Government’s implementation of the Military Service Act in 1916, which specified that single men aged 18 to 41 years were liable to be called up for military service. Conscription at that time lasted until 1919. In many places, including Cardiff, ‘Pals’ Battalions were raised with whole neighbourhoods of men leaving to carry out Military Service leaving massive gaps in local communities.
Although conscription had lapsed following the end of the First World War, the deteriorating international situation and the rise of Nazi Germany resulted in a Military Training Act being passed in 1939. This meant that men between the ages of 20 and 22 were liable to be called up for duty. However when war broke out on 3 September 1939, this changed again and was overtaken by the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, which imposed a liability to conscription of all men between 18 and 41 years of age. By 1942, Britain saw all male British subjects between 18 and 51; as well as all females 20 to 30 years of age liable to be called.
Peacetime conscription, or National Service originated in the immediate post war political landscape as it became clear that Britain still had considerable obligations, but only a limited number of men still in service. In 1950, when the Korean War between North and South Korea commenced, National Service being extended to 2 years. For many men who were called up to serve in Korea it would be the first time that they had left their communities, let alone Wales and the United Kingdom.
Recently undertaking an Oral History project entitled ‘Remembering Korea’, I interviewed Veterans of 1st Battalion the Welch Regiment and National Servicemen attached to the Battalion in Korea. Throughout the project, it was demonstrable that these men (young boys at the time) had displayed so much courage actively serving in active combat, with fierce fighting taking place on all fronts. Many of them did not even know where Korea was, and spent a substantial period of time on board ships such as the HMS Windrush, and immediately sent to arm themselves alongside soldiers serving with the Regular Army.
Conditions in Korea were of two extremes. Summers were baking hot and Winters were harsh and freezing. Similar to conscription during the First World War, a good deal of time was spent in bunkers and trenches. Many of the Veterans that I interviewed highlighted how little was reported about the conflict back home, with family and friends knowing very little of the situation that their loved ones faced.
The Korean War became known as the Forgotten Conflict because in the Post-War period there seemed to be little appetite for knowledge of another war. Many of the veterans who served in Korea have been left feeling that their wartime contributions have been forgotten. This is now in the process of being corrected, with families of soldiers killed in action being awarded the Elizabeth Cross, a commemorative emblem given to the recognised kin of members of the British Armed Forces killed in action or as a result of a terrorist attack following the Second World War. It bears the name of the HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Remembrance has become as essential now, as a result of the conflict in Afghanistan, as it was following the First World War. War and conflict is not to be glorified or celebrated, but there is no better way to honour UK soldiers than remembering the sacrifices that a minority of people have made on behalf of their country.
The current temporary exhibition about the Territorial Forces can be seen at the museum until the end of August 2013.
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