One of the insights of British Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener was that the war would be long, and that Britain must begin — even in 1914 — building an army that would be capable of fighting it.

As 1916 began, the New Army continued to grow, helped in part by the British Military Service Act which introduced conscription in January, 1916. The New British Army went over the top, and suffered enormous casualties, in the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.

British New Army is an army in The British Army.