Age for service abroad.

[king ranger]

Glad you managed to get a copy.  You won't regret it.  The book just covers so much - interviews with some of the 'boys' from the Great War before they passed away, the view of the parents, the political side of things, and more.  I would be interested to know what you think when you have read it!   

CD

Book still not arrived ,it has been dispatched but no show yet.

[king ranger]

Just finished off reading the book Boy Soldiers of the Great War. When i saw that my man Robert Baird had been killed at 18 years old i thought he must have been able to lie about his age and get off with it, but i then went from being proud to disgusted to  read that Boys of 13,14,15, were also being allowed to join up then be sent abroad really has hit me. It makes you wonder what kind of life did they have to want to go and volunteer for this ,of course they never knew how bad it would be till they got there. When i was young i used to be proud of the old Red White and Blue and at how we once ruled large parts of the world, but im afraid the more i read on the subject the more i think it was very close to being licensed murder by the British State.I have always had pride in our armed forces and always will respect them,but to the faceless men who allowed this to happen were nothing more than BUTCHERS.

[IMBER]

I sympathise with your view but that was a long time ago now and I am reminded of the well known saying "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

Imber

[king ranger]

Imber i was asked to leave my opinion on the book once i had read it. I gave what in my mind was a truthful answer, maybe not the one people wanted or expected to hear. I dont claim to be right, but if asked i will always give what in my mind is  an honest opinion.
                                            Colin

[IMBER]

Don't take it the wrong way Colin. We all have different views on such topics and yours is perfectly valid. I was just musing on how attitudes change as society changes, not being critical in any way.

Imber

[king ranger]

No problem at all Imber ,you are right in what you say. I have only really got interested in The Great War in the past ten years ,both of my grandfathers worked in the shipyards in Aberdeen so neither saw service in the forces. I am very much on a learning curve regards the Great War if at any time i post on a subject please feel free to tell me if you think i am wrong i will not be offended.Now i am retired i have more time to read and learn about the subject from people that are much more knowledgeable about it than i am.
                                          Colin.

[newburychap]

Hi folks i have asked this question on another post before, but was wondering if anybody can throw some light on it again. David Alexander was born Oct 1895 was sent to France Jan 15th 1915. We know he left the KOSB in 1918 and was in the MGC 1918- 1920 till they disbanded . Does anyone think it he signed on for 6 or 7 years his records might still be being held , one poster told us he would have signed on for the duration of the war and not for 6-7 years, but although fighting was going on in the 1920 era would that still have been classed as the duration of the war.Thanks for any help.
                                           Colin.

If he went to France with an infantry regiment in Jan 1915 then he was already a serving soldier when war was declared. He was probably held back when his battalion went to France in 1914 because he was under 19.

If he was a Regular (some Territorials went over pretty early) his attestation/enlistment would probably have been for 12 years, which was normally split into two sections, 5 or 7 years with the colours followed by 7 or 5 years with the Reserve. If he signed up on his 18th birthday in 1913 he would probably have served (barring the very real likelihood of death, injury or disease) until 1920.  If necessary he could have been kept on for the remainder of his 12 years (unlike Kitchener recruits and conscripts who signed on for the duration regulars were comiitted to serve the full 12 year term if needed).  He may even have re-enlisted for a further term.  If he served on after the war his record may well still be with the MoD, certainly will be if he served out his 12 years in uniform (ie until 1925).

If he was a Territorial he would have signed up for a 4 year term (until 1917 or later) at which point he would have been compulsorily re-enlisted for the duration. Generally speaking 'the duration' meant until the got round to demobilising the chap, mostly in 1919.  Some were kept on longer where deemed necessary.

[king ranger]

Hi folks i have asked this question on another post before, but was wondering if anybody can throw some light on it again. David Alexander was born Oct 1895 was sent to France Jan 15th 1915. We know he left the KOSB in 1918 and was in the MGC 1918- 1920 till they disbanded . Does anyone think it he signed on for 6 or 7 years his records might still be being held , one poster told us he would have signed on for the duration of the war and not for 6-7 years, but although fighting was going on in the 1920 era would that still have been classed as the duration of the war.Thanks for any help.
                                           Colin.

If he went to France with an infantry regiment in Jan 1915 then he was already a serving soldier when war was declared. He was probably held back when his battalion went to France in 1914 because he was under 19.

If he was a Regular (some Territorials went over pretty early) his attestation/enlistment would probably have been for 12 years, which was normally split into two sections, 5 or 7 years with the colours followed by 7 or 5 years with the Reserve. If he signed up on his 18th birthday in 1913 he would probably have served (barring the very real likelihood of death, injury or disease) until 1920.  If necessary he could have been kept on for the remainder of his 12 years (unlike Kitchener recruits and conscripts who signed on for the duration regulars were comiitted to serve the full 12 year term if needed).  He may even have re-enlisted for a further term.  If he served on after the war his record may well still be with the MoD, certainly will be if he served out his 12 years in uniform (ie until 1925).

If he was a Territorial he would have signed up for a 4 year term (until 1917 or later) at which point he would have been compulsorily re-enlisted for the duration. Generally speaking 'the duration' meant until the got round to demobilising the chap, mostly in 1919.  Some were kept on longer where deemed necessary.

Thank you very much for your post. There is nobody left alive in the family to tell us how long after the war David was still in. When we got his medal index card if said RETD 1920 so we thought that meant he retired from the Army in 1920 but it appears that it was his medals that had been returned in 1920, so he may very well have been still in a lot longer than 1920.As i have posted before his Grandson is convinced that at some stage he served in India, we got research done but no trace of him in India could be found.With the MGC being disbanded in 1920 he would of course have had to go into another regiment if he was still in the army.