<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The British Army was, in 1939, a volunteer army, that introduced limited conscription in early 1939, and full conscription shortly after the declaration of war with Germany . During the early years of the Second World War, the British Army suffered defeat in almost every theatre of war in which it was deployed . With mass conscription, the expansion of the British Army was reflected in the formation of larger armies and army groups . From 1943, the larger and better - equipped British Army never suffered a strategic defeat (although there were failures, most notably the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, in September 1944). </P> <P> The pre-war British Army was trained and equipped to be a small, mechanised, professional army . Its main function was to garrison the British Empire . It became evident early in the war that its initial structure and manpower was woefully unprepared and ill - equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts . The British Army, an all - volunteer force until 1939, was small in comparison to its enemies at the start of the Second World War in 1939, as it had been in the First World War . By the end of the Second World War, however, over 3.5 million men had served in the British Army . </P> <P> The British Army was called on to fight around the world, starting with campaigns in Europe in 1940 . After the Dunkirk evacuation, the army fought on in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre, and in the Burma Campaign . After a series of setbacks, retreats and evacuations, the British Army eventually, with its Allies, gained the upper hand . This started with victory in the Tunisian Campaign, and then Italy was forced to surrender after the invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy itself in 1943 . In 1944, the army returned to France, driving the German Army back into Germany, while in East Asia the Japanese were driven back from the Indian border into eastern Burma . Both the Germans and Japanese were defeated by 1945 and surrendered within months of each other . </P>

How many troops did great britain have in ww2