At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the British Army was unique: unlike the massed conscripts of the continental powers, it was a small force raised entirely by voluntary recruitment. While the first campaigns brought admiring praise from the enemy for its incomparable soldiers, the British Expeditionary Force had been virtually eliminated by the end of 1914. Kitchener's call for volunteers to build the 'New Armies' drew such an astonishing patriotic response that by the 'Big Push' on the Somme in mid-1916 the BEF had grown from five to 55 divisions. However, that summer's hideous casualties forced Britain to adopt conscription at last.

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