<<snipped>> My own grandfather did exactly the same in 1906...he was small for his age and wished to persuade the Army that he was still growing. I assume from what he told me, there was a minimum height restriction. <<snipped>> There certainly was a minimum height - during the First World War that restriction led to the formation of the Bantam Battalions when groups of under-height miners who, it may imagined were otherwise pretty tough guys, were initially refused entry to the Army. Re my two Bateman soldiers - I like your suggestion but I suspect it's not the explanation here as Joseph is 5ft 10in on entry according to his attestation form. Not sure about Samuel, the later one, as bureaucracy had lost his attestation form when he changed regiments. Thanks for the suggestion, though. Adrian PS - found this out last night - anyone trying to read these 19th century discharge documents may be interested to learn that the phrase "distinguishing marks" refers not to scars, tattoos, etc, but to the precursor of Good Conduct Badges - which explains why one Bateman form refers to "distinguishing mark without pay", which otherwise had made no sense to me!