Enlistment age in Canada

[Mangoman]

A man wishing to join the British army could do so providing he passed certain physical tests and was willing to enlist for a number of years. The recruit had to be taller than 5 feet 3 inches and aged between 18 and 38 (although he could not be sent overseas until he was aged 19). However I am in the process of researching the men commemorated on our village war memorial and amongst them is a man who emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1909 and attested for the 94th Candian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on 24th December 1915 when just 17yrs 3mths old; his correct date of birth is given on his attestation papers so the authorities clearly knew of his age. My question is, did Canada have a lower minimun age for enlistment than the UK?

 

Aplologies in advance if this question should have been posted onto a more relevant site.

[ss002d6252]

5 minutes ago, Mangoman said:

A man wishing to join the British army could do so providing he passed certain physical tests and was willing to enlist for a number of years. The recruit had to be taller than 5 feet 3 inches and aged between 18 and 38 (although he could not be sent overseas until he was aged 19). However I am in the process of researching the men commemorated on our village war memorial and amongst them is a man who emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1909 and attested for the 94th Candian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on 24th December 1915 when just 17yrs 3mths old; his correct date of birth is given on his attestation papers so the authorities clearly knew of his age. My question is, did Canada have a lower minimun age for enlistment than the UK?

 

Aplologies in advance if this question should have been posted onto a more relevant site.

In the UK a Boy could enlist from age 14 - most of the overseas forces were based on the British model so I'd not be surprised if similar was in place . When it came to going overseas Boy soldiers of the British Army could be taken in limited numbers (this was later stopped in the war)

Craig

[Mangoman]

I always understood that boys couldn't enlist unless 18 years of age and when it was found out that under age boys were being sent to the front line that there was uproar in Parliament?

[ss002d6252]

6 minutes ago, Mangoman said:

I always understood that boys couldn't enlist unless 18 years of age and when it was found out that under age boys were being sent to the front line that there was uproar in Parliament?

There was an uncomfortable situation which started once people started to publicly the realise that Boys were heading off to France with battalions in which they had legitimately enlisted but as they tried to restrict recruitment ages during the war they found a lot of Boys were saying they were over 18 and enlisting on that basis - when that came to light it caused the debates in parliament and the eventual decision to weed out and return all Boys from France (even those who were legitimate).

Craig

[ss002d6252]

This is the summary of age in the regular army in the last full annual report pre-war


Craig

[ss002d6252]

The same for the territorial force

 

Craig

[Uncle George]

59 minutes ago, Mangoman said:

I always understood that boys couldn't enlist unless 18 years of age and when it was found out that under age boys were being sent to the front line that there was uproar in Parliament?

 

Might the service of Billy Butlin be a help? This is from Wkikpedia, but the quoted sources seem credible:

 

"In 1915, during World War I, Butlin volunteered somewhat reluctantly for service in the Canadian Army. Knowing that the army already had a full quota of despatch riders, Butlin intended to volunteer for service in that category in the knowledge that although his application would be declined he would still receive an "I volunteered" badge for his actions without actually having to serve. While applying, Butlin forgot to tell the recruiter of this intention, and was consequently allocated to the Canadian Expeditionary Force which was taking part in the fighting along the Western Front. He was subsequently posted to the 170th (Mississauga Horse) Battalion on 29 December 1915. His attestation papers give his date of birth as 1898 (rather than the actual 1899), allowing him to enlist although only 15 at the time."

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Butlin

[ss002d6252]

https://archive.org/stream/KRO1917#page/n39/mode/2up

 

Para 311 onwards covers the ability of Boys to enlist in the Canadian forces - the KR's are from 1917 so by that point a conscious choice may have been made to stop the recruitment (even if technically still allowed under the KR's)

 

Craig

Edited 15 April , 2017 by ss002d6252