The Commonwealth Armies

During both World Wars the armies of Britain and the Commonwealth countries were mobilized and enlarged by volunteers and conscripts. Each of the major countries had its own problems but there were similarities in development between one country and another. Subsequently most found it necessary to reduce the organizations they had created, ostensibly because of manpower shortage, in reality because the expansions being attempted were unrealistic. The major Commonwealth countries are taken in turn by the author and the development of each army is outlined together with the problems encountered. An attempt is made to assess, on demographic grounds, the size of the army which each country could have built and sustained. Although intended to be useful to students of the World Wars, the book should also appeal to those with interests in modern history or in war studies generally.