Drilling in civilian clothes

This image from our collection features in our new exhibition Life in the Guards Depot. It shows new recruits drilling at Caterham Depot at the start of the First World War. The flood of volunteers eager to fight overwhelmed the army’s facilities. These men are still wearing their civilian clothes as there weren’t enough uniforms to go round. Lack of accommodation meant some were housed in tents like those pictured, and a new hut is being built in the background.