#1
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WW1 Boy Soldier
Yesterday I was asked to look at some pages of a WW1 Service Record that a member of the history group I attend had found for a relative. They show the enlistment of a young man (boy) aged 14 years 9 months. This is very, very obvious as his date of birth is clearly given on the Attestation page of the record. The statement of service on the next page gives his rank as BOY. So they knew exactly what was going on. He didn't serve abroad, so my guess is he carried out limited duties to free up older men for front line service.
He appears to have been transferred to a Young Soldiers Battalion in 1918 when he was still 2 months short of 16 years old. The only mention I can find of these battalions is here: http://www.warpath.orbat.com/armyinfo.htm Quote:
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#2
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Here's a link to a snip of his service record:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5214007...in/photostream Last edited by BarnsleyHistorian; 13-11-12 at 18:51. |
#3
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I think the army did take boys aged between 14 and 16 years and trained them for specific jobs such as as drummers, bugle and trumpet players etc and required proof of age at enlistment (hence the recorded dob). They were pad less than men, who were supposed to be recruited at age 18 or more and only served abroad at the age of 19 and over (in theory, anyway).
__________________
Merry "Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank" Matthew Broderick WDYTYA? March 2010 |
#4
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When I was in France looking for some relatives' war graves, I saw a grave for a 15 year old.
Very sad. |
#5
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The Navy recruited boys and many served in the First World War. Trawlers were also requisitioned by the War Office - the apprentices could be as young as 12.
Many young men and boys gave a false age in order to enlist - they weren't required to provide any proof of age. It's estimated that a quarter of a million may have been underage. At the Battle of Loos in May 1815, 50,000 were wounded - around 3,600 were younger than 19. Technically, they weren't even meant to be in the trenches. I've seen very young ages on war graves and I recall one of the youngest 'Shot at Dawn' victims was a 16-year-old from Jamaica. There were a number of Young Soldier Battalions, too. The number of boys enlisting fell when conscription was introduced. In my family, a number of those who served in WW1, had been members of the local Territorials from the age of 14. You might want to try posting this query on a specialist WW1 forum such as The Long, Long Trail. |
#6
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Quote:
__________________
Merry "Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank" Matthew Broderick WDYTYA? March 2010 |
#7
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'll go and have a look at the Long, Long Trail, one of my favourite sites, but I hadn't realised they have a forum.
xx |
#8
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Somewhere in my mind is the idea that boy soldiers' service did not count towards their pension entitlement, in other words, under age service was not counted.
OC |
#9
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Sorry, meant to say Great War Forum.
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#10
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OC .. Peter's ancestor John McCrohon was a boy soldier (his father was in the regiment) he was supposedly enlisted to look after the horses and then became a drummer. After service in Europe, UK and Ireland, went to Barbados and then to Aus. I have his pension papers and he was not entitled to any pension until he came of age and only half entitlement when he was in Barbados, but when he came to Aus, he was entitled to full pension .. after all that he died from the effects of a fall from a horse aged 39!! ..
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