Published: Wednesday, 2nd April, 2008 12:00
Bevin Boys are urged to claim their badges
By Kevin McRoberts
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Bevin Boys badge.
THE Wee County’s MP Gordon Banks is urging any local Bevin Boys to come forward to claim their commemorative badge.
Mr Banks – who had campaigned for recognition for the Bevin Boys – was present at Downing Street last week when the first batch of badges were presented by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Speaking after the ceremony, Mr Banks said, “I am delighted that today’s events have taken place and that Bevin Boys have had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister and hear how much this country recognises, appreciates and respects their wartime effort.
“The Bevin Boys Commemorative Badge is a token of that appreciation.
“Although it is 60 years and in some ways overdue I am delighted to have led the campaign within Parliament to have the Bevin Boys recognised in this way.”
The Bevin Boys were young men who were conscripted from 1943 onwards to work in the coalmines due to a dire need for more miners, and their contribution was vital to fuel the war effort.
At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the British Government allowed experienced coal miners to be called up into the armed services.
Men were also allowed to transfer from the pits to higher paid jobs in other reserved occupations, while the Government hoped that the gaps in the coal mines would be taken up by the unemployed.
However, by the mid-1943, over 36,000 coal miners had left the industry for better paid jobs, leaving the country’s pits in need of 40,000 more miners.
Coal production slumped to dangerously low levels and, by the end of 1943, it was estimated that Britain had only three weeks supply of coal in reserve.
In December of that year, the then Minister of Labour and National Service, Ernest Bevin, devised a scheme where a ballot took place to put a proportion of conscripted men into the coal mines instead of the armed services.
In total, 48,000 Bevin Boys were conscripted for National Service in the mines – half being selected by ballot without any choice and the others opting to work in the pits as an alternative to serving in the forces.
The ballot consisted of a number being drawn from a hat every month for 20 months. All men whose National Service Registration Number ended with that digit were directed into coal mining.
Any refusal to comply with the direction resulted in a heavy fine or imprisonment under the wartime ‘Emergency Powers Act’.
Even at the end of the war, the many thousands of young men conscripted to work as miners were not released from their duties.
It was 1948 before the last of the Bevin Boys were demobbed back to ‘civvy street’ – with no medals, no public recognition and very little thanks for all their efforts.
Now, however, after a long campaign, the Bevin Boys are finally being given the credit they are due.
Mr Banks said, “The Parliamentary campaign has been long and, indeed, was originally started by Roy Mason in the 1970s. I am delighted that I was able to take up the challenge after I was elected to Parliament in 2005 and feel that the agreement of the Government to honour Bevin Boys is well deserved.
“I look forward to presenting awards on 9 May to Bevin Boys at the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian, where many more Bevin Boys who were not able to travel down to London will receive their awards.
“It is not too late for Bevin Boys to come forward to claim their badge, and if any Bevin Boys are reading this, I would urge them to contact my office who will make the necessary arrangements.”
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