Great Britain and Ireland alone do not constitute the Empire. India, Australia, Canada, the Cape, and shoals of other colonies in every quarter of the globe, all help to build it up, and for its defence we must have an Imperial Army constructed to fit it. Let us see what we have got.
The first thing that strikes us about the Army is that, although of a decent size, it is not by any means too large—in fact, some people say that it is nothing like large enough. That, however, is a question which chiefly concerns the British taxpayer and his pocket, and with which we have nothing to do at this moment, so we will confine ourselves to contemplating its actual size.
The Empire contains, roughly, over 9,000,000 of square miles, and over 326,000,000 of inhabitants. To defend these we have an Army which numbers roughly as follows:—
Strength of Imperial Army.
| Regular Forces | 202,000 |
| 1st and 2nd Class Reserves | 57,000 |
| Militia and Militia Reserve | 134,000 |
| Yeomanry | 11,000 |
| Volunteers | 224,000 |
| Colonial Forces | 84,000 |
| Indian Native Army | 152,000 |
altogether, 864,000 men at the outside. This apparently large number, however, includes every single able-bodied man, British or Native, who has been trained to bear arms: the Regular Army forms not quite a quarter of it. Taken altogether, this gives an average of about 1 combatant to 350 non-combatants—not a large proportion. Germany’s proportion is 1 to 99. This is a large proportion, it is true, but then she is threatened by powerful enemies on her eastern and western frontiers, whereas we are an island, and look to our Navy as the first line of defence. This being so, we can do with a moderately small Army, and need not (yet) have recourse to the system of all other European countries—namely, universal conscription.
Mounted Infantry.
(Tropical Field Kit.)
It is absolutely necessary, however, that we should follow the principle which underlies the military systems of all countries, whether their armies are composed of conscripts or not. This principle is that of keeping a small number of troops under arms in peace-time, with a large reserve of trained men ready to be called out in case of war. In our case, the small number under arms in peace-time is represented by the Active Army, both British, Indian, and Colonial,[2] and the large reserve by the 1st and 2nd Class Army Reserves, the Militia, the Militia Reserve, the Yeomanry, and the Volunteers.
Before starting on the details of these different forces, it would be as well to give the mode of enlistment and terms of service of the British soldier, with a slight sketch of his history.