ABSTRACT
The twin partner to the industrial battlefield was the mobilised home front geared towards feeding the voracious appetite of the war machine. By July 1916 Britain had established a mass army, transforming it into a military power, while at the same time the state had mobilised material and human resources on an unprecedented scale for war purposes. The record of the war economy in the build-up to the Somme was an impressive one. The overall increase in output was still largely concentrated on low-calibre guns, but there was also a rapid expansion in the number of 60-pounder and heavy-calibre types in the six months leading to the Somme a positive outcome of the big-gun programme. By the time of the Somme, the Ministry of Munitions had created the foundations of a large-scale engineering supply system that produced empty shell cases and components.
