"Mildred Robson" <[email protected]> wrote: >'Bevan Boys' who worked in the mines, were men judged unfit for active >service in the armed forces but men were also drafted to work in >shipyards and were billeted on local people. That is not correct. Bevin Boys were fully-fit conscripts who were picked at random to serve in the mines. Each week Bevin's secretary picked a digit from 0-9, and everybody eligible for call-up that week, plus that week's volunteers, whose National Registration Number ended in that digit was assigned to the coal mining industry instead of the armed forces. They were not given any choice and no excuse was accepted. Bevin Boys worked only in coal mines, not in shipyards. Brian -- Brian Pears (Joint List Admin - NORTHUMBRIA Mailing List)