By the end of 1918, the British Army had reached its maximum strength of 3,820,000 men and could field over 70 divisions. The fourth army was the reinforcement of existing formations with conscripts after the introduction of compulsory service in January 1916. The third army was Kitchener's Army, comprising men who answered Lord Kitchener's call for volunteers in 1914–1915 and which went into action at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The second army was provided by the approximately 246,000-strong Territorial Force, initially allocated to home defence but used to reinforce the BEF after the regular army suffered heavy losses in the opening battles of the war. This component formed the backbone of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which was formed for service in France and became known as the Old Contemptibles. The first comprised approximately 247,000 soldiers of the regular army, over half of whom were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire, supported by some 210,000 reserves and a potential 60,000 additional reserves. Photo taken by Ernest Brooks.ĭuring World War I, there were four distinct British armies. Men of the Wiltshire Regiment attacking near Thiepval, 7 August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.
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