THEY received the call they had expected, and duly registered. They were conscripts, men called forward to fight for their country. Those passed fit were seen by a recruiting officer, marked down for army, navy or air force and went home to await their instructions. This was December 1943 and, just before Christmas, they received the expected OHMS buff envelopes. To their astonishment they were ordered not to the fighting front, but to the coal front - for these men were part of the first batch of the so-called "Bevin Boys", who, 20,000 in total, were conscripted to work down the mines as their contribution to the national war effort. The coal mining industry had seen a rise in demand with the outbreak of war, but with the fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Germans, these two export markets were closed virtually overnight. Almost 100 pits had to cease production. Mining was not even seen as a reserved occupation as there were so many unemployed miners.
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