
Called Up, Sent Down
The Bevin Boys' War
Tom Hickman(Author)
The History Press Ltd
Published on 22. March 2008
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-7509-4547-9 (ISBN)
Description
At the outbreak of war, the government short-sightedly allowed thousands of miners to enlist in the armed services. By 1943 the war effort was in danger of grinding to a halt because of a lack of coal. In answer, Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, sought service volunteers - and compulsorily sent 20,000 18-year-olds, who'd expected to fight for their country, down the mines with them. Some were so angry that they preferred to go to prison. The majority went to do their best. But some were psychologically and others physically unsuited to such dangerous and arduous work. Many were injured; some died.
Called Up, Sent Down paints a picture not just of the arduous life below ground but as the Bevin Boys found it in the tightly-knit mining communities, which in some cases welcomed them but in others treated them with hostility. Called Up, Sent Down is an enthralling oral and social history of an episode of the Second World War that has never been fully told.
Called Up, Sent Down paints a picture not just of the arduous life below ground but as the Bevin Boys found it in the tightly-knit mining communities, which in some cases welcomed them but in others treated them with hostility. Called Up, Sent Down is an enthralling oral and social history of an episode of the Second World War that has never been fully told.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stroud
United Kingdom
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
606 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7509-4547-9 (9780750945479)
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E-Book
08/2016
The History Press Ltd
€13.99
Available for download
Person
Tom Hickman has worked as features writer, features editor and editor on various national magazines, newspapers and for the BBC. He is the author of a number of successful 20th-century histories. He lives in Cambridgeshire.