Added this because it is nice and simple Conscription: the Second World War - UK Parliament Conscription: the Second World War Limited conscription of men During the spring of 1939 the deteriorating international situation forced the British government under Neville Chamberlain to consider preparations for a possible war against Nazi Germany. Plans for limited conscription applying to single men aged between 20 and 22 were given parliamentary approval in the Military Training Act in May 1939. This required men to undertake six months' military training, and some 240,000 registered for service. Full conscription of men On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed a more wide-reaching measure. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service. Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering. Conscientious objectors had to appear before a tribunal to argue their reasons for refusing to join-up. If their cases were not dismissed, they were granted one of several categories of exemption, and were given non-combatant jobs. Conscription helped greatly to increase the number of men in active service during the first year of the war. Conscription of women In December 1941 Parliament passed a second National Service Act. It widened the scope of conscription still further by making all unmarried women and all childless widows between the ages of 20 and 30 liable to call-up. Men were now required to do some form of National Service up to the age of 60, which included military service for those under 51. The main reason was that there were not enough men volunteering for police and civilian defence work, or women for the auxiliary units of the armed forces.
It was interesting yesterday to hear the interviews with 3 former ATS ladies who had served in WW2. Former 'Gunner Girl' revisits wartime memories for Remembrance Day | ITV News The forthcoming 80th anniversary of the start of women's conscription made me think of my mother, who in 1942, left her home town to work in a large munitions factory.
I might make myself unpopular again but here we go. Conscription was to change the character of Army Officer Recruitment in WW2, follow this link & read specifically the paragraphs ref WW2. Ronald Forbes Adam - Wikipedia "Adam did not accept the traditional view that there was an officer-producing class, but believed that men and women of ability could be found in all parts of the community". The establishment did however get their way post war when his reforms were dropped.
