Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

3o6 BRITAIN A recruit is enlisted for any regiment of cavalry or infantry for which the recruiter to whom he offers himself is authorised to raise men ; or he may enlist for general service in the cavalry or infantry, in which case he is appointed to a regiment, but is liable to be transferred within three months of the date of his attestation to any corps of the same arm of the service. The requirements as to age and height are varied from time to time, and may be obtained at any recruiting station. All manner of classes are represented by thé recruits, whose reasons for enlisting are multifarious, although, broadly speaking, the matter is regulated by the state of the pouches, etc., which are issued by the labour market. By the Army Act of 1881, Ordnance Store Department to the com- the recruit no longer receives the “ King’s Shilling,” which formerly obliged him to appear before a magistrate and take the oath, or pay a fine of £i. Now he is not deemed to be enlisted until he has volun- tarily appeared before a magistrate, or other authorised person, who puts to him a series of authorised questions and satisfies himself that the man is not under the influence of liquor ; while the recruit’s first ordeal takes place before the doctor, who has him stripped, weighed, measured, tested in eyes and ears, and put through many motions. Having passed the doctor, the recruit is sent, wherever possible, to the depot of his unit, where provision is made for his pre- liminary instruction, and where he receives his clothing, necessaries, and equipment. AT WORK. The clothing, which means uniform, is issued in sizes from the Pimlico establish- ment, and the recruit is fitted by the sergeant master tailor, and subsequently paraded before the commanding officer, to- receive the latter’s approval. The necessaries, comprise shirts, socks, brushes, comb, razor,, knife, fork, spoon, button brass, and tooth brush (the last named only recently added),, which the recruit receives free on joining,, under the name of a “ free kit,” and which he has to keep up at his own expense. The term equipment applies to the articles such as arms, valises, belts, ammunition manding officer of the unit, according to its. establishment. The soldier, if transferred to another unit, does not take his equipment with him, unless it is specially transferred with him. The idea of sending the recruit to a depot is that he may be gently broken in, so to speak. The depot officers and non-com- missioned officers, who give him his first instruction, are carefully selected, and he associates with old soldiers of good char- acter, who will put him up to things, and show him how to clean, fit, and arrange his arms, accoutrements, and kit. The infantry recruit joins the regimental depot, where he remains, as a rule, about three months, undergoing the recruit’s courses of drill and musketry instruction.