why didn't he fight?

[toff]

Hello

This is my first post (apart from introducing myself) and I hope it's in the correct place! The question that has been burning a hole in my brain for the last year or so is "why didn't my granddad fight in WW1?" He was born in 1887 and did not have a reserved occupation (he was a barber). He had no medical condition which would have prevented him from enlisting. By the outbreak of war he had a wife and three childen under 4 years of age, with another two born in 1915 and 1917. My mother (born 1931) cannot answer my question - she only knows what he did during WWII.
Any ideas or thoughts would be really appreciated

Thanks
Toff

[sulee]

C O pacifist?

[toff]

C O pacifist?

A possibility. Do you know if objectors were obliged to "register" their ojections, so to speak?

[Jan1954]

If you get the chance to visit TNA at Kew, there are some papers in WO32 that may be worth looking at.

[Jonesy]

My mother (born 1931) cannot answer my question - she only knows what he did during WWII.

Hi Toff. Do you mean your mother says he fought in WW2? He would've been around 52 at the outbreak. Perhaps he did fight (or at least signed up) for the First World War.

Bear in mind a lack of service records does not mean a lack of service.

[JenniLl]

My Grandfather born in 1879 was deemed unfit for active service due to 'flat feet'; he was a carpenter / joiner and a retained fireman, so I guess that counted as his duty. I have not found any papers for him relating to enlistment.

Jenni

[peter nicholl]

Hi Toff
Welcome to the Forum. Just a thought, but if you say what his name was ,then SKS (the Forum's full of them) may be able to shed some light.

[DorothySandra]

One of the great shocks of the 1st war was the poor physical condition of thousands of young men because of poor diet and lack of clean air and exercise. A shockingly high number were too debilitated to be accepted, some were accepted and then sent home when the better food and physical exercise failed to improve their health. Many became stronger and fitter with the food and exercise that the services provided.

It was this that led to government projects to improve health - free milk, school meals and so on - and the really rather efficient rationing and advice of the WWII government.

It took a good deal of moral courage to be accepted as a conscientious objector in the face of the prevailing attitudes, and even then you might fail unless you were Quaker (they were known to be pacifists) or could prove that you had held pacifist views before the war. Many conscientious objectors were ambulance drivers or in other supportive roles.

[toff]

Wow! What a great response in such a short time. You are all such kind people - I'm overwhelmed! Thank you for all the valuable information - it's certainly got me thinking. My mom is fairly sure he didn't enlist but that is probably just because she doesn't remember any mention of it as she was growing up (he died when she was 22). This is reinforced, in my mind at least, by the fact that I can't find any military records for him and also the fact the he fathered two children during that time (not impossible for a serviceman, I know, they must've been allowed home occassionally!) During WWII my mom remembers him travelling to Coventry every day to "do something in a factory" as part of the war effort.

I'm not sure (yet!) what SKS is (thanks peter nicholl) but I'll give you his details in case someone is able to check. His name was William Frederick PRICE, born 1887 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcs. On Ancestry.com I found a William Price who signed up for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (then stamped with "Dorset Regiment" ???) in October 1915. I got very excited by this document as his address was given as Prince Street, Netherton, which is where my grandad lived. However, the age didn't tie up and his marital status was single. I thought he may have lied about this for some reason and then my brother pointed out that it was in fact granddad's cousin, living a few doors away and with the same name!

Thank you Jan1954 for the link to the TNA papers - I'll certainly check them out.

Thanks again to everyone who replied to my query - hope I can be of help to someone too in the future!

Toff

[Guy Etchells]

snip
His name was William Frederick PRICE, born 1887 in Netherton, Dudley, Worcs. On Ancestry.com I found a William Price who signed up for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (then stamped with "Dorset Regiment" ???) in October 1915. I got very excited by this document as his address was given as Prince Street, Netherton, which is where my grandad lived. However, the age didn't tie up and his marital status was single. I thought he may have lied about this for some reason and then my brother pointed out that it was in fact granddad's cousin, living a few doors away and with the same name!

snip

Toff

You might even have the answer to your question in your answer above.

Perhaps he did not receive his call up papers as the authorities thought he was his cousin.
Records were all manual in those days and such a mistake could easily have been made.
Cheers
Guy