Book contents
- The British Home Front and the First World War
- The British Home Front and the First World War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables and Charts
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 The United Kingdom in 1914
- Part I Government
- Part II Resources
- Part III People
- Part IV Production
- 18 Munitions
- 19 Clothing and Uniforms
- 20 Britain’s Private Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industries
- 21 Railways
- 22 Seaborne Trade and Merchant Shipping
- 23 Food
- Part V Social Impacts
- Conclusion
- Index
19 - Clothing and Uniforms
from Part IV - Production
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2023
- The British Home Front and the First World War
- The British Home Front and the First World War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables and Charts
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 The United Kingdom in 1914
- Part I Government
- Part II Resources
- Part III People
- Part IV Production
- 18 Munitions
- 19 Clothing and Uniforms
- 20 Britain’s Private Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industries
- 21 Railways
- 22 Seaborne Trade and Merchant Shipping
- 23 Food
- Part V Social Impacts
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
Britain’s notorious ‘khaki shortage’ in the first year of the war has become symbolic in the historical literature of the country’s chaotic and belated industrial mobilisation. Juxtaposed with similar deficiencies in munitions supply, discussions of the army’s ‘clothing crisis’ have contributed to a broader narrative about the government’s failure to convert the manufacturing sector to war production in 1914.1 The similar timelines of rectifying uniform and munitions shortages have reinforced the impression that both were indicative of the same problem. Supplies of army uniforms finally met demand in mid-1915 – the same time when the newly established Ministry of Munitions began coordinating the engineering trades, regarded as the turning point in organising Britain’s industries for ‘total war’.
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- The British Home Front and the First World War , pp. 381 - 398Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023