Article from Stand To! Number 45, 1996
1st August 1914
The establishment and actual strengths of the British Army
|
|
Establishment |
Actual |
|
Regular Army |
256,798 |
247,432 |
|
Army Reserve |
145,000 |
145,347 |
|
Special Reserve |
80,120 |
63,933 |
|
Channel Islands and Militia etc |
5,742 |
5,613 |
|
Territorial Force |
316,094 |
268,777 |
|
Territorial Force Reserve |
No set establishment |
2082 |
|
Bermuda and Isle of Man Volunteers |
445 |
330 |
|
Total |
804,199 |
733,514 |
In addition the National Reserve consisted of a register of 215,451 ex-service personnel who were prepared to rejoin in the event of war.
Exact numbers of personnel serving abroad are not known but of the 148 Regular infantry of the line battalions, seventy-four were overseas. Twelve of the twenty-eight cavalry of the line regiments were also abroad. These figures do not include the three regiments of Household Cavalry and nine battalions of Foot Guards all of which were at home and did not usually serve outside the UK in peacetime. Of the fifty-nine artillery brigades (other than reserve) making up the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Field Artillery, twenty-three were overseas.
1917 Peak Strength
The estimated strength of the Army reached its peak in 1917 with a total of 3,635,541 of whom 2,042,325 were serving in the various expeditionary forces; 66,136 in India; 12,624 in defended ports; and 1514,456 in the UK. The Volunteers (Home Guard) numbered 292,951.
November 1918
At the end of the war the estimated total was 3,563,466 of whom 2,075,275 were in the expeditionary forces; 93,670 in India; 11,210 in defended ports; and 1,383,311 in the UK. Volunteers numbered 248,444.
These figures do not include 'colonial' or 'native' troops, native labourers or followers or certain local forces.
Sources
War Office: Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War 1914 - 1920. (HMSO 1922, reprinted 1992 by the London Stamp Exchange). Terry Cave: Military Fact Sheets (WFA 1984-1989)
