WAR AT SEA Operations in 1914 were largely a matter of the elimination of German colonial possessions and the naval forces which supported them. The greater part of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Imperial German Navy was in home waters. It had to be if it was to fulfil the purpose for which the Reichstag had been persuaded to provide the money to build it by Grand Admiral von Tirpitz in 1900: ‘Germany must have a battlefleet so strong that even for the strongest sea power (no one could be in any doubt that this meant Britain’s war would involve such dangers as to imperil its position in the world’. When hostilities began on 4th August, there were only ten German warships of any substantial size overseas. WAR IN THE AIR Despite the advances in aviation, military applications were not accepted in all quarters: Sir William Nicholson, British Chief of General Staff 1908-12, declared: ‘Aviation is a useless and expensive fad advocated by a few individuals whose ideas are unworthy of attention’. The Great War was soon to change all this. WOMEN AT WAR For women who wished to become directly involved in the war there was the opportunity to join one of the women's services. The first of these ‘armies’ in the field was the Women's Land Army and the second was the Women's Royal Naval Service. The Navy was surprisingly quick to make use of these new recruits. Wrens not only took over the role of cooks and clerks but became wireless telegraphists, writers, code experts, electricians, and performed many other tasks. For women who wished to become directly involved in the war there was the opportunity to join one of the women's services. The first of these ‘armies’ in the field was the Women's Land Army and the second was the Women's Royal Naval Service. The Navy was surprisingly quick to make use of these new recruits. HOME FRONT German U-boats were waging unrestricted war against all merchant ships sailing to and from Allied ports and, despite the introduction of the convoy system, large numbers of merchant ships continued to be sunk and the country remained perilously close to famine. Shortages of coal, sugar, potatoes and margarine (butter was by this time virtually unobtainable) meant the introduction of restrictions. The Government appointed a Food Controller and appealed to the public to eat less meat.