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Unsung heroes - the Bevin Boys.

Team of "Bevin Boys" at a mine in Durham, North-East England, during WW2. At the outset of the war, the British Government omitted to make mine working a reserved occupation. As a result, many miners were conscripted to the Forces or obtained safer, better-paid employment in the "reserved" industries. The result, by 1943, was an increasing shortage of young miners at the very time that the country's shortage of coal was becoming critical. One response to this was the institution, by Ernest Bevin, Minister for Labour, of a ballot system by which a proportion of potential conscripts to the Forces was diverted to mine work. No regard was paid to whether these young men were suitable for mining work. In all, some 21,000 were drafted into the mines; many more were encouraged to opt for mining work as an alternative to other forms of service. Forced employment in the mines was, generally, not popular. British coal mining is, overwhelmingly, a matter of deep tunnel mining. Conditions at the time were cramped, filthy and dangerous. To add insult to injury, the "Bevin Boys" received no recognition for their vital contribution to Britain's survival for many years after the war and, indeed, tended to be regarded as shirkers or draft dodgers by many. Only in 1998 were they allowed to parade with other veterans at the National Ceremony of Commemoration at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. It took until 2008 for the UK Government to issue an official commemorative badge in recognition of their mine-bound - but vital - war work. Best regards, JR.