'Kitchener's Mob': myth and reality in raising the New Army, 1914-15

Book chapter


Doyle, P. (2021). 'Kitchener's Mob': myth and reality in raising the New Army, 1914-15. in: Linch, Kevin and Lord, Matthew (ed.) Redcoats to Tommies: The Experience of the British Soldier from the Eighteenth Century Martlesham, UK Boydell & Brewer.
AuthorsDoyle, P.
EditorsLinch, Kevin and Lord, Matthew
Abstract

Popular imagination holds that the volunteer army raised by Lord Kitchener in the opening weeks of the Great War was formed in the wake of a great recruiting campaign; that thousands lined up outside the recruiting offices; and that Kitchener’s Army, as it came to be known, was an army of ‘Pals Battalions’ whose engagement on the Somme in 1916 was to have far-reaching implications for the British nation. There is a further tendency to generalise; to identify the volunteer army as a coherent whole, albeit one collected into battalions raised locally and identified with specific communities. And while there is a large literature that examines matters of recruitment, there are still aspects that need examination, and particularly so since, as Jay Winter has put it ‘The men who joined Kitchener’s armies in 1914-15…lived in what was probably the most class-conscious nation in Europe’ . This essay re-examines the background to and motivations for the volunteer army in 1914, and specifically the raising of battalions in the industrial cities of England – rather than the complex issues relating to Ireland, and the formation of a Welsh Army Corps. While much has already been made of the demography of the first to join ‘Kitchener’s Mob’ in August–September 1914, there has been a tendency to composite the nature of the battalions raised. This has smoothed out the clear distinctions that can be made between the first to join, and those who were carried along within the ‘Pals’ battalions, particularly in relation to social class and regional identity. These matters are examined here.

Year2021
Book titleRedcoats to Tommies: The Experience of the British Soldier from the Eighteenth Century
PublisherBoydell & Brewer
Place of publicationMartlesham, UK
Publication dates
Print16 Apr 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted30 Jan 2020
Deposited17 Dec 2020
Web address (URL)https://www.kulturkaufhaus.de/en/detail/ISBN-2244026751531/Linch-Kevin/Redcoats-to-Tommies
Additional information

Due to copyright restrictions this chapter cannot be openly shared.

Accepted author manuscript
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Open
Permalink -

https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/8vq70

Restricted files

Accepted author manuscript

  • 190
    total views
  • 1
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Scallywag bunkers: geophysical investigations of WW2 Auxiliary Unit Operational Bases (OBs) in the UK
Carr, S., Pringle, J., Doyle, P., Wisniewski, K. and Stimpson, I. (2020). Scallywag bunkers: geophysical investigations of WW2 Auxiliary Unit Operational Bases (OBs) in the UK. Journal of Conflict Archaeology. 15 (1), pp. 4-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15740773.2020.1822102
Fortress Wytschaete: geological controls on the German frontline in Flanders, 1914–1917
Doyle, P, Verdegem, S and Schäfer, R (2020). Fortress Wytschaete: geological controls on the German frontline in Flanders, 1914–1917. Geology Today. 36 (2), pp. 64-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12305
Environmental Geology
Doyle, P. (2020). Environmental Geology. in: Scott, E. and Alderton, D. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Geology Elsevier. pp. 660-668
The great war and Tommy Atkins
Doyle, P and Foster, C (2014). The great war and Tommy Atkins. in: What Tommy Took to War: 1914–1918 Oxford Shire.
An Unfortunate Accident of Geography: Badlands and the ANZAC Sector, Gallipoli, April–December 1915
Doyle, P (2016). An Unfortunate Accident of Geography: Badlands and the ANZAC Sector, Gallipoli, April–December 1915. in: mcDonald, E V and Bullard, T (ed.) Military Geosciences and Desert Warfare Springer. pp. 3-19
Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire
Doyle, P and Schäfer, R (2016). Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire. in: Walker, J and Declerque, C (ed.) Languages and the First World War: Communicating in a Transnational War London Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 79-97
Geology and the war on the Western Front, 1914-1918
Doyle, P (2014). Geology and the war on the Western Front, 1914-1918. Geology Today. 30 (5), pp. 183-191. https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12066
Terrain and the Gallipoli Landings, 1915
Doyle, P. (2018). Terrain and the Gallipoli Landings, 1915. in: Crawley, R. and Locicero, M. (ed.) Gallipoli New Perspectives on the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 1915-16 Warwick Helion.
Les Flandres belges; des belligerants aux prise avec l'eau et la boue
Doyle, P. (2018). Les Flandres belges; des belligerants aux prise avec l'eau et la boue. in: Bergerat, F. (ed.) 14-18, La Terre et le feu géologie et géologues sur le front occidental Paris Association des Géologues du Bassin de Paris.
Trench construction and engineering geology on the Western Front, 1914–18
Doyle, P (2018). Trench construction and engineering geology on the Western Front, 1914–18. Geological Society. 473, pp. 109-130. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP473.6
The Apollo missions and Moon rocks, 1969-1972
Doyle, P (2017). The Apollo missions and Moon rocks, 1969-1972. Geology Today. 33 (4), pp. 142-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12192
Multi-disciplinary investigations at PoW Camp 198, Bridgend, S. Wales: site of a mass escape in March 1945
Rees-Hughes, L, Pringle, JK, Russill, N, Wisniewski, KD and Doyle, P (2017). Multi-disciplinary investigations at PoW Camp 198, Bridgend, S. Wales: site of a mass escape in March 1945. Journal of Conflict Archaeology. 11 (2-3), pp. 166-191. https://doi.org/https://www.doi.org/10.1080/15740773.2017.1357900
Disputed Earth
Doyle, P (2017). Disputed Earth. Uniform Press.
Kitchener's Mob The New Army to the Somme
Doyle, P and Foster, C (2016). Kitchener's Mob The New Army to the Somme. History Press.
Rough Riders Two Brothers and the Last Stand at Gallipoli
Doyle, P (2015). Rough Riders Two Brothers and the Last Stand at Gallipoli. History Press.
Fritz and Tommy Across the Barbed Wire
Doyle, P and Schaefer, R (2015). Fritz and Tommy Across the Barbed Wire. History Press.
First World War Leaders and Commanders
Doyle, P (2014). First World War Leaders and Commanders. Stroud History Press.
The First World War in 100 Objects
Doyle, P (2014). The First World War in 100 Objects. Stroud The History Press.