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At the beginning of 1914 the British Army had a reported strength of 710,000 men including reserves, of which around 80,000 were professional soldiers ready for war. By the end of the First World War almost 25 percent of the total male population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland had joined up, over five million men.
The youngest authenticated British soldier in World War I was twelve-year-old Sidney Lewis, who fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Lewis' claim was not authenticated until 2013. In World War I, a large number of young boys joined up to serve as soldiers before they were eighteen, the legal age to serve in the army.
During the First World War, there were four distinct British armies. The first comprised approximately 247,000 soldiers of the regular army, over half of whom were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire, supported by some 210,000 reserves and a potential 60,000 additional reserves.
Served as a conscripted soldier in an Imperial Japanese Army communications unit from April 1–June 30, 1918, posted to Nakano, Tokyo; saw no action. Oldest verified man in history at the time of his death, and the last verified surviving man to have been born in the 19th century. Service verified from official government records by ...
In total, 6,600 foreign soldiers from 42 countries were represented in the Army, not including Gurkhas, i.e. Nepalis. After Nepal, the nation with most citizens in the British Army was Fiji , with 1,900, followed by Jamaica and Ghana with 600 each; soldiers also came from more prosperous countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Momčilo Gavrić and another soldier reporting to major Stevan Tucović, 1916. Momčilo Gavrić (Serbian Cyrillic: Момчило Гаврић; 1 May 1906 – 28 April 1993) was the youngest Serbian soldier of World War One; he became a soldier at the age of eight. [1] [2] [3]
Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. [1] In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". [2] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War."
Pregnant women were not exempted, but in practice were not called up. [3] Men under 20 years old were initially not liable to be sent overseas, but this exemption was lifted by 1942. People called up before they were 51 years old but who reached their 51st birthday during their service were liable to serve until the end of the war.