In 1914 the normal Continental infantry division was formed of about 16,000 men organised in two infantry brigades made up of four 3 battalion regiments; an artillery brigade of twelve 6 gun batteries of medium guns, with supporting engineer, signal, medical and supply units; it was usual to have an attached cavalry regiment. Continental armies included small independent cavalry divisions organised in corps of two or more divisions each. An army corps consisted of two or three infantry divisions. At that time the German manpower system was the most highly organised in the world and 50% of its youth were conscripted for two years service on reaching military age. To a far greater extent than their foes, the German reserve troops had been given such advanced training that they were immediately available for first line use; this gave them an advantage of 3:2 over the French in the opening battles of the war. With a smaller population France called up 80% of her available youth for three year service, the men remaining in reserve cadres after they had finished their time (as in the case of all of the other combatants in World War I except for Britain in the initial stages), their armies were all conscripts trained and moulded by a nucleus of career officers and N.C.O.s. When Britain mobilised in August 1914, thousands of reservists had to be absorbed in about three days, some of whom had been as long as nine years away from the colours and inevitably some did not take to it very kindly. Many were out of condition and some had feet that had grown so that their of size boots did not fit; in the grilling weather of those August days battalions soon took on a ragged appearance, accentuated in the weariness, exhaustion and puzzlement of the first week of the retreat from Mons. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 176 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com