Hi On the 17 July 1939 two pals enlisted at Kinmel Park. Gnr Ivor Bevan, 1492601 and Gnr Trevor Butts, 1492701. The attestation papers show they enrolled for the Militia. I wonder if someone can explain why the Reg Army and Terr Army were crossed out and why it stated joining for the.............. Militia? The two pals travelled together to enlist yet their service numbers differed by 100, does this mean 100 men enlisted between them. Both went through training together, enlisted into the Royal Artillery and were posted to Hong Kong. I wonder if someone could tell me how long their training lasted before being shipped out. Regards, Roy
I'll probably get this wrong but I've been reading about this in some Dunkirk books. Militia was basically set up when the British government called for volunteers in 1939. There was already the Reg Army and the TA but I believe funding was put in place to recruit quickly a 100,000 or so men and they became the Militia.....I think. Off to check Wiki
Not Volunteers but Conscripts: The Militiamen The name was briefly revived in 1939, in the aftermath of the Munich Crisis. Leslie Hore-Belisha, the then Minister of War, wished to introduce a limited form of conscription, an unheard of thing in peacetime. It was thought that calling the conscripts 'militiamen' would make this more acceptable, as it would render them distinct from the rest of the army. Only single men of a certain age group were conscripted (they were given a free suit of civilian clothes as well as a uniform), and after serving for about a year, would be discharged into the reserve. Although the first intake were called up, the war broke out soon after, and the militiamen lost their identity in the rapidly expanding army. Militia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sadly it would appear that they did not come back together. BUTTS, TREVOR Gunner Royal Artillery 12 Coast Regt Age:23 Date of Death:18/12/1941 Service No:1492701 Additional information:Son of Herbert James Butts and Ethel Butts, of Brithdir, New Tredegar, Monmouthshire. Grave/Memorial Reference:Column 3.Memorial:SAI WAN MEMORIAL
Thanks Drew and Ramacal Many thanks for explaining the Militia men and no the two pals did not come back together. Gnr Bevan survived the cruelty of the POW camps to return home but never forgot his pal, late on in life he took up painting and painted a watercolour of Gnr Butts from memory; they are now re-united in heaven as sadly Ivor Bevan passed away in 1997. Cheers, Roy
