Youngest World War II service casualty identified

A 14-year-old boy has been confirmed as the UK's youngest known service member to have been killed in WWII.



See BBC news story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8498113.stm

Incredible. One wonders how many of these boys enlisted, and how many ultimately gave their lives.

In WW I the age requirements were looser, especially in the Royal Navy. Anthony Eden lost a 15 year old brother at the Battle of Jutland.

During WW1, I believe the required minimum age was 16, however, plenty of younger kids got sucked in by grand dreams / propaganda and ended up dead. A great-great-uncle of mine and his best mate (as I've posted somewhere else on the lounge before, I'm sure) ran away at the age of fourteen to join up and fight for "King and Country". I refuse to believe it was anything other than blatantly obvious they were wee boys with badly doctored birth certificates, but nevertheless the army either couldn't figure that out or didn't care. A year later, my relative saw his mate's head blown off in a trench at the Somme. Heroes? Victims, more like.

Edward said:

Heroes? Victims, more like.

Click to expand...

"Victims"? Noun : a person who suffers injury, loss, or death as a result of a voluntary undertaking. That ought to cover the 50 to 70 million lives extinguished in the Second World War.

Don't you dare take away from what the kid did, no matter how you see it from the safety of your England, circa 2010.
His nation was attacked.
His cities were bombed by flying nightmares.
He stepped up to the plate, probably not understanding the lethal consequences of signing his name any more than countless 18 year olds.
Forced to become a man before his time, yes.
Unfair, when so many adult men skipped out on their duties, yes.

Victim? No more than the rest of the dead.

History is rife with accounts of boys being sucked up in wars at an age that someone in the 21st century would consider them children.

War is hell. It always was and always will be.