British soldiers preparing artillery shells and manning a large artillery piece. During the war, there were three distinct British Armies. The first army was the small volunteer force of 400,000 soldiers, over half of which were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire. This included the Regular Army and reservists in the Territorial Force. Together, they formed the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which was formed for service in France and became known as the Old Contemptibles. The second army was Kitchener's Army, formed from the volunteers in 1914-1915 destined to go into action at the Battle of the Somme. The third was formed after the introduction of conscription in 1916, and by the end of 1918, the army had reached its maximum strength of 4,000,000 men. When the war ended in 1918, British Army casualties, as the result of enemy action and disease, were recorded as 673,375 dead and missing, with another 1,643,469 wounded.
