One of my uncles was born in 1934 but never appears to have done National Service. Were there a set of reasons for excusal?
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Thread: National Service
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07-10-2015, 12:40 PM #1
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National Service
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07-10-2015, 12:53 PM #2gasserGuest
National Service Act 1948....
"The act also changed the trades considered essential services to the merchant navy, farming and coal mining (previously, essential services were coal mining, shipbuilding, engineering-related trades and—to a limited extent—medicine). Young men working in the essential services were exempted from National Service for a period of eight years. If they stopped working in these industries before this period of eight years ended (that is, before turning 25), they could be called up for National Service."
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07-10-2015, 3:05 PM #3
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There must have been another reason then as he was a baker. Unfortunately nobody living would know why!
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07-10-2015, 4:17 PM #4
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Megan, born in 1934 makes him not even 18 years of age in 1948 which was the legal age:
full conscription on all males between 18 and 41
People working in reserved occupations like baking, farming, medicine, and engineering are exempt from National Service for eight years.
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07-10-2015, 4:50 PM #5
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That was the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. It was superceded by the 1948 Act mentioned in Simmo's post above.
Megan's uncle would have become eligible for call-up on reaching the age of 17, i.e. any time between 1951 and 1955. Conscription continued until 1960.
1. He might have been found medically unfit to serve.
2. There were instances of men simply not responding to their call-up papers, with not enough officials to chase them down.
Peter
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07-10-2015, 4:53 PM #6
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That may be, but the National Service Act 1948 exempted people in the baking trade from National Service for up to eight years.
My dad turned 17 in February 1959, but he started an apprenticeship so he'd become exempt from National Service. This could also be a reason why, if her uncle was a student.
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07-10-2015, 9:32 PM #7
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I have acquired a copy of the 1948 Act. Persons not required to do National Service were set out in the 1st Schedule:
1. anyone working for the state in a part of Empire overseas
2. anyone in holy orders
3. lunatics (certified)
4. anyone certified blind.
It applied to males between the ages of 18-26.
They were able to apply for postponement certificates on the grounds of exceptional hardship.
My uncle did go to college and it's possible that during that period he received his papers, and applied to postpone on the grounds that he needed to finish his course, and maybe that postponement certificate was never revoked. Obviously I will never know the truth of the matter.
If anyone would like a copy of the act follow the link; and indeed if you want other pieces of legislation this will ultimately get you there:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...ntents/enacted
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07-10-2015, 9:45 PM #8
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I think students were exempt from National Service so this answers your question
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08-10-2015, 8:31 AM #9
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"I think students were exempt from National Service so this answers your question"
Students were deferred not exempt. When their degree course was completed they became liable for conscription. Non-university students eg accountancy students were similarly treated. Those students lucky enough to be still studying when 1960 came around missed the final call-up.
Towards the end of conscription - the final intake date was October 1960 - the scale of conscription was greatly reduced and many eligible men were passed over.
I was in one of the final Army intakes in summer 1960 and we had a whole cross-section of ex students of ages up to 26 years old where deferment had finally caught up with them.
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08-10-2015, 11:58 AM #10
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Raymond is quite correct in post #9.
The only 4 automatic exemptions are those listed in my post #7 - which I got from reading the actual act of Parliament.
Students may well have been able to apply for a certificate of postponement, but they were not automatically granted - and if it was granted it was a postponement and not an exemption.
I do not know what my uncle did when called up - I will never know. However, by 1960 he would have been 26 years of age, and so would have been in full time employment for many years, as baking college cannot have been more that 3-4 years starting either when he left school or just after that. I know that he was in college when 18, as I have a postcard he sent to my father saying that the next day he was leaving college in Wrexham, and getting the train to visit my father, so would my father please meet him at Paddington station in London at 6pm the next day.
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