Reasons for not being in the first or second world war??

[tmp48]

My Dad's eldest brother was a Barber in Bristol but he wasn't called up for WW2 so you would have expected him to have been called up.   However he was a fireman during the war helping to put out burning buildings etc during the Blitz of Bristol.
Another brother was a RC Priest and was called up to adminster the last rights during the war, especially at the D Day landings.
 
As my Irish Mum wasn't married before WW2 she was called up to work in spitfire factory in Wiltshire.  All of her married sisters assumed she was a 'land Girl'. Mum wasn't allowed to let them know what  she was doing or where she was living at the time.   The town was bombed a few times but they missed the spitfire factory.
Mum's family lived in London  and some of them were bombed out during the Blitz.  It was quite a few years after the war before the family managed to locate one another.

My Dad was born and living in Bristol and not long started to work as an aero Engineer..he was called up too, to work in a spitfire factory..in the same place as my Mum.  They married  in 1947!

[sonofthom]

My father was a pharmacist and so was exempt from service in WW2. His father was a miner and so was exempt from service in WW1. He was actually the mine manager and gave jobs to some well known footballers who therefore avoided enlistment.

By contrast my maternal grandfather joined at the start of WW1 and survived all of the war unscathed physically. A prize possession is a photograph of him taken on active service in Salonika.

[barryd]

..................…...My maternal relatives didn't serve because they were all Durham coal miners, so in a reserved occupation ...………...………......……………………...……. and Women at that time were not allowed to go underground. My father's father was a reluctant coal miner …….. too tall. Enlisted and served in German East Africa. Survived the war.

[Chris Doran]

In WW1 you could appeal against the draft to a local tribunal and if you didn't accept its ruling, to a County one. Around here and probably elsewhere, the proceedings of these tribunals were summarised in the local newspaper, including names and reasons. Employers could appeal to keep irreplaceable staff. Typical reasons were working in an essential occupation, running a business, medical disability, or supporting a sick or elderly relative, all more common than conscientious objectors. Many people just had their join-up date deferred for a few weeks or months to make arrangements like finding someone to mange the business, or to get another medical opinion.

So you could try a local newspaper, but be prepared for a long trawl if it hasn't been indexed or digitised.