How old could you be to enlist in 1914

[Guest]

My family - like many others, has always wanted to prove the verbal family history of grand dads WW1 service with some hard facts. However the destruction of his records in WW2 seemingly put an end to our endeavours - until last month, when we found his medals ( Victory, Defence and the 1914/15 Star ) and marriage certificates for two of his sons ( both dated 25.12.1914 !) where the father of the groom was stated as being ' Private ASC'.

So we now know that T4/071390 Pte John Dowling ASC enlisted in 1914, went to France in 1914/15 and received a SWB on discharge on the 20th Nov 1917. The real questions that now arise are (a) how on earth did enlist when in 1914 he was 45 years old and ( had a family of 11 children - some aged 2/3 years old ?.

There is a suggestion that he might had previous service - does the prefix of 'T' on his number indicate anything to answer this? . Would his civilian job as a taxi driver give any special status/skills that would have allowed him to have jumped the enlistment rules ?. Verbal history suggests that he drove London buses in France- if this was correct would this allow us to identify a specific unit or sub unit which in turn will give some indication as to where he actually served?

[eltoro1960]

Welcome to the forum mike.

Looking at the information supplied, it looks like your Grandfather served with the Horse Transport part of the Army Service Corps attached to 4th Army.

You can find more information on the ASC (later Royal Army Service Corps) on the Long Long Trail (sister site of the Forum)

Maybe your Grandad drove horse drawn transport prior to switching to taxis.

Re the age, it was considerably easier to slip in earlier in the was , several men older than your Grandfather served, probably particularly true of men with a skill or trade in demand by the Army. There is a man on my local war memorial he was 53 and a grandad when he was killed serving with Infantry.

john