Conscription

[Guest]

Hello - I'm writing a magazine piece about Cornish miners who had emigrated to Colorado, USA, and who were visited by a British recruiter in 1917 for the purpose of convincing them to return and fight in the war, presumably in tunneling companies.  My question is this: were Cornish miners, for example tin miners, exempted from the British conscription laws - that is, was tin mining a reserved occupation during the war?

 

Thank you!

Rob

[Neil 2242]

I believe many Cornish tin miners were exempted.

One of the typical by-products from tin-mining was wolframite....tungsten ore, which suddenly became important for armaments.

Here's an excerpt from a Cornish newspaper in 1916:

Edited 6 December , 2018 by Neil 2242
grammar

[Neil 2242]

Another couple of notices from a Cornish newspaper, this time from 1915, so before conscription.

But they nicely illustrate the two sides of the coin....there was a balancing act to be done.

 

[Terry_Reeves]

There were a small group of students from the Camborne School of Mines who volunteered to join the Special Brigade in to summer of 1915.  I have their names if it is of interest.

 

TR

[Kath]

Terry, I would like t see the list of students from the Camborne School of Mines.

My father, born 1902, went there.My mother said he was a bit overwhelmed by the men returned from the war.

Kath.

[Terry_Reeves]

1 hour ago, Kath said:

Terry, I would like t see the list of students from the Camborne School of Mines.

My father, born 1902, went there.My mother said he was a bit overwhelmed by the men returned from the war.

Kath.

Cpl John Vernon Gardenner  38 Section, H Special Company, commissioned RFC 18.10.17.

 

Cpl Ernest Arthur Roberts, commissioned RAF 29.8.17

 

Cpl Bryan Roe, 186 Coy, "O" Special Company and Special Factory Section

 

Cpl Ernest Vaughn Dabbs.

 

From Redruth: Cpl Henry Courtney Garnett Newton commissioned RFC. Instrument maker and Geologist.

 

From Redruth: Cpl Morton Harvey Kitto, mining engineer.

 

TR

[Kath]

Thanks, Terry.

I have a couple of CSM magazines. I'll see if there are any photos of these men.