Conscription in the United Kingdom

"National Service" redirects here. For national service in other countries, see national service.

Full-time conscription in the United Kingdom was first introduced in 1916, and lasted from 1916 to 1919 and from 1939 to 1960. From 1948 it was generally known as National Service - during the First and Second World Wars it was usually known as War Service or Military Service (though the act re-introducing it in 1939 was entitled the National Service (Armed Forces) Act).

First World War

Conscription was first introduced by the United Kingdom government in January 1916, during the First World War, when Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith introduced the Military Service Act. Previously the British Government relied on voluntary enlistment, and then from late 1915 on a system of voluntary registration called the Derby Scheme.

The act of January 1916 specified that single men between the ages of 18 and 41 were liable to be called-up for military service unless they were widowed with children or ministers of religion. There was a system of tribunals to adjudicate upon claims for exemption upon the particular grounds of performing civilian work of national importance, being a key worker within a particular concern, domestic hardship, health, and conscientious objection. The law went through several changes before the war's end, married men ceasing to be exempt in June 1916, and the age limit eventually being raised to 51. Recognition of work of national importance also diminished, and in the last year of the war there was some support for the conscription of clergy. Conscription in the UK lasted until mid-1919; it was never introduced in Ireland, even though power to do so was taken in April 1918.

Second World War

Conscription legislation lapsed in 1920. However, as a result of the deteriorating international situation and the rise of Nazi Germany, Leslie Hore-Belisha, Secretary of State for War, persuaded the cabinet of Neville Chamberlain to introduce a limited form of conscription on 27 April, 1939, with the Military Training Act being passed the following month. Only single men aged 20–22 were liable to be "called up," and they were to be known as 'militiamen' to distinguish them from the regular army. To emphasise this distinction, each man was issued with a civilian suit in addition to a uniform. The intention was for the first intake to undergo six months basic training before being discharged into an active reserve, being recalled for short training periods and an annual camp. This was overtaken by the outbreak of war and the passing of the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, and the first intake was absorbed into the army.

The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 imposed a liability to conscription on all men aged 18–41. In addition to those rejected for medical reasons, exceptions were made in other cases. Those engaged in vital industries or occupations were 'reserved' at a particular age, beyond which no-one in that job would be enlisted. (Lighthouse keepers were 'reserved' at the age of eighteen). Later in the war, some conscripts were directed into the British coal mining industry, the so-called 'Bevin Boys'. Provision was made for conscientious objectors, who were required to justify their position to a tribunal, with power to allocate the applicant to one of three categories: unconditional exemption; exemption conditional upon performing specified civilian work (frequently farming, forestry or menial hospital work); exemption only from combatant service, meaning that the objector had to serve in the specially created Non-Combatant Corps or in some other non-combatant unit such as the Royal Army Medical Corps.

By 1942, all male British subjects between 18 and 51, and females between 20 and 30, resident in Great Britain were liable to call-up. Only a few categories were exempted:

British subjects from outside Great Britain and the Isle of Man who had lived in Britain for less than two years or were students
Persons employed by the government of any country of the British Empire except the United Kingdom
Clergy of any denomination
Mental patients and the mentally defective
Blind
Married women
Women who had living with them one or more children under the age of 14 (including their own children, legitimate or illegitimate, stepchildren, and adopted children, as long as the child was adopted before 18 December 1941)

Pregnant women were liable to be called up, but in practice were not. Britain was the only country in the Second World War to conscript single women.

Men under 20 were initially not liable to be sent overseas, but this exemption had been lifted by 1942. People called up before they were 51, but who passed their 51st birthday during their service, were liable to serve until the end of the war. People who had retired, resigned or been dismissed from the forces before the war were liable to be called back if they were under 51.

Britain did not completely demobilise in 1945, as conscription continued after the war. Those already in the armed forces were given a release class determined by length of service and age. In practice, releases began in June 1945, and the last of the wartime conscripts had been released by 1949. However, urgently needed men, particularly those in the building trades, were released in 1945, although some restrictions on their immediate employment were supposed to be enforced. All women were released at the end of the war.

The system of wartime conscription between 1939 and 1948 was called National Service, but is usually referred to as 'war service' in official documents relating to National Insurance and state pensions.

