Conscripted, for the mines

They are the forgotten heroes of the second world war, conscripted to serve in the armed forces but forced to do their service under brutal, dangerous conditions in Britain's coal mines.

Now efforts are being made to recapture for posterity the story of the Bevin Boys, the young men who were sent to work in collieries between 1943 and 1948 to provide the economic backbone for a crucial stage of the war effort. . .

However, surviving members of the group complain that they received little or no formal recognition for their efforts at the time and are still popularly misunderstood as draft-dodgers and conscientious objectors. . .

About 750,000 people worked in the mines at the time and, on average, one miner was killed every six hours and one injured every two minutes. . .

In the early stages of the war, British miners were allowed to join the armed forces, leaving a shortage of workers which soon became acute.

Sounds as if being a soldier was a better deal all around; no wonder the miners jumped to enlist. Full article here.

Posted by David on November 22, 2004 9:02 PM