Volunteers outside a London recruiting office, August 1914

Lantern slide, World War One, Home Front (1914-1918), 1914.

Although many people were shocked and fearful, on the whole the outbreak of war with Germany was greeted with popular acclaim in Britain. The public rallied around what they perceived to be a just cause. Around 30,000 men were enlisting every day by the end of August. Neither the Second World War nor more recent conflicts have generated anything like this degree of enthusiasm.

From a box of 20 lantern slides.