Perhaps someone can clarify conscription for me? I am aware that conscription letters were usually received on or about one's 18th birthday. However, I think I read somewhere that men under the age of 20 were not required to serve overseas. Is this correct? Also, if you volunteered prior to call up what sort of proof of identity did you have to produce? Thanks
have a read through the below Conscription: the Second World War - UK Parliament UK conscription ages Conscription question Conscription
Following this line in my enquiries, I gather from research that under National Service parameters, "Men under 20 years old were initially not liable to be sent overseas, but this exemption was lifted by 1942." This poses the questions: If Dad was born 14/04/1922, how did he get to escape from Singapore on 13/02/1942? His marriage certificate in 12/1940 states, "Gunner RA now on War Service". According to Wikipedia (yes I know not the most reliable source of information), the phrase "War Service" was used on paperwork like pension records to denote someone who had been called up. Yet the RA do not have any record of him under either his birth name or the name he assumed sometime in WW2! Suggestions please on how to proceed. Kentigern House will not look for him as I do not have a formal declaration of name change for him.
He did not serve then Sorry Daisy you will never get details of his service if both names are not recognised We have been here multiple times without proof and sorry to say same old same old You are more regular than Halleys comet
Hi CL1, Do you ever tire of being defeatist and negative? If you find my quest to resolve my problem a bore then I suggest, in future, you ignore my posts! If I had had your approach to this problem I should not have discovered half the information i now have. It may be "same old, same old" but by perseverance I am slowly but steadily gaining more information. Having checked back it was the RA Museum that could not find any trace of either name and they continued by stating that they knew their records were not complete. This is why I approached Kentigern house, As a point of interest (to me anyway) Dad's US Army Service has been confirmed and I am about to apply for the full details of this. It is possible that Dad lied on this marriage cert, but if he did not serve with the RA he certainly served somewhere. However, anecdotes he told appear to make service with the RA the most likely. He described being given a "driving test" that involved controlling a matador lorry towing a field gun down a hill. He certainly knew guns well , was a good shot and could field strip and reassemble a gun with ease.
Hi, I haven’t reviewed your multitude of previous posts on this matter. As the subject of this topic is about conscription rules I presume your query is a badly worded “how was my father serving in Singapore in February 1942” rather than the “how did he get to escape” query in the quoted post I’ve highlighted in bold and numbered 1 above? I can’t provide a definitive answer but as the “under 20” rule only applied to men who were called up under National Service Act if he had voluntarily enlisted on either regular or Territorial terms of service he could’ve been sent to serve overseas under 20 years of age. Teenage infantry conscripts were posted into Home Defence Young Soldier Battalions. In the early days of the war before National Identity Cards were issued (in the months after the late Sept 1939 National Register census was taken) men could enlist into the Regular Army without providing proof of date of birth. I think voluntary Territorial enlistment was suspended pretty soon after the declaration of war but until that time no proof of age was required in that arm of service either - minimum age 17 years. If he had voluntarily enlisted under either set of circumstances he could well have found himself serving overseas as a teenager - as many Territorials and Regulars did in France & Norway in 1940 and North Africa 1940/41. Steve
No shortage of 19-year-olds memorialised in Singapore. Search Results | CWGC At a glance, mostly Australians & Indian Army, though several UK regiments too.
Also worth noting the wording that under 20's "were initially not liable to be sent overseas" which I read as they weren't compelled to go, but I imagine they were asked and with the exuberance of youth (unfortunately a dim and distant memory for most of us) I imagine most would have jumped at the chance and in fact been very pissed off if the unit went and they didn't get the chance to go with their mates.
I answer because anyone new to this issue would spend a long while trying to help you and find they have reached a dead end All I am saying is have you found his UK army service records for His Real name His Alias name Or have you applied for both with his death cert in both names and £30 per application. To a Voyager passing this way in 80,000 years here is the original thread Tracing the impossible?