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trench notes
3
Peer pressure was brought to bear on the undecided and there
was a general feeling abroad that the whole thing was a bit of
a lark and that it would be a shame to miss the great adventure
which, they believed, would be over by Christmas. Few seem to
have given any thought to the dangers that lay ahead or even
that warfare would bring casualties.
Despite initial doubts, the volunteer principle worked: by the
end of 1915, the British total was 2,466,719 men, more than
would be achieved after the introduction of conscription in May
1916 and just under half the wartime total of 5.7 million men
who served in the Army during the war years. Of their number,
320,589, or thirteen per cent of the total, were Scots. By the
end of the war, the number of Scots in the armed forces amounted
to 688,416, consisting of 71,707 in the Royal Navy, 584,098 in
the Army (Regular, New and Territorial) and 32,611 in the Royal
Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.
T h e b u ll e t do es
n o t d i s c r i m i n a t e
b e t w e e n t h e
Ba r o n e t a n d
t h e Ba r r o wbo y