In 1914 the maximum age for enlistment was 30. This had gradually been increased to 41 by May 1916 so while he could volunteer he could not be conscripted. It was not until April 1918 that the conscription age was lifted to 56 and all exemptions denied. I have read through many tribunal reports and keeping a shop was regarded as quite a vital occupation especially if it was a food shop. Regards John In message <E1GfIBt-00050F-Vf@garm.runbox.com>, Peter Metcalfe <Peter-redfern@runbox.com> writes >I am researching the men of my home town who died in WW1 and one family >had nine boys and eight of them fought in the Great War of which two >were killed. > >No one in the family today knows why the ninth never went. His mother >had a shop but it's unlikely that was the reason. Perhaps he was >physically unfit. > >He was forty in 1914 and the second oldest son so his age wasn't the >reason either. > >Their mother received a letter from Buckingham Palace congratulating >her on "having contributed in so full a measure to the great cause for >which all the people of the British Empire are so bravely fighting." > >Peter > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >GREATWAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- John Chapman
By the time K2 was called for (28 August 1914) the age was 35 for men without prior service, 45 for ex soldiers and 50 for ex-senior NCOs. It is also possible that men who stayed at home would be in the Derby Scheme. Steve John Chapman <john@purley.demon.co.uk> wrote: In 1914 the maximum age for enlistment was 30. This had gradually been increased to 41 by May 1916 so while he could volunteer he could not be conscripted. It was not until April 1918 that the conscription age was lifted to 56 and all exemptions denied. I have read through many tribunal reports and keeping a shop was regarded as quite a vital occupation especially if it was a food shop. Regards John In message , Peter Metcalfe writes >I am researching the men of my home town who died in WW1 and one family >had nine boys and eight of them fought in the Great War of which two >were killed. > >No one in the family today knows why the ninth never went. His mother >had a shop but it's unlikely that was the reason. Perhaps he was >physically unfit. > >He was forty in 1914 and the second oldest son so his age wasn't the >reason either. > >Their mother received a letter from Buckingham Palace congratulating >her on "having contributed in so full a measure to the great cause for >which all the people of the British Empire are so bravely fighting." > >Peter > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >GREATWAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- John Chapman ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GREATWAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Researching 9th (service) Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys Regiment) during the Great War. www.ypressalient.co.uk People ask me my religion - my religion is kindness - True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realised