Overview

Armistice in 1918 presented the British government with an enormous challenge - how could the British army that had been built up on an unprecedented scale during the war be cut back to a peacetime size and how could millions of soldiers be returned to civilian life? In November 1918, the last month of the war, the British army numbered 3.75 million. One year later that number was reduced to 890,000. This was a remarkable feat of demobilisation but, as Michael Senior shows, it was by no means a trouble-free process. He describes in vivid detail how demobilisation took place, the acute difficulties that arose, and how they were dealt with. The obstacles that had to be overcome were legion, and urgent, for the task had to be completed rapidly to prevent social unrest. At the same time prisoners of war had to be repatriated, the wounded and maimed had to be cared for and permanent cemeteries had to be laid out for the battlefield dead. In addition, war materiel had to be disposed and the army had to be reorganised into a force suitable for the challenges of 1919. AUTHOR: Dr Michael Senior has had a life-long interest in the First World War and, since his retirement, he has devoted much of his time to research, lecturing and writing about aspects of the Western Front. He has had articles published by the Western Front Association of which he is a member. His books include Fromelles 1916, Haking: A Dutiful Soldier and Victory on the Western Front: The Development of the British Army 1914-1918. 30 illustrations

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9781526703040

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"""Dr. Michael Senior, known for his Western Front Association journal articles and books on World War I, explains the challenges of reducing the wartime 3.7 million-man British Army to 890,000 by the first year after the Armistice...recommended highly.""-- ""Over the Front"""

Dr. Michael Senior, known for his Western Front Association journal articles and books on World War I, explains the challenges of reducing the wartime 3.7 million-man British Army to 890,000 by the first year after the Armistice...recommended highly. -- Over the Front

Author Information

Dr Michael Senior has had a life-long interest in the First World War and, since his retirement, he has devoted much of his time to research, lecturing and writing about aspects of the Western Front. He has had articles published by the Western Front Association of which he is a member. His books include Fromelles 1916, Haking: A Dutiful Soldier and Victory on the Western Front: The Development of the British Army 1914-1918.

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