British men conscripted to work as coal miners in WW2
For the Indian technical workers sent to the UK in the 1940s, see Bevin trainees.
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Bevin Boys receiving training from an experienced miner at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, February 1945
Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in coal mines between December 1943 and March 1948,[1] to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of World War II.[2] The programme was named after Ernest Bevin, the Labour Party politician who was Minister of Labour and National Service in the wartime coalition government.[3]
Chosen by lot as 10% of all male conscripts aged 18–25 (plus some volunteering as an alternative to military conscription) nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys performed vital and dangerous civil conscription service in coal mines. Although the last ballot took place in May 1945 (shortly before VE Day), the final conscripts were not released from service until March 1948. Few chose to remain working in the mining industry after demobilisation; most left for further education or for employment in other sectors.[4]
Bevin Boys were targets of abuse from the general public, who mistakenly believed them to be draft dodgers or cowards. They were frequently stopped by the police as possible deserters.[4] Unlike those who had served in the military, Bevin Boys were not awarded medals for their contribution to the war effort and official recognition by the British government was only conferred in 1995.[4]
^Bevin Boys – BERR Archived 14 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^"Historical coal data: coal production, availability and consumption". UK Government. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^"Bevin, Ernest". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31872. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ abc"Remembering the Bevin Boys in the Second World War". National Museum Wales. 3 January 2008. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
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conscripted into the Armed Forces. These recruits would become known as "BevinBoys". 20 December 1943 Villages in the South Hams area of Devon were compulsorily...
work in the mines. These men became known as "BevinBoys" after the creator of the scheme, Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour and National Service....
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December 1943 and March 1948 young men in the United Kingdom, the so-called BevinBoys, had been conscripted for the work in coal mines. In Belgium in 1964,...
the British government started to draft civil conscripts, the so-called BevinBoys, for the work in coal mines. Community service Corvée Himeyuri Students...
there he went into the Royal Air Force, eventually ending up as a volunteer Bevin Boy working down the coal mines near Doncaster. After the war, Rix returned...
171 goals in league and cup 209 appearances for Bradford PA. He became a Bevin Boy in order to avoid his call-up for national service in 1945 as he did...
directed into the British coal mining industry and become known as the "BevinBoys". Provision was also made for conscientious objectors, who were required...
designated for the mines on 14 December 1943, becoming a so-called "Bevin Boy". Ernest Bevin was the Minister of Labour and National Service in the wartime...
the coal mines, where there were labour shortages; they became known as BevinBoys. Pacifist numbers during both World Wars were fairly low, especially in...
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during World War II was conscripted to work in the coal mining industry as a Bevin Boy. In 1947 he began his career with the Metropolitan Police. The hunt...
while with the Claude Giddins band, before being conscripted to work as a Bevin Boy in the coal mines for the remainder of the war. In the mid-1940s Verrell...
notably Russia, Belarus and Turkmenistan. Alternative civilian service BevinBoys Civil conscription Civilian Conservation Corps Construction soldier Hand...
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