Kitchener's second New Army is formed

On 11 September 1914 the British War Office issued Army Order No. 382, ordering the formation of a second New Army. Like the first, raised on 21 August, it was to consist of six infantry divisions made up entirely of volunteers.

A wave of volunteers

The Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, foresaw from the start that the war would last for years and that Britain would need an army numbered in millions. His appeals for volunteers met with an enormous response. At the end of August and the beginning of September, as news of the retreat from Mons reached the country, tens of thousands of men a day presented themselves at recruiting offices. According to frequently quoted figures, more than 30,000 men enlisted on 3 September 1914, more than on any other day of the war.

There were so many volunteers that the first New Army quickly filled up. The order of 11 September made it possible to organise more. The second New Army, known as “K2”, comprised the 15th to 20th Divisions: Scottish, Irish, Northern, Eastern, Western and Light. As in the first New Army, their battalions were formed as “service” battalions of existing regiments of the British Army.

Later history

The soldiers of K2 started out just like their predecessors: without uniforms, rifles or barracks, under the eye of a few instructors, often retired officers and NCOs. The divisions of the second New Army arrived in France in 1915. The 15th (Scottish) Division was already fighting in September 1915 at the Battle of Loos, and in 1916 all the K2 divisions took part in the Battle of the Somme. As early as 13 September 1914 the British government ordered the formation of yet another, third New Army.