Original Item: Only One Available. Britain’s army at the beginning of the First World War was relatively small and professional. There was no conscription of population before 1916, and so recruitment of volunteers in large numbers became a huge challenge.
 
The Parliamentary Recruitment Committee was set up at the start of the War, and chaired by the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. It used local political party associations to form a network which campaigned through the circulation of leaflets and posters, and organizing rallies and other public events.
 
This lovely framed British World War I poster by Lawson Wood, which states:
 
YOUR KING & COUNTRY
NEED YOU
 
TO MAINTAIN THE HONOUR AND GLORY
OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE
 
The poster depicts a train station scene and a soldier in uniform shaking hands with an old veteran who is probably a First Boer War Veteran and is wearing his medals. Framed poster measures 32” x 22 1/4”.
 
This is a lovely poster in great condition.
 
Comes more than ready for display!
 
Recruitment to the British Army during World War I
At the beginning of 1914 the British Army had a reported strength of 710,000 men including reserves, of which around 80,000 were regular troops ready for war. By the end of the First World War almost 1 in 4 of the total male population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland had joined up, over five million men. Of these, 2.67 million joined as volunteers and 2.77 million as conscripts (although some volunteered after conscription was introduced and would most likely have been conscripted anyway). Monthly recruiting rates for the army varied dramatically.