CONTROVERSY AND TRAGEDY

Exploring the controversial and tragic side of enlistment in the First World War

Underage: Thousands of soldiers who enlisted during the First World War lied about their age. Many soldiers under the age of 18 lied about their age in order to go away to war. Many of these young soldiers left under the dream of adventure and ended up being subjected to the horrors of the conflict. Many recruiters due to financial and policy incentives motivated them to overlook individuals ages in many cases. This was in order to meet recruitment targets due to the stress of the war effort many were paid by the number of soldiers they enlisted. 

The Derby Scheme: This was a system in which young men were pressured into enlisting and serving. Using disabled veterans and fathers of serving soldiers as recruiters. They would go round to Pressure those who hadn’t yet enlisted to sign up and fight. They used powerful tactics of coercion and often guilted people into enlisting. This scheme ended when conscription was introduced in 1916.

Conscription: conscription was an involuntary form of enlistment which was introduced in 1916. This meant that people were forced to join the British Army and sent to the frontline. The desperation of the war effort forced this into happening and led to hundreds of thousands of those eligible being forced to sign up. Many attempted to get exemptions from serving on multiple basis’s however most were denied and forced to enlist. 

Most of those who served in World War 1 Voluntarily enlisted. This memorial attempts to remember all of those who did enlist. 

Many of those who enlisted believed they going for a shorter period of time. It was unknown how long the war would last. Millions left either never to return or spent years abroad subject to the horrors of war.