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 No Royal Air
Force veteran site can be complete without mentioning the 'Call Up'
National Service. This
page is dedicated to all Royal Air Force National Servicemen who fulfilled their duty with great fortitude and
courage. Some were
to pay the ultimate price during peace-keeping duties around the world, notably in
Korea, Aden, Cyprus, Kenya, Palestine, Malaya and the Canal Zone. This
is a brief story of the
'call up' as it was known, The worsening international situation
in the shape of the 'Cold War' and British Empire commitments prevented
its abolition for 15 years after the end of WW2. From the first
conscription in 1939 to the end of National Service in 1960, One million for the Royal Air
Force
National
service came into being in September 1939 by an act of parliament at the
outbreak of the Second World War. Britain had a regular arm, but it was
not up to strength for the conflict that at the
time was  foreseeable. The men called up in this act were eighteen up to
thirty plus, who were not working down the mines or working in armament
or aircraft factories or shipbuilding yards. The men who were exempt
were classed has reserved occupational As you are aware men and women
who worked in the factories etc during wartime, were just as essential
as men on the front line are. I have to point out, those men who were
employed in armament and shipbuilding etc. tried in there thousands to
join up during WW2. It was to no avail, because of their strategic work
they were always turned down. It upset them, because they thought
serving personnel would look down on them as dodgers and they certainly
were not.
After
the war in 1945 all this changed with a new act of parliament. This
decreed all male personnel in the British Isles, barring coal miners
aged between eighteen and twenty-five years of age had to do eighteen
months National service in one of the three services. This went up to
two years service at the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, much to the
dismay of the national servicemen.
After hostilities ceased in 1945 and with the new national service act
in force. The national servicemen served alongside the regular
servicemen in all theatres of operation throughout the world. India
became a large posting for thousands of troops during the India and
Pakistan struggle for independence. While all this was going on, a
further large presence of troops were engaged in Palestine, of which
even to this present day is so frustrating. The fifties were a powder
keg of problems for the British services with the Malaya campaign,
Korean War and the Mau Mau terrorism in Kenya. Also the EOKA terrorism
in Cyprus in the middle fifties alongside the Suez crisis became a big
problem. At the same time many countries in Africa and of the old
British Empire were gaining their independence, similar to the British
Cameroons where my own regiment was posted. Not forgetting the large
garrison of troops that were stationed all over Germany and Great
Britain
All men called up had to
undergo X-rays and a full medical, before being passed fit for service.
Lads who had no trade mostly went into the services when only eighteen.
Tradesmen went in when their apprenticeship was complete at the age of
twenty-one. University students were called up after obtaining their
degrees. Some men went into the Merchant navy, but they could not leave
until they had completed five years service or reached the age of
twenty-six. If they left before completing their five years etc  they
were liable to be called up for national service. The shrinking Royal
Navy dispensed with national servicemen in the early fifties.
The bulk of national servicemen went mostly into the various
Corps and regiments of the British Army, with a smaller percentage going
into the Royal Air Force.
What is paramount, I cannot forget without writing of the steadfast work
of the NCOs and officers of the services.
They had the enviable task of training the countless thousands of
national servicemen over the years. Also the expertise passed on by the
regular servicemen was appreciated by most.
During 1960 National
service was terminated, barring an odd one most national servicemen were
demobilized in 1962.
As
one can see in the areas British forces served in the years of the
national servicemen, was some task for such a small country. Although
not fully appreciated, it could not have been achieved without those
young men who served their two - year call up.
I must add this; during the national service years Great Britain
had the cream of the country serving in the forces. Those men were
always to the fore in everything the services could offer, whether it
was sport, drilling, discipline, smartness and soldiering. There is no
doubt everyone who had to do their national service, knows deep down
that it did them no harm whatsoever. Strangely it is only years later
and well after demobilization that one comes to that conclusion. They
all went in as boys and came out as men and no doubt, better men indeed.
This
page is dedicated to
all Royal Air Force National Servicemen
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