British Army World War 1 Set

The British Army used a variety of standardized battle uniforms and weapons during World War I. According to the British official historian Brigadier James E. Edmonds writing in 1925, "The British Army of 1914 was the best trained best equipped and best organized British Army ever sent to war". The value of drab clothing was quickly recognized by the British Army, who introduced Khaki drill for Indian and colonial warfare from the mid-19th century on. As part of a series of reforms following the Second Boer War, a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902, for service dress in Britain itself.

The classic scarlet, dark-blue and rifle-green uniforms of the British Army had been retained for full-dress and off-duty ("walking out") usage after 1902, but were put into storage as part of the mobilization process of August 1914. In this the British military authorities showed more foresight than their French counterparts, who retained highly visible blue coats and red trousers of peacetime for active service until the final units received a new uniform over a year into World War I.