Genealogy Chat

My grandfather lied about his age to join the army at the beginning of 1914. He was off to France in the autumn. Fortunately for him (and me cos otherwise I wouldn't be here!) he was in the Royal Engineers, away from the main action. He had a thoroughly miserable time though and suffered with nerves afterwards. Because he had joined up for 7 years he was recalled to help during the general strike. He then spent the whole of the rest of the 20s and 30s doing any jobs he could to look after his family - he was originally a blacksmith, but he made gates, did farm work, drove lorries, repaired shoes etc. It was very difficult for him, and made worse in 1943 when his son died of peritonitis at the age of 16. They were hideously in debt and only the legacy my grandmother got from her uncle (after a lot of delay due to the war making it impossible to sell property) prevented them from being evicted. nell

In the files at work are copies of letters sent in after WW2 from demobbed soldiers asking for jobs, and the standard reply. The priority was to give those previously employed first refusal. Not every job was or could be held open. Imagine how many firms suffered financial or property losses during the war as trade diminished and bombs fell. Then there were some men who simply weren't able to return to their old job, but who were capable of doing some other work.

My grandfather was foolish enough to have signed up in 1913, but was disembodied like everyone else. I have a testimonial from his previous employer and a string of redundancy notes. The other grandfather went into the police force in the hopes of being there for the duration. He at least did have a job to return to afterwards.

Thanks for all your replies, an interesting subject! Kim

My dad went back to his old job after WW2 - I'm sure it was held open for him. Apