Lord Kitchener Needs YOU

The outbreak of the First World War saw Lord Kitchener appointed the Secretary of State for War by British Prime Minister Asquith. It was during this role that he predicted a long, hard war and continually tried to voice his opinion even when most of the country were against him. The British people were under the impression that the war would be over by Christmas 1914, yet we all know now that this wasn't the case and that Herbert Kitchener was to be proved right. 

Lord Kitchener had vision and drive, for he saw the importance of needing a huge army to stand a chance of defeating Germany and thus winning the war. He was an extremely intelligent man who also realised that this war would be one that would shake Britain to the core. He excepted that Britain would suffer a vast amount of casualties, death and destruction and whilst he may not have wished this to be the case, he knew forward planning was essential to win the war. 

At the earliest opportunity, Lord Kitchener started a recruitment campaign, one which would become the face of the First World War, as well as one of the most effective and talked about pieces of propaganda in history. A poster appeared on noticeboards, buildings and in newspapers, depicting Lord Kitchener telling his audience that he needed them to join his army. He would never know it, but he would become one of the most famous men to come out of any war, particularly for this poster. Lord Kitchener cleverly used emotive language to appeal to his audience and promote the cause - it would be a poster that over 100 years later, is being show in schools across the country as a learning tool on many different levels. Even now, parodies based on this original poster spring up across the internet. 

At the beginning of the war, Britain was extremely lacking in a trusted land-based army and would have, if it wasn't for Kitchener, tried to fight the war almost solely using sea-power. I believe Lord Kitchener understood wartime and war needs more than the war council gave him credit for. Again, this was proven when plans for the British Expeditionary Force to be deployed in Amiens were unveiled. Kitchener voiced his concerns and argued his case that the small Belgium army, along with the British Expeditionary Force wouldn't be able to hold off attacks made by the German army. As a result, a retreat would have to be made, with weapons and supplies having to be abandoned. A retreat so early into the war would have had devastating consequences to British morale. 

The British Expeditionary Force at the time consisted of approximately 100,000 men, many of whom were only reservists. Loss of these trained men during the first few weeks would have more than likely lost us the war well before Christmas 1914. As the war continued, Lord Kitchener fell out with many politicians as well as professional soldiers, with a lot of his ideas being overrided. 

But it wasn't just the front line and recruitment of soldiers that Lord Kitchener assisted in, for he also helped on the home front. He encouraged the women of Britain to knit socks for their fighting menfolk that contained the Kitchener stitch. This was a new technique for a seamless join so that the socks wouldn't rub the toes. 

Tragically, Herbert Kitchener's life was cut short when the armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire he was travelling on struck a German mine on 5th June, whilst on route to Arkhangelsk in Russian. HMS Hampshire sunk west of the Orkney Islands, Kitchener himself only 65 years old. 

After Kitchener's death, the Mayor of London at the time, set up the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund which was used to aid casualties of the war, either practically or financially. When the war finally came to an end in 1918, some soldiers, ex-soldiers, their sons and their daughters were able to apply to receive university educations and it was all thanks to the fund set up.