National Service?

[dcmbarton]

My grandfather was called for RAF service on the 9th August 1945 - he would have been 22 years old. Would this have been part of the war conscription, or National Service? He was released on th 19th January 1948.

David

[Jan1954]

According to historyonthenet.com:

In October 1939 the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in 'reserved occupations' could be called to join the armed services if required. Conscription was by age and in October 1939 men aged between 20 and 23 were required to register to serve in one of the armed forces. They were allowed to choose between the army, the navy and the airforce.

Does not really help much, does it?

The British Armed Forces (http://www.britisharmedforces.org/ns/nat_history.htm) provides a good explanation of the history of National Service, though.

[dcmbarton]

I don't know what he did during the war, but he was awarded the Defence Medal which I gather was awarded for 3 years consecutive service between 3/9/1939 and 15/8/1945. By the end of that period he had only been in the RAF for 7 days, so surely it can't have been awarded for that?

[Peter Goodey]

The Defence Medal was awarded for three years service at home or one years service in a non-operational area abroad or six months in a more dangerous area.

[dcmbarton]

I'm pretty certain that he didn't go abroad during the war, and his RAF records do not record him doing so between 1945 and 1948 either.

[dcmbarton]

My grandfather was an apprentice mechanic.

[dcmbarton]

If you look at para. v (b) under 'Defence Medal' on the link in my last post, this could explain the award of the medal to your father. Many people had duties outside their normal work during the war.

It seems a bit odd that he was called up for military service with in the final few days and weeks of the war. It seems obvious that the Defence Medal was awarded for services rendered before this.

[Geoffers]

It seems a bit odd that he was called up for military service with in the final few days and weeks of the war.

We now know the war ended soon after - they didn't then.

The process of calling up your grandfather would have been put into place in advance, not knowing whether Japan would, or would not surrender..

Then of course there were the tensions between the allies in Europe. At the time there must have been a lot of 'what ifs......?' and a substantial amount of new manpower needed to replace the continuing flow of casualties; and to maintain a massive military force.

[dcmbarton]

The link supplied by Jan, in post #2 above, fully explains this.
Finbar.
On that basis, would he have qualified for the National Service Medal which has recently been introduced?

[Terry Reeves]

The National Service Medal is a commercially produced commemorative medal and not an official award.

TR