 Rather than employing a system that returned men by units, or by employment categories, it was decided to use an egalitarian system that saw men who had been away for the longest period of time being returned first.Due to the size of the forces deployed overseas—roughly 167,000 personnel in France, Britain and Egypt—and the logistical requirements of bringing them home the process was nevertheless a lengthy one and as such it became important to occupy the troops while they waited.In order to achieve this and to prepare the men for a return to civilian employment, a vocational education scheme was set up by George Long and troops in Britain were offered educational courses and civilian work placement opportunities and although these programs were not as successful as hoped, several thousand soldiers took advantage of them.