'Lord Kitchener Says Enlist To-day', 1915 (c)

Printed by David Allen and Sons Ltd.

Kitchener was appointed Secretary of State for War in August 1914. While many expected World War One (1914-1918) to be 'over by Christmas', Kitchener realised it would be long and on an unprecedented scale. He appealed for volunteers for his 'New Armies' and was immortalised on Alfred Leete's 'Your Country Needs You' poster. For the next year and a half he virtually ran the war effort, providing the nation with an Army capable of meeting its continental commitment.

This portrait of Lord Kitchener includes a quote from his speech at the Guildhall, London, in July 1915: 'Men, materials and money are the immediate necessities. Does the call of duty find no response in you until reinforced - let us rather say superseded - by the call of compulsion?'