Army Council (1904) Army Council (1904) The Army Council was the supreme administering body of the British Army from its creation in 1904 until it was reconstituted as the Army Board in 1964. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War led to the consolidation of all administrative duties in 1855 under the Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet post. That office was not, however, solely responsible for the Army; the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) held a virtually equal level of responsibility. This was reduced in theory by the 1870 reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell, which subordinated the C-in-C to the Secretary for War. In
Recruitment in the British Army Hussars (Queen Mary's Own), and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman served with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). At the start of 1914, the British Army had a reported strength of 710,000 men including reserves, of which 247,432 were regular troops, also including 80,000 regular troops formed as the British Expeditionary Force. The recruitment drive would be spearheaded by Lord Kitchener once war had been declared in August 1914. It was abundantly clear that the army that the Kaiser had referred to as a "contemptible little army" would need thousands more recruits. Young Britons answered the call, for King