In this episode of Mentioned in Dispatches, historian Simon Batten discusses his book Futile Exercise?: The British Army’s Preparations for War 1902-1914.
Simon explores the British Army’s pre-war manoeuvres, training exercises and attempts to learn from past conflicts in the lead-up to the First World War. Highlighting the challenges of adapting to modern warfare, he examines whether these efforts were effective in preparing for the unprecedented realities of trench warfare.
