Soldiers

Soldiers — page 3 — SOLDIERS SUPPORT SERVICES Many individuals did not have front line roles The military required a vast infrastructure organizational systems for transportation and care of the fighting men It included for example the famous Seabees or Construction Battalions of the U S Navy in the Pacific Recruitment The number of individuals involved in the war was huge 16 million in the United States military services alone Many were forcibly recruited On all sides the people who fought ended up in the military in one of two ways they volunteered for one reason or another or they were conscripted meaning they were forced to serve by law A Huge Increase in Numbers The war required huge numbers of participants to fight in the front line serve on naval or merchant ships fly and service aircraft run hospitals and medical centers provide support services for front line troops drive trucks and so on Between the start of the war in 1939 and its end in 1945 national armies doubled and tripled in size From fewer than 900,000 men in 1939 the British army rose to 3 5 million by 1945 in all Britain and its empire had 8 7 million people in uniform in Germany the army increased during the course of the war from about 800,000 to something approaching 6 million at the surrender in 1945 by which time its total military services numbered nearly 11 million VOLUNTEERS People volunteered for military service for many reasons One was excitement the chance to see some action Another was the need for a job after the Great Depression Other incentives had more to do with values and beliefs Some volunteers were passionate about defending their country Others believed that they were fighting for a cause particularly the defeat of fascism Young American volunteers wait to join the Y navy two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 6 6

Soldiers — page 4 — RECRUITMENT I want you for the U.S. army enlist now The most famous U S Army recruiting poster featured Uncle Sam it was originally designed during World War I by the artist James Montgomery Flagg 7

Soldiers — page 5 — SOLDIERS This poster encouraged recruits to join the Luftwaffe the German Air Force Some 3 4 million Germans served in the Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1945 MOBILIZATION Mobilization is the process of getting armies into the field ready to fight in the face of an approaching war In Germany and Japan militaristic governments began the process of mobilization in the 1930s the Japanese army invaded Manchuria in 1931 while Adolf Hitler encouraged the army to practice maneuvers In the Soviet Union Stalin mobilized troops in the east to discourage Japanese expansion in East Asia Although the western Allies Britain and France had mobilization plans war came so rapidly that they did not have time to put them into practice before the German Blitzkrieg swept through Europe At the start of the war most countries had small professional armies composed of volunteers Many of the officer corps had experienced active service in World War I 1914 1918 Most armies could also call on supplies of reservists These were either older veterans who had done military service in the recent past or were volunteers who had had some military training but only served part-time holding down civilian jobs at the same time Militarization As the conflict approached however governments had begun to take steps to increase the numbers In Germany Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government started remilitarizing the country in 1935 despite being forbidden to do so by the Versailles Treaty of 1919 which had punished Germany for causing World War I Hitler ordered the building of new warships and aircraft and also increased the number of men in the 8

Soldiers — page 6 — RECRUITMENT A new pilot’s wings shine on his chest in this U S poster The U S Army Air Force came into being in June 1940 and grew rapidly after Germany’s Blitzkrieg in Europe proved how effective air power could be RESERVED OCCUPATIONS Some men were exempt from military service because of their jobs Reserved occupations in Britain for example included professionals such as scientists bank employees company directors and vets it also included miners farmers railroad workers merchant seamen and people who worked for utility services such as water or electricity Policemen were also exempt as were priests and students but only until they completed their studies Policemen and railroad employees seen here Y accompanying young evacuees arriving at a rural station in England in 1939 were both on the British list of reserved occupations 9 military or Wehrmacht In Japan too a highly militaristic government was increasing the number of personnel on active duty Start of the War At the start of the war in Europe German forces had been gathering for months by contrast Allied armies were in a poor state of readiness When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 the Polish forces were easily overrun Poland’s allies France and Britain barely had time to mobilize their forces before Poland was defeated and France itself was under threat

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