Enlistment & Training

01. A changing world

In 1945 Britain celebrated the end of the Second World War (1939-45), but this did not mean the end of British military commitments abroad. These included maintaining her diminishing Empire, occupying post-war Germany and Japan and re-establishing British influence in the world, particularly in the Middle East. The rise of communism in Eastern Europe and the Far East and the ensuing Cold War also placed new demands on British military manpower.

02. Loss of India

Although Indian independence in 1947 meant that British units stationed there were now available for other duties, it actually reduced Britain’s global military capability, as it no longer had the huge Indian Army at its disposal. To solve this manpower shortage and meet the new post-war challenges the decision was made in 1947 to extend wartime conscription into an obligatory period of National Service for men of military age.

03. What is National Service?

National Service is peacetime conscription. All able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 30 were called up. They initially served for 18 months but in 1950, during the Korean War (1950-53), this was increased to two years. The official exemptions were blind and mentally ill people, clergymen and men in government positions abroad. From 1949 until 1963 more than two million men were called up to the Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air Force.

04. Unofficial exclusions

Unofficially, it was also decided not to conscript black and Asian British men. Despite high levels of immigration in the mid-1950s, the bar on black and Asian soldiers continued throughout the years of National Service. To avoid possible civil unrest Northern Ireland was also excluded from conscription.

05. Training and daily life

After attending a medical and joining the army, all conscripts had six weeks of basic training during which they got used to Army life:

'Endless drill, gruelling inspections, physical training, rifle practice, polishing boots and equipment, cross country runs, lectures in the art of warfare, fatigues of all sorts and all the time corporals and sergeants continually shouting and swearing from morning till night.'

Lance Corporal Adrian Tennant Cooper, Royal Engineers, 1947-49

06. New skills

Officers who did four years or more on a Short Service Commission were allowed to train in a speciality. Many other ranks were trained in general clerical duties such as typing. Some received more specific training in technical subjects such as communications and engineering. Languages could also be learnt, especially Russian in the Cold War period, at the Joint Service School of Languages at Bodmin.

07. Drilling and polishing

Once enlisted and inside camp, national servicemen were quickly introduced to Army life. They were issued with their equipment, uniform (which often did not fit) and boots. Conscripts were knocked into shape by sergeants under pressure to train them in as short a time as possible. Recruits soon began the seemingly endless polishing of kit and equipment. Many regarded this as mindless drill aimed at destroying individuality. However, this strict regime often helped to foster a group identity within the section and brought recruits closer together.

'At the age of seventeen I received through the post an official letter inviting me, well, not exactly inviting, but summonsing me to register for National Service…My battle dress blouse fitted me perfectly so the quarter-master sergeant apologised and assured me it didn’t usually happen and that he could only deduce from that that I must be deformed in some way or other.'

Gordon T Kell, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1952-54

08. Accommodation

Most conscripts were accommodated in barracks with little heating, primitive toilets and poor washing facilities. Some were lucky, and had newly built brick barracks with central heating. Some were housed in a ‘Barrack Spider’ – wooden huts with eight rooms and washing area. Twenty men were housed in each room, and had one steel wardrobe, one iron bed, and a one-foot locker for small items of kit. The Army’s Officer Training School at Eaton Hall had better quality rooms and baths.

09. Overseas

Overseas accommodation varied. Servicemen could find themselves sharing a tent with three other men, as in camps in Cyprus, or as many as fifteen, as in Korea. Mosquito nets were necessary in Malaya and Korea. The camps and accommodation for servicemen in the Suez Canal Zone were poor, but those in Germany were generally of a high standard.

10. Pay

Basic pay for a private soldier was 28 shillings (£1.40) a week net in 1948. This compared poorly with the average weekly wage in 1951, which was eight pounds eight shillings and six pence. Those on a Short Service Commission would get extra pay. Pay for conscripts rose to 38 shillings in 1960. The average weekly wage for men in 1961, however, was £15 10 shillings. Sometimes the low wages were reduced by deductions for lost or damaged kit and equipment. National Servicemen often had little money left for social activities beyond a visit to the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI).