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Posted by jamesangus (U13663680) on Thursday, 30th October 2008
I was wondering what the minimum age was for enlisting in Britain during WW2. Any help would be gratefully appreciated!
Jay
I believe it was 17.
I have certainly seen the official war grave of a 17 year old member of the Air Training Corps.
There was a 17 year British schoolboy serving on board one of the ships (possibly American) off Normandy on D-Day (or the days following), he went back to school afterwards. (Clue: he was a member of the ROC)
Men could enlist from 17.
In practice, men had to register for conscription from the age of 20, up to 41. Unmarried women between 20 and 30 had to register as well. The vast majority of servicemen and women in WWII were conscripted, rather than enlisted.
In Canada most of the enlistments were voluntary (albeit under the social pressure to not be a coward). A blind eye was often turned to under-age enlistments, which were fairly common.
In looking at the Canadian war graves in Holland, most graves show dates of birth, but a number do not. I read that the Army "did not know" the dates of birth for those who enlisted underage.
Hi Jamesangus
I was called up age 18 in August 1944 & was trained as a driver REs and was over on continent by Jan 1945. Call up at 18 was compulsory. Min age for volounteers was 17 I think. The ATC lad must have been killed on some training exercise. The ATC is a cadet organisation (still going) for youngsters 15 onwards wanting to join the RAF later.
Cheers Sappertom
The A T C takes youngsters from about the age of 13+, although in my day, you couldn't get your uniform until you reached 14. During the war, I am told that cadets used to help out on aur bases, and also learn things. Possible this was where he was killed. I believe that an under age boy conned his way into the R A F and having gained his wings, piloted a Lancaster on a number of missions before being found out.
I was told something similar, that the ATC did odd tasks around airfields.
The grave I saw was near Llandudno, I sent an EMail to the ATC HQ for North Wales to see if they were aware of the grave as it seems ironic that the ATC would be parading nearby on Remembrance Day when the grave of one of their number was lying neglected in a local churchyard.
Cadet Forces such as ATC and Sea Cadets did do minor things on basis, I have been told that at Admiralty used sea cadets as runners, as well as Bounty Boys on board ships. What truth there is in this I wonder. One I can Say I have been told First Hand was A Peter White aged 16 on HMS Belfast 6th June, he passed away a few years ago I did meet him on a numbers of local events.
There used to be a thintg called Boy Sailors in the Navy, but I don't know when that stopped. Also Midshipmen were sometimes under 18.
G F
I think that you will find that the official age
limit was 18, I tried to volunteer with three of
my mates one of them was already 18 and was
allowed to sign on straight away, one was only
16 and was told to go back when he was 18.but
as I was 17 I was told that I could sign and the
Navy would send for me and they did six months
be'fore I had reached the age of 18' and so I was
in the the Navy at 17 and a half.
My father enlisted in the US Navy in April '44. He was just 18. If you enlisted at 17, you had to have parental consent. You could'nt go into combat until you were 18.
There are thousands of underage enlistees, the youngest being 12. Many Marines at Iwo Jima were 18 on their third campain.
I have a book called:"America's Youngest Heros". I bet the British, Canadians, Austrailians also enlisted young.
Hoodfi
Thanks for the help everyone. I forgot I'd posted here and just came across my discussion. Thanks again.
Nice to hear from GrumpyFred again,
ATC cadets also assisted with ATA flights and I believe it is on record of one fatality to an ATC member due to an air accident.
Can't remember the circumstances but will do the necessary research if prompted with a cattle-prod.
Regards Spruggs.
Hello all,
ATC fatality was Cadet Geoffrey Bernard Regan aged 16 years. He died in a Hudson that crashed at Popes Field, Taplow.
I believe that there were other fatalities to ATC cadets while flying with RAF crews but I have no records.
Regards to all.
The ATC cadet war grave that I saw was in LLANDRILLO-YN-RHOS (ST. TRILLO) CHURCHYARD.
It looked quite neglected, I tried to contact the ATC covering that area but did not get any reply.
The CWGC have 58 members of the ATC listed in WWII.
MB
JMB,
Greetings.
If there was a date on the headstone, try an appeal to the local newspapers for information; it quite often turns up trumps.
He must, I presume, be one of those cadets who died with RAF crews but I have never seen a comprehensive list. I feel a trip to the RAF Museum coming on.
There are lots of ways they could have died on the ground as well as flying accidents. Someone suggested they were used to run errands on airfields. They could have been there during an air raid or there could have been a ground accident. Some could just have died of natural causes whilst on duty.
The grave just looked neglected, you would hope the local ATC group might have placed a poppy cross on the grave after their attendance at the annual Remembrance Day parade. But the same is true of many war graves, even in the rare cases where poppy crosses are placed on them each year then usually only the obvious ones are done.
You can get a list of the 58 here
MB
JMB,
Thanks for your post. I will certainly have a look.
Regards Spruggles.
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