"Jim, Britain did not enter the war for imperial gain."
Rthey entered the war to protect their colonial and political interests - for no other reason 'Gallant little Belgium'was a recruiting ploy2 along with your lurid description of Germans raping and massacring their way across Europe - it was an Imperial War in defence of Empire.

"The numbers volunteering increased dramatically when the British Army was thought to be defeated "
These are the monthly recruiting figure from the start of the war to compulsory recruitment was introduced - no dramatic fluctuation.
298.923, 462.901, 136.811, 169.862, 117.860, 156.290, 87.896 , 119.087, 135.263, 114.67, 9 95.413 95.980, 71.617 113.285, 121.793, 55.152, 65.965

"When there were just not enough left to volunteer,"]
If there where not enough left to volunteer where did the conscription come from - out of thin air?

"Sheffield does not Jim"
""One cannot ignore the appalling waste of human life in World War One. Some of these losses were undoubtedly caused by incompetence."
Gary Sheffield
The word Sheffield uses was "waste" - maybe he was lying - or are you ?

Re the way the war was fought:
"Of course I disagree. Where do you get this stuff."
All accounts from the history books and especially from the on-lin soldiers diaries explain it exactly and being like that - that has never been in question certain not by any historian.
Sheffield mentions the losses of Passchendaele and the Somme, but he and others thing it (the gains of Empire) were worth those lives.
f you have an alternative - give it - I didn't ask for a denial even though I knew that's what'd get.
C'mon Keith - even you can do better than this
Jim Carroll