Cast Brass Excuse

[Roy Evans]

Although my maternal grandfather ‘did his bit' in1915-1917 we have no record of my paternal grandfather serving. He would have been 32 years old in 1914 but perhaps being employed as a ‘Brass Caster’ he was in a reserved occupation, any ideas?

Roy

[Michael]

Roy,

For certain parts of Kent, the minutes from the military tribunals exist with names and reasons for objecting to military service. Maybe they have some for your area (Mine are in the County Records Office). The local papers also published the results of tribunals but very rarely mention names.

What sources have you checked to determine if he served ?

Michael

[Roy Evans]

Thanks Michael,

I’ve done nothing as yet, since I need to finish several other projects before I take on another one but it only recently occurred to me that nothing has ever been said within the family about his service. Of course the old ‘Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’ rule applies and it is possible that he did in fact serve. The reserved occupation idea occurred to me since, without wishing to be sexist, casting in those days was a heavy, dangerous job hardly I would think suitable to be done by women.

Roy