After 1945

After the Second World War, peacetime conscription was maintained between 1949 and 1960, through the National Service Act passed in 1948. In Britain it is this peacetime conscription that is usually referred to as 'National Service'. It remains the only peacetime conscription in UK history, apart from periods immediately before and after the Second World War.

National Service as peacetime conscription was formalised by the National Service Act 1948. From 1 January 1949, every healthy man between 17 and 21 was expected to serve in the armed forces for 18 months, and remain on the reserve list for four years, with a liability to be recalled to their units for up to twenty days service or training on not more than three occasions in the four years. Men were exempt from National Service if they worked in one of the three "essential services": coal mining, farming and the merchant navy for a period of 8 years. If they quit early, they were subject to be called up. Exemption continued for conscientious objectors, with the same tribunal system and categories.

In October 1950, in response to the British involvement in the Korean War, the service period was extended to two years, although the reserve period was reduced by six months to compensate. National Servicemen who showed promise could be commissioned as officers. National Service personnel were used in full military combat operations, including the UK's operations in the Malayan emergency, the bitter Korean War where conscripts to the Gloucestershire Regiment took part in the last stand at the Battle of the Imjin River, the Cyprus emergency against EOKA and in Kenya against the Mau Mau uprising; a number were killed, wounded in action and injured.

To summarize, in the year 1950 call-up papers would arrive on or after one's 18th birthday, and after the age of 26, the obligation would cease.^{[citation needed]}

National Service formally ended on 31 December 1960, but those who had deferred service for reasons such as university studies or on compassionate or hardship grounds, still had to complete their National Service after this date. It had also previously been decided that only those born up to 1 September, 1939 were to be called up. The last man called up for National Service, Private Fred Turner of the Army Catering Corps, was discharged on 7 May, 1963. However, the last National Serviceman was Lieutenant Richard Vaughan of the Royal Army Pay Corps, who was discharged six days later on 13 May, 1963. When National Service ended, many National Servicemen continued serving voluntarily. The British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy are now voluntary organisations. Occasionally, some individuals call for a return to compulsory conscription.

In the UK, the end of National Service coincided with the rise of pop culture, and the dawn of Beatlemania from around Christmas 1963. There was much public discussion at the time about "falling standards" and "long hair" as worn by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and others. This controversy was epitomised in a satirical pop music recording Call up the Groups made by The Barron Knights, released in 1964, which suggested that such pop groups should be sent back on National Service to tame their wild ways. The song satirised recent pop hits by, The Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Rolling Stones, The Bachelors, The Dave Clark Five and The Beatles.

Effect

Post-war National Service had a significant effect on many people, and on society and culture. Some National Servicemen went on to become famous. Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones played rock and roll while stationed in West Germany.^{[citation needed]} Authors like Leslie Thomas, David Lodge and David Findlay Clark wrote books based on their experiences (The Virgin Soldiers, Ginger You're Barmy etc). Actor Oliver Reed and comedian Tony Hancock developed their talents while doing their National Service.^{[citation needed]}. John Peel also became fascinated by radio from listening to rock-n-roll on Armed Forces Radio while stationed in North Wales.

On the other hand, National Service interrupted some men's careers; John Clark, a former child actor, was tired of ubiquitous recognition and feared mockery in the forces, so he worked in the Merchant Navy on a Silver Line freighter for more than three years. He later emigrated in November 1953 to Canada. The career of Britain's first "answer to Elvis", the rock and roll singer Terry Dene, ended after he was called up and reacted badly to the experience.

At the time there was a prohibition on serving members of the Armed Forces standing for election to Parliament. A few National Servicemen stood for election in the 1951 and 1955 General Elections in order to be dismissed from service. ^[1]

The popular series of Carry On films started with Carry On Sergeant - a comedy about unmilitary National Service recruits. This was the unacknowledged basis for a TV series The Army Game, and while each was technically based on different plays, both featured many of the same actors, including the future (and first)Doctor Who, William Hartnell. A later TV situation comedy, Get Some In was based on National Service and helped launch the career of actor Robert Lindsay.

References

^ The British General Election of 1951: Candidates and Parties, John Williams

You and the Call-up: A Guide for Men and Women, by Robert S. W. Pollard, 1942 - on conscription in Britain in World War II

External links

[1] The British General Election of 1951: Candidates and Parties, John Williams

[1]