12K views · 182 reactions | Adding color to an old photograph of an unidentified British Army soldier shortly before he would fight at the Battle of the Somme (1916), one of the deadliest battles of the First World War. Music: Sentient / Gavin Luke / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com | History in Color | Facebook

The British Army is struggling to fill its ranks, and the numbers are stark. New Ministry of Defence data shows that the number of recruits completing training has plummeted by nearly 40% since before the pandemic, painting a worrying picture of a force facing one of its toughest manpower challenges in years. Figures published on 10 November reveal that total intake across all Army training establishments dropped from 8,956 recruits in 2019/20 to just 5,560 in 2022/23, a 38% fall. Even more trou