2 December 1943: ‘Bevin Boys’ conscripted into the mines

With the coal industry desperately short of men, the Minster of Labour, Ernest Bevin, announced today in 1943 that thousands of conscripts would be sent down the mines instead of to the front.

Bevin Boys at the Prince of Wales Colliery, Pontefract
Bevin Boys at the Prince of Wales Colliery, Pontefract
(Image credit: © Keystone/Getty Images)

During the First World War, many working men were called up to serve in the armed forces, leaving the country desperately short of skilled workers to contribute to the war effort. So the government drew up a “Schedule of Reserved Occupations” whereby men within the stipulated ages working in the listed occupations would not be required to fight. For some clever reasons, the schedule failed to mention coalminers. Given that coal powered virtually all the country's industry, this was a fairly serious omission.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.