Army Apostles: Imperial Officers on Loan and the Standardization of the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies, 1904–1914

Abstract

Between 1904 and 1914 the British army underwent significant reform to redress deficiencies that had been exposed during the South African War. It established a general staff, it reorganized the Regular Army for expeditionary operations, and it created a Territorial Force for home defence that could also provide force for overseas deployment. The War Office also took measures to prepare the dominion armies for an imperial war effort. It needed their men. So with the approval of the governments concerned, it sent scores of imperial officers overseas to organize and train dominion armies. This article examines what these officers accomplished in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.