It is then thoughtful to consider what would have happened if Asquith the then Prime Minister had not realised early on that he could not be the PM and Secretary of State for War (1), and called Kitchener back from the docks where he was waiting to return to Egypt. The new army was his dream and it is debatable if the territorial structure and its rules of enlistment and service would have coped with the required expantion.
Charles Messenger's book 'Call to Arms' describes well the organisation and growth of the army as it struggled to cope with getting the men to the front. There are other books that describe the growth of the new army in its battles, but ultimately the Battle of the Somme showed eventually that the new divisions could and would perform as well as any other regular or territorial units. The 21st of which obviously this website is dedicated to and the 18th (possibly the best) of the new army divisions would show they could be the best of the best.
Loos would be the baptism of the new army divisions and some would perform well, 21st and 24th would be hard done by being neither equiped or well used as the reserve and would have to work hard to regain their reputations. The Somme would then be the next test of the new army, here some of the best performances were by the new army divisions. It was also a battle not just of the 1st of July but continuing on into November that would bleed many of the new army units dry.
to be continued.
1...Asquith had taken over the position of Secretary of State for War after the debacle of the Curragh Incident, march 1914, when J.E.B. Seely had resigned. Sometimes refered to as the Curragh Mutiny, the British Army had almost been ripped apart by the supposed use of the Army to enforce Home Rule on Ireland. In a badly handled situation by senior commanders and politicians, the Army came to the brink of mass resignation, averted at the last. It is horrific to think how the Army would have coped in 1914 deprived of its senior and junior officer corps!
1915 New Army Division Structure
Number of Soldiers: 19,614
Horses & mules: 5,818
Vickers machine guns: 52
Assorted carts & vehicles: 958
1918 New Army Division Structure
Number of troops and equipment:
Kitchener's New Army was made up of the following Army Groups and Divisions:
Broken up into reserve regiments.
Redesignated K4 following break up of original K4.
Redesignated K5 following redesignation of original K5.