War to End War: August 1914–December 1915

Abstract

Despite later mythology, most people were neither lighthearted nor blind to danger in the first months of the war. The prevailing spirit in Britain and throughout the Empire was one of co-operation, goodwill and hard work; it was also one of protest, for the invasion of Belgium aroused a deep and honest fury. The colonies raised generous volunteer forces, and at home Lord Kitchener’s demand for ‘the first hundred thousand’ was answered before the month ended, a swift start to the task of mustering armies that were eventually to be numbered in millions. Getting each man uniformed, fed, trained, armed, and positioned in the line was the largest undertaking the country had ever attempted. Authors touring the support lines later were astonished by the vast quantities of neatly marshalled equipment; even among memoirs of front-line troops there are few stories of men on the Western Front being seriously short of food or supplies (the Eastern campaigns were very different). A letter posted in England would normally reach the trenches next day. Little of this could have been achieved without an almost universal readiness to ‘do one’s bit’.