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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Underage Soldier


Stephen Barker

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I have come across a soldier who enlisted in March 15, however he was only seventeen and was kept in this country until September 16 and of the correct age.

I'd be gratefull if anyone could tell me what they think might have happened to him during that time period.

He joined 1st East Lancs, then to the 3rd (Reserve) and went to France joining the 8th in Sept. 16.

Your thoughts would be welcome.

Stephen

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I left a few years ago but did several N.Ireland tours, we used to keep the young lads back doing guard duties, helping in the stores ect until they were old enough to die for there country, the modern army i know but may be along the same lines? there is a good book out on the market called "BOY SOLDIERS" about underage lads joining up and then the public out cry of young boys dying in the trenches ect so they had the option to return home or the parents could ask for there return if they were underage.

Maybe your man joined up, lied about his age then got found out but they kept him in? or maybe a batman to someone? mess waiter? purely guessing and i'm sure there are others on this forum know better but anyway i would highly recommend the book " Boy Soldiers"

Will post the author to you tommorow if someone doesn't beat me to it.

Regards

Brett

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I have come across a soldier who enlisted in March 15, however he was only seventeen and was kept in this country until September 16 and of the correct age.

I thought that you had to be 19 to join a front line combat unit in a theatre of war.

Andy

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Max

You're right, but if he enlisted and was then found to be underage would he have been sent home, still a civvy, or kept in the army until 19?

Any help would be great here?

Stephen

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Max

You're right, but if he enlisted and was then found to be underage would he have been sent home, still a civvy, or kept in the army until 19?

Any help would be great here?

Stephen

I think that at 18 he would be taken out of harms way but retained in the army

Andy

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Cheers Max for your thoughts.

Any others?

Stephen

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I had a lad recently who was sent home as underage. Sadly he was killed in an accident whilst in a civvy job but he was given a military funeral!

Later in the war Young Soldier Battalions appeared. Some of the lads who had made it to France and fought ended up at Etaples in training until old enough to fight.

As the 3rd (Reserve) where in Plymouth, they could have been a Garrison Battalion down there.

sm

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Cheers Steve,

Interesting.

Stephen

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The age limits are complicated as they changed as the war progressed, and officers could serve younger anyway. As has already been said, the "Boy Soldiers" book goes into it all in some detail. It's well worth getting out of the library.

The army had a bit of a problem as they did not initially require birth certificates on enlistment (not everyone had them anyway). Then you had the situation where a lad's parents would write in and complain that their son was underage and it was a headache trying to sort it out, especially if the lad had effectively "left home" anyway long before he enlisted.

Understandably, I suppose, many Battalion Commanders had other things to worry about and felt that if the lad was performing well, why not leave him be, especially if it was a matter of just a few weeks. It took some pressure from the military authorities, and an MP who had a bee in his bonnet about it, to comb the youngsters out from the front line and either send them home or hold them until they became old enough.

The book tells the whole story.

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Guest geoff501
I think that at 18 he would be taken out of harms way but retained in the army

But a lot were either not found out, or a blind eye turned. Finding a local 16 year old on the Helles Memorial, I decided to dig further. This is the (given) age distribution of 10,000+ (a little under half) of the names on this memorial. The others have no age given.

Age, number

========

15 7

16 37

17 188

18 507

19 958

20 870

21 970

22 786

23 722

24 600

25 569

26 471

27 413

28 350

29 329

30 301

31 225

32 218

33 214

34 206

35 198

36 162

37 135

38 124

39 113

40 107

41 59

42 77

43 50

44 33

45 49

46 27

47 17

48 17

49 13

50 15

51 5

52 10

53 3

54 3

56 2

57 1

58 3

59 2

63 1

66 1

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Thanks to all who contributed.

Stephen

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Just to add more to Geoff's post, i can remember that Terry Denham a while ago posted a list of ages . It made extremely interesting reading.

Stephen,

i would recommend the book. In it, it mentions the MP that brought the issue of boy soldiers to the forefront. He was Arthur Markham, the MP for Mansfield. He was also an interesting character!

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While looking through K.S.L.I. pensions, I have come across several young men who were discharged for giving false information about their age.

Annette

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On July 21st 1916, Fred Kaye was discharged from the army for making a mis-statement about his age when he enlisted on February 2nd 1915. At that time he had told the army he was 18 years and 331 days old. But his birth certificate subsequently proved that he was born on December 10th 1900; making him just fourteen years old when he enlisted. He was described as a millhand who was 5 feet 4¾ inches tall, and he had served for 1 year and 173 days before being discharged.

Also in 1916 some local lads were sent back to bases in the United Kingdom until they reached nineteen years of age, I know because it is mentioned in newspaper reports when they were killed later.

But I know that many continued to serve with their units without any problems. Once again because of the newspapers, ages are given in enough obituaries to be sure of it.

Tony.

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Weve just returned from Belgium where we saw a Young soldier's war grave in Essex Corner Cemetery, in Ypres

and he was only 15years old,how sad

Jan

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  • 1 month later...
I thought that you had to be 19 to join a front line combat unit in a theatre of war. Andy

In addition to blind eyes there were hundreds of boys under 19 in front line combat units with official sanction, many of whom were KIA or died of wounds and disease. The minimum age for boys in the Navy to be at sea was 16. So Boys (under 18) or 18 year old sailors died at Jutland and the rest of the sea war. There were also boys under 18, let alone 19, who served in the RND - including qualifying for the 1914 Star.

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John Travers Cornwell tried to join (under age) in 1914, joined in 1915 (having reached recruitment age), went to sea at 16 and was dead before he was 16 1/2; VC gazetted almost 4 months before his 17th birthday.

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whilst researching my fathers ASC number to ascertain his date of enlistment by checking through ASC soldiers killed in the great warfor numbers near my father's i came across Herbert Hilditch died in Mesopotamia 9/5/1916 aged 17 -He must have joined around mid 1915 and was probably only 16 at the time.No being sent home for him poor soul.rRegads Keith Hagar

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  • 5 years later...

I believe it was quite common for young lads to attempt to enlist. Not surprising given the social and cultural pressure to do so on most men during the great war! And once the Army needed it's fill of new bodies to replace it's gaping losses it's unsurprising that many recruiting officers would simply either not notice, ignored facts, or pretend they knew nothing, after all a recruit is a recruit. My great Grandfather Sapper John Walter Hilditch 540588 (no relation of the above as far as I'm aware) 496th (Kent) Field Company KFRE joined up underage according to his enlistment papers he claimed to be 19 when he was in reality 15. He is named as a Buglar on his Paybook and a honour roll! But he was shipped out to Gallipoli and then served in Egypt & Palistine and the senussi uprising! Fortunately he survived the war, otherwise I may not have existed!!!

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