present day
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
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 Commonwealth
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
volunteered to help the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. 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.
During peacetime the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
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
West India Regiment
The West India Regiment was an infantry unit of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. The regiment differed from similar forces raised in other parts of the British Empire in that it formed an integral part of the...
raised in 1795, and was formed as an integral part of the regular British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. The recruits of West India Regiment were originally raised from freed slaves from North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and by purchase of slaves in the West Indies, it was disbanded in 1927. Other units such as the Fiji Infantry Regiment
Fiji Infantry Regiment
The Fiji Infantry Regiment is the main combat element of the Fijian military. It is a light infantry regiment consisting of six battalions, of which three are regular army and three are Territorial Force. The regiment was formed with the foundation of the Fijian armed forces in 1920, which came...
, raised in 1920, garrisoned the Pacific territory, consisting of one battalion. One of the largest was the Royal West African Frontier Force
Royal West African Frontier Force
The West African Frontier Force was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. The decision to raise this force was taken in 1897 because of concern at French colonial...
which garrisoned British West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, consisting in 1928 of The Nigeria Regiment.
British Indian Army
King's Commissioned Indian Officer
A king's commissioned Indian officer was an Indian officer of the British Indian Army who held a full king's commission after training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as opposed to the Indian commissioned officers , who were trained at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, and the...
.
Gurkhas
Brigade of Gurkhas
The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective term for units of the current British Army that are composed of Nepalese soldiers. The brigade, which is 3,640 strong, draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence, and prior to that of...
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
Nepali people
Nepali people can refer to:*People of Nepal*Ethnic Nepalis of Indian citizenry residing in Gorkhaland area of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and other parts of India.* Indian Gorkhas*Lhotshampas of Bhutan.*Nepali diaspora the world over....
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. In some years there are over 60,000 applying to join, and from 2010, women for the first time will be allowed to join. Candidates must be between 17½ and 21 years of age.
Irish regiments
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, 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 about 6 percent (65,000) of the army were Irish recruits and were encouraged by the leaders of Ireland to rally to the cause of the allies; recruits were known as National Volunteers
National Volunteers
The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I.-Origins:...
. Post-independence during World War II over 70,000 were recruited from the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
. The importance of the Irish in the British Army was summed up by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, who lost his son, Lt John Kipling of the Irish Guards
Irish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
, 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 more.”
Present Commonwealth & foreign recruitment
In 2008 CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
origin volunteers comprised approximately 6.7% of the Army's total strength. In total 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas. After Gurkhas, the nation with most citizens in the British Army is Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, with 1,900, followed by Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
with 600 each; soldiers also come from more prosperous countries such as Australia, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. Levels of recruitment amongst Irish nationals have also been increasing, and figures for recruitment in Northern Ireland reveal that 16% came from south of the border during 2008. With Levels growing year on year since 2005 and up from 5% in 2006.
The Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
now caps the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries at 10% of any corps or regiment in the Army, although this will not affect the Gurkhas. If the trend continues 10% of the army will be from Commonwealth countries before 2012. The cap is still debated, as some fear the army's "Britishness
Britishness
Britishness is the state or quality of being British, or of embodying British characteristics, and is used to refer to that which binds and distinguishes the British people and forms the basis of their unity and identity, or else to explain expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours...
" is being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seen as employing too many mercenaries.