New Armies (Kitchener's Army)

New Armies (Kitchener's Army)
Name	New Armies (Kitchener's Army)
Active	1914–1918
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Volunteer Army
Size	Several hundred battalions
Notable commanders	Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Douglas Haig, John French

New Armies (Kitchener's Army) The New Armies, raised during the First World War under Secretary of State for War Horatio Herbert Kitchener, were a series of volunteer formations that expanded theBritish Army alongside the Territorial Force and the Regular Army. Initiated after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the New Armies mobilised civilians from towns such as Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow and London and sent them to train for campaigns on fronts including the Western Front and the Gallipoli Campaign. Recruitment pledges, brigade organisations and subsequent deployments tied the New Armies to commanders and institutions such as Field Marshal Douglas Haig, Sir John French, the War Office and regional regiments like the Royal Fusiliers and King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Background and Recruitment

Kitchener's appeal in 1914 followed diplomatic crises involving the Triple Entente, the Central Powers, the July Crisis (1914), and the declaration of war by Britain. The decision to raise volunteer armies responded to manpower needs after assessments by the Committee of Imperial Defence, projections by the Admiralty, and influences from figures including Lord Derby, Lord Kitchener, and staff officers from the General Staff. Recruitment drives used public platforms associated with the Daily Mail, the Manchester Guardian, civic bodies such as Liverpool City Council, and voluntary organisations like the Boy Scouts and the British Red Cross. Local affiliations created "Pals battalions" raised in places like Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol and Cardiff, drawing on workplace ties with companies such as the LMS Railway and regimental traditions of the Royal Scots, Northumberland Fusiliers, and Lancashire Fusiliers.

Organisation and Training

New Army formations were organised into battalions, brigades and divisions mirroring structures used by the British Expeditionary Force; training responsibilities fell to institutions including the Aldershot Command, Shorncliffe Army Camp, and naval depots at Portsmouth. Doctrine and training included instruction from instructors who had served in the Second Boer War, courses developed at the Staff College, Camberley, and adaptations influenced by contemporary operations such as the Battle of the Marne and the Siege of Antwerp (1914). Logistics and transport coordination linked the New Armies with units of the Royal Army Service Corps, medical support from the Royal Army Medical Corps, and ordnance managed by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Officers were drawn from public schools such as Eton College, universities including Oxford University and Cambridge University, and from civic elites tied to regiments like the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards.

Deployment and Combat Service

New Army divisions entered combat in major engagements including the Battle of Loos, the Battle of the Somme, and operations on the Salonika front and Gallipoli Campaign. Command relationships placed New Army units under field commanders such as Douglas Haig, Sir John French, Henry Rawlinson, and corps commanders like Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston. Their combat performance was shaped by artillery coordination with the Royal Garrison Artillery, machine-gun tactics employing the Machine Gun Corps, and infantry assault methods evolving after encounters at Ypres and Arras. Some New Army brigades served alongside colonial formations including the Indian Army divisions and Dominion contingents from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while others supported allied operations with the French Army and the Italian Army.

Equipment and Uniforms

Standard issue for New Army soldiers included rifles such as the SMLE, bayonets, webbing from the Pattern 1908 web equipment, and steel helmets introduced after experiences at Loos and Ypres. Artillery support drew on ordnance like the 18-pounder field gun and heavy pieces supplied by factories in Sheffield and Elswick. Uniforms followed patterns used by the British Army with service dress and puttees, while specialist units wore distinctions of corps such as the Royal Engineers and the Royal Army Medical Corps. Supply chains depended on industrial centres like Manchester and Glasgow, transport by the London and North Western Railway and shipping through ports including Liverpool and Southampton.

Casualties and Home Front Impact

High casualties in actions such as the Battle of the Somme and the Third Battle of Ypres produced profound effects on communities in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Scotland, and Wales, where entire "Pals" battalions recruited from workplaces and civic societies suffered heavy losses. Casualty lists, memorials and notifications were administered by offices in the War Office and chaplaincy services from the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, while organisations like the British Red Cross and Salvation Army supported bereaved families. The pressure on manpower led to debates in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and to recruitment policies culminating in the Military Service Act 1916 and the introduction of conscription that reshaped relations with trade unions such as the TUC and political parties including the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

Legacy and Commemoration

The New Armies' legacy appears in memorials such as the Thiepval Memorial, local cenotaphs in Birmingham and Liverpool, regimental museums like the Imperial War Museum, and histories by authors including John Keegan and Sir John Monash. Their service influenced interwar reforms implemented by the War Office and professional debates at the Staff College, Camberley and in parliamentary inquiries including the Haldane Reforms context. Annual commemorations involve institutions such as Royal British Legion events, civic ceremonies at Westminster Abbey, and battlefield pilgrimages organised by groups in France and Belgium. The New Armies' social imprint affected postwar politics in constituencies represented in the House of Commons and cultural memory preserved by writers like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.

Category:British Army in World War I Category:Military units and formations of the United Kingdom