Recruitment in the British Army

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The

At the beginning of the 18th century, the standing strength of the British Army was reduced after the

During the

After the defeat of Great Britain by the American revolutionaries, the British Army fell into dereliction (the army in 1775 was in a poor state anyway), morale and discipline were low, and troops levels fell.[7] The Army was neglected as never before and its total strength in 1793 stood at 40,000 men.^[8]

Napoleonic wars

The

From 1798 onwards, structural, training and logistical reforms implemented or authorised by the

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 20 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.^[18] 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.^[19] 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

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.^[21] The recruitment drive would be spearheaded by Lord Kitchener once war had been declared in August 1914.

At the outset of war young Britons answered the call, for

After the

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

"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."[26]

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.^[27] Hore-Belisha had sought permission to introduce conscription in 1938 but was rebuffed by Neville Chamberlain, who would not agree to increased defence 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.^[28]

At the start of the

As with the previous

At the turn of the 21st century, the British army numbered about 102,000 regular personnel, with about 25,000 recruits per year, mainly from the United Kingdom. The Army missed its recruitment targets in the 2010s due to low unemployment in Britain and other causes, despite raising the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries. The Army was shrunk to 82,000 in 2015, 82,000 in 2021, and about 72,000 thereafter.^[34]

The minimum recruitment age is 16 years,^[35] after the end of GCSEs, although soldiers may not serve on operations below 18 years. As of November 2018^[update], the maximum age to enlist as a Regular soldier is 35 years and 6 months, and for Reserve soldiers, the maximum age is 49. For those entering as commissioned officers, the maximum age is 29. The normal term of engagement is 22 years; and, once enlisted, soldiers are not normally permitted to leave until they have served at least four years. Soldiers are now enlisted on a 24-year engagement known as versatile engagement (VEng). After 22 years service a soldier may be offered a 2-year extension. After the 2 years, the soldier or officer may be offered a further 2 years service and thereafter until they reach 55 years of age.^{[citation needed]}

Officers and royalty

Officers of the British army before the late 18th century were mainly recruited from a narrow segment of society, with a majority coming from the landed gentry and the aristocracy or often officers were from families with a military tradition. (This contrasted with the Navy, whose officers were more often from a middle-class background.) The second son of

During both World Wars, subjects throughout the

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.

Gurkhas

Irishmen have served in large numbers with the British army since the late 18th century, to the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. During this time, 20 to 40 percent of soldiers in the British army were Irish born. 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, the number 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, over 200,000 Irish soldiers volunteered to serve;^[40][41] many recruits from the new Southern state were known as National Volunteers. During World War II, over 70,000 were recruited from the Republic of Ireland^[42] and 38,000 from Northern Ireland.^[43]

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:

For where there are Irish there's bound to be fighting,
And when there's no fighting it's Ireland no more.

— ^[44]

Present Commonwealth and foreign recruitment

Until 1998 there were restrictions on the enlistment of Commonwealth citizens in the British Army. Commonwealth citizens could generally join if they had been resident in the United Kingdom for five years. In 1998 the restrictions were lifted, following recruiting difficulties among British citizens. Under the new provisions Commonwealth citizens were permitted to enlist directly in any one of the British services and significant numbers did so in subsequent years.

The

However, in 2013 the previous restraints were reintroduced with immediate effect, in the context of reduced establishment numbers. From July 2013, all Commonwealth citizens except for those from Ireland, Cyprus, and Malta must have resided for 5 years in the UK before being allowed to join.^[citation needed] As of May 2016, commonwealth citizens can enlist in the British army in limited roles without meeting the residence requirements.^[47] On 5 November 2018 the Ministry of Defence once again removed the requirement of residing in the country for five years. This now meant that any citizen of the Commonwealth could join the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy as of 6 November 2018. However, the British Army planned to open applications in early 2019.^[48][49]

See also

• Social background of officers and other ranks in the British Army, 1750–1815

References