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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

27 March 2008

In 1943 – with the Second World War raging – he was just 18 years old. He was an accomplished chorister, the son of a respected London clergyman and he was keen to support the war effort by enlisting in the Royal Marines. But they sent him down the pit instead - and he spent the next five years underground, cutting coal to fuel Britain ’s war.

My constituent, Geoffrey Baker from Deal was one of 48,000 young men who were arbitrarily selected to work in the coal mining industry rather than serve in the armed forces to stem an acute shortage of labour in the pits. Four years into the war we were burning more coal than we could produce, our stocks fell to just three weeks supply and everyone knew that if our war effort stalled the war would be lost.

Drastic action was called for and the plan to conscript and divert young men into service in the mines was devised by the then Minister for Labour, Ernest Bevin and hence forth these youngsters were known collectively as ‘The Bevin Boys’. They were all chosen by a ballot of their conscription numbers and one in every ten was unceremonially sent down the pit.

Many of the conscripts had a clear idea about which section of the armed services they wanted to join. Some had even joined the Air Training Corps or Sea Cadets to prepare for their chosen service but that mattered not - if their number came up in the lottery ballot they were packed off for training for the colliery.

They were deployed in pits all over the country including the South Wales Coalfield, where I spent my childhood and here in East Kent where I’ve lived for the past thirty years.

With this background, I was more than pleased to campaign with colleagues in Parliament for proper recognition for the Bevin Boys. Their Association has fought long and hard and lobbied successive governments in search of proper recognition and last year I was delighted to hear the announcement that a special Bevin Boys badge was to be created to honour their service to the country.

This Tuesday – sixty years to the day that the last of them was demobbed from the scheme the first 27 badges were awarded and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Geoffrey Baker and his family in Westminster, where the Prime Minister presented him with his special badge of honour and gratitude.

It’s a pity that it’s taken so long to honour these previously unsung heroes and it’s sad that so many of them are not with us anymore to enjoy their special day. But the creation and presentation of the Bevin Boy badge is clear recognition by the Government and the nation of the contribution they made to winning the war and rebuilding our country for the future. At long last – the Bevin Boys have surfaced.