British Recruitment World War I

This source comes from the book ‘Forgotten Voices of the Great War’ written by M. Arthur and published in 2002. The source shows the story of one man’s recruitment into the army. However the source shows how the recruitment officer, encouraged the man to lie about his age, so he was eligible to recruit for the army.

This shows the eagerness of the government to recruit as many people as possible, it shows this because the recruitment officers, were not rejecting people and were pressuring under age boys into lying about their age so that they could sign up, which I was a highly illegal and immoral act.This source was accompanied by many other sources all concerning different aspects and events that occurred in WW1. The book was entitled ‘Forgotten Voices of the Great War’, this inclines that the book’s purpose was not to portray, the illustrious Generals nor the decorated majors, but the privates. The purpose of the book was not to persuade people to think differently about the war, nor present one side as the ‘bad guys’, it was simply meant to be a platform in which the honest privates of the army could have their voices heard, their storied read, their memories shared.The source also shows how easy it was to recruit, and how permanently available recruitment offices were.

The man was phoned up by a friend and 5 minutes later he is recruiting. The source also shows how this man hadn’t fully thought about the war before he signed up. He was asked what he thought about the war, he responded saying he hadn’t thought anything about it. Straight after the phone call he recruited.

This showed how men would sign up, without fully thinking of the consequences of signing up, nor the terrible conditions they would be put in. The man phoning up his friend, shows how it was not just the government eager to recruit people but also members of the public, intent on signing every available man up.I think this is likely to be a reliable source; it is most definitely not biased due to their being no opinion presented in the source. However the interview with Reginald Heine, may have been taken place decades after the recruiting incident. Which means that Heine would have gone through severe traumas from the war, therefore his memory may have been clouded when he retold his story. Although, the moment when he recruited would hold significant importance to him due to the decision, effectively, putting his life on the line for 4 years straight.

My overall opinion on the provenance of this source is that it is reliable, and very accurate, due to the minimal information that the source actually presents. The source doesn’t boast any staggering facts, nor shocking revelations. The source simply presents one man’s recruitment story, which is why I think it is reliable.The source is useful for answering the question upon recruitment because it shows the government’s willingness to recruit as many people as possible.

It also shows how the recruitment office were happy to recruit under age boys into the army. However the source only shows one man’s story. Not the amount of people recruiting why people recruited. Therefore the utility of this source should be branded as not useful on its own, to answer the question, however when this source is accompanied by similar sources to do with recruitment then the source utility increase a lot.Source 9Source 9 is taken from the ‘Personal Memories’ of Alfred Blake. The source’s purpose, in my opinion, is to show one of the many factors which caused people to recruit.

The source shows what enticed and persuaded people to sign up for the army.The source’s provenance does not need to come into question as it is simply one mans, reason for signing up. His reasons are not unique, many people that signed up shared Blake’s desire to see the world. Due to this source being similar to other sources, I can believe that Blake is definitely telling us the truth.

Like my previous sources, this source’s is very useful when presented with similar sources, yet on its own, it is borderline useless. However this source does present an accurate, realistic reason as to why people sign up. The source shows the man’s confidence that he will survive the war, and not come to harm and that the war is just a way of seeing the war. I am not sure whether this viewpoint is arrogant, or just an example of the propaganda that surrounds the public, spread by the government.

Source 11Source 11 is a recruitment song, from 1914. Its purpose was to encourage and pressure people into signing up. It attempted to pressure people to sign up by using words like ‘your’. This implied that it was a duty to fight for ‘your’ king and country and choosing not to fight would be betraying your king and country. It encouraged people into signing up by talking about how the recruits would be missed and how when they returned triumphantly they would be greeted like heroes.This song however is far from the truth.

The song’s intentions were to persuade people to sign up for the army, and these intentions are reflected in the choice of words and imagery within the song. These intentions make the source very inaccurate, and biased. It can be classed as biased, because instead of presenting a truthful image of what the war will be like, the song portrays the war, as a simple, straightforward conquest, which it most definitely wasn’t. However, it may have not been deliberate deception that the government attempted to use on the public, but overwhelming stupidity. The government may well have believed in every word of this song, believing the war would be finished swiftly and that the men would return unscathed.The source is useful for answering the question, because it shows another form of media, that the government exploited to encourage people to recruit.

The source is also useful for showing us that the government were prepared to trick people into recruiting by assuring them of survival. Even though the source is inaccurate, it’s useful for showing us what the government were prepared to say to the public in an effort to recruit.Source ThreeThis source was written by Private Godfrey Buxton, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, and part of the ‘Forgotten Voices of the Great War’ written by M Arthur in 2002. The source was written to express Buxton’s recruitment story and his opinion on the duration of the war.I think the provenance of this source does not need to be put under the spotlight due to their being many similar stories alike to Buxton’s. This source does not boast any facts, it is simply one man’s story, therefore it is very hard for it not to be anything but a very accurate source.

This source is useful, because it epitomises the false British confidence in a speedy, simple war. Buxton even was certain of the exact date he could return to Cambridge. The source captivates how confident and self-assured people were of returning alive, and returning quickly. However the source’s utility stops there. The source does not tell us neither when he recruited, nor why he recruited.

ConclusionThe 5 sources have illuminated, the government’s methods of recruitment and also how, where, when, and why people recruited for the British Army. Source eleven and Savile Lumley’s Poster shows us how the government attempted to increase the numbers of recruits. The song is an encouraging, moral lifting source which attempted to reassure people of any nerves about the war, the song promised an illustrious return home, how the recruits would be all treated like heroes. Savile Lumley’s poster, was a much subtler method of recruitment, unlike the song. The song answered any worries potential recruits had, whereas Lumley’s poster asked questions the possible recruits wouldn’t have thought of. They were both very useful for attracting more recruits.

I feel that source one, tell us the most about how to recruit. Source one also showed how simple it was to recruit and how permanently available recruiting offices were. Source one also highlighted how little people thought about the consequences of signing up. Reginald Heine, simply had one phone call and then recruited, he did not consult his family, or friends.

I think this reflects how people did not truly understand what going to war actually meant nor the ordeal that they would be put under as fighting soldiers. However I feel that source nine, Alfred Blake, mirrors the lack of understanding the consequences of signing up the most.Alfred Blake’s reason for signing up was simply he had a boring life in Britain, and the war was his opportunity to see the world. This reasoning for signing up, illustrates how, little people knew about war. This was one of my conclusions from my sources as well.

The people that signed up, knew not of the horrors they were letting themselves in for, knew not of the long duration the war was to last and they knew not that their chance of survival was slim.