BRITS could face a call-up if the UK goes to war with Russia because the “military is too small”, an Army chief has warned.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff, stressed the need for ministers to “mobilise the nation” in a speech today, amid the threat of World War 3.
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With the British Army being reduced to its smallest size for centuries, Gen Sir Patrick believes there should be a “shift” in the mindset of the public who should be willing to defend the UK against foreign adversaries.
The Army chief would not support conscription, it is understood, but believes the British people should change their mindset to “think more like troops” and be prepared for a call-up if Nato goes to war with Vladimir Putin.
It comes just days after a Nato chief warned Brits could face conscription as the threat of all-out war with Russia loomed.
Chief of Nato’s military committee Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer called on the West to “prepare for an era of war”, adding that Nato “needs a warfighting transformation”.
During a crunch summit between Nato defence chiefs in Brussels, Bauer said: “We need to be readier across the whole spectrum.
“You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilisation, reservists or conscription.
“We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.”
Gen Sir Patrick made his plea to ordinary Britons at the International Armoured Vehicles Conference in Twickenham today.
He said: “Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.
“We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.
“Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.
“Our predecessors failed to perceive the implications of the so-called July Crisis in 1914 and stumbled into the most ghastly of wars. We cannot afford to make the same mistake today.”
The introduction of conscription, were it to happen, would be the first time in over 60 years that Brits would be required to fight.
Mandatory military service was introduced during the First World War after the government passed the Military Service Act in 1916.
Tobias Ellwood told Sky News there was a “1939 feel to the world” and that Britain was not equipped to deal with “what is coming over the horizon”.
He added: “We need to listen and listen carefully, we’ve been too complacent.”
Gen Sir Patrick, who will stand down as Chief of the General Staff in six months, previously used a speech to warn that the UK was facing its “1937 moment” over the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars – citizen armies win them.”
General Sir Patrick
He claimed Britain must be ready to “fight and win” to ward off the threat from Russia.
The Army Chief said: “This is our 1937 moment. We are not at war, but must act rapidly so that we aren’t drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion.”
It comes as the prospects of World War 3 continue to grow with ongoing conflict around the world.
The Middle East has become a powder keg unsettled by Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea, and recent clashes and strikes between Iran and Pakistan.
Nato recently announced its biggest call-up in decades as 90,000 troops prepare to begin World War 3 drills.
Among that number will be 20,000 British troops as the alliance plans to test allies on their ability to engage in conflict with an adversary as capable as Russia.
It is feared that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could see Russian troops going beyond Ukrainian borders to launch attacks on Europe, forcing Nato to join the war.
More than 10,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 20,000 injured since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the U.N. said.
General Sir Patrick’s call to Brits
Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.
As the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done, preparing Sweden for entry to NATO, taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable, but essential.
We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking. Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.
But we’ve been here before, and workforce alone does not create capability.
Over the last 30 years, the Army has been halved in size; in the last 12 years, we’ve absorbed a 28 per cent reduction.
Our predecessors failed to perceive the implications of the so-called July Crisis in 1914 and stumbled into the most ghastly of wars. We cannot afford to make the same mistake today.
When did the UK last have conscription?
- On the day Britain declared war on Germany, September 3 1939, Parliament immediately passed a new rule for conscription.
- The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service.
- Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering.
- Conscription helped greatly to increase the number of men in active service during the first year of World War 2.
- Following the end of the Second World War, a new National Service Act was passed that required all young men aged 17 to 21 to serve in the armed forces for 18 months.
- They would also have to remain on the reserve list for several years.
- National Service then continued until the last servicemen were demobbed in 1963.
- Conscientious objectors could refuse, but would face a tribunal at which they would be expected to justify their opposition to joining up.
NATO is mobilising some 90,000 troops for war games aimed at sending a message to Russia not to consider attacking any member countries.
Steadfast Defender will begin this week and run to late May, involving units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden.
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Christopher Cavoli, told journalists in Brussels of the groundbreaking news after a two-day meeting of national defence chiefs.
“The Alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area by a transatlantic movement of forces from North America,” Cavoli said.
The wargames are meant as a fresh show of strength from NATO and its commitment to defend all allied nations from attack.
The UK continues to support Ukraine in their battle against Russia, however, with ministers announcing a further £2.5 billion support package.
But military strikes alongside the US against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have also raised concerns of all-out warfare.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron told Sky News it was “hard to think of a time when there has been so much danger and insecurity”.
Germany will also send 12,000 soldiers to Steadfast Defender, according to national newspaper Bild, along with 3,000 vehicles and 30 aircraft.
Citing the German Press Agency, Bild said the exercise will simulate a Russian attack on NATO territory, a scenario which would trigger Article 5.
The article states that if any NATO country is attacked, all other alliance countries will mobilise to defend it.
Meanwhile, Sweden, who is preparing to enter the Nato alliance later this year, has also warned its citizens it could soon be fighting in all-out war.
The country’s defence minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin recently told citizens: “The world is facing a security outlook with greater risks than at any time since the end of the Second World War.
“Are you a private individual? Have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not: get moving!”
The largest NATO exercise since the cold war took place in 2018 as 51,000 troops participated in ‘Trident Juncture 2018’ in Norway.
Last week, a leaked military report revealed what could be Vladimir Putin‘s step-by-step plan to bring the West to the brink of World War 3 – and it starts in weeks.
The secret docs detail the despot’s possible “path to conflict” which reaches its climax in the summer of 2025 on “Day X” when half a million Nato and Russian soldiers will face each other.
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Who was the last National Serviceman?
A review of Britain’s defence resources in 1957 meant that large armies were now seen as less effective compared to modern weapons.
From 1957, National Service was drastically reduced until the final intake of men in 1960.
On May 16, 1963, Richard Vaughan became the last National Serviceman to be formally demobilised.
Richard Vaughan was 22-years-old when he was called up for National Service, after deferring to qualify as a chartered accountant.
He was posted to the British Army of the Rhine (CPO BAOR) in Monchengladbach, Germany.
At this time, the Berlin Wall was under construction.
In May 1963, now promoted to full lieutenant, he returned home with his squad.
Unusually, he requested to be demobbed in England and flew back to Gatwick in his uniform, along with other National Servicemen already in civilian clothes.
The next day, May 16, 1963, he was officially demobbed at the Devizes barracks in Wiltshire, earning himself the title of the ‘Last National Serviceman’.
