Boy Soldiers - Lest We Forget -
Gold coloured - Lapel - metal badge with butterfly clasp
As many as 250,000 boys under the age of 18 served in the British Army during World War One. War confers many things on boys who pick up a weapon to fight. They learn the true meaning of fear. They test their own capacity for courage and the limits of human endurance, physical and mental.
These boys are remembered and have not been forgotten - visit the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire.
Just some of the Boy Soldiers WW1:
George Maher - 2nd Battalion King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment - 13yrs old
Sidney Lewis - East Surrey Regiment - age 12yrs old
John Condon - Royal Irish Regiment - age 14yrs (The headstone in Poelkapelle British Cemetery, Belgium)
John Condon song by Mary Dillon https://youtu.be/bgs1ltCTq08
Patrick Condon was only 13 when he took his brother’s name (John) to enlist in the Royal Irish Regiment. A year later, he found himself stuck in the trenches near Ypres during the famous Second Battle which saw the first use of chemical weapons, exactly 100 years ago. He died during that battle, in May 1915. He is buried in Poelcapelle British Cemetery. Although there has been some debate in recent years on Condon’s age, name, and burial, his story stands as an example of the many thousands of boy soldiers who served during the Great War.
Reginald Garth, a 12 year old Perth boy who stowed away on the transport RMS Mooltan. His three brothers and father enlisted for the First World War and he wanted be part of what he thought might be an adventure.
Private (Pte) James (Jim) Martin, 1st Reinforcements, 21st Battalion, of Hawthorn, Vic - age 14yrs
Private Herbert Burden (16) lied about his age to join the Northumberland Fusiliers. Ten months later he was executed for fleeing after seeing his friends die at the Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge.
We Will Remember Them
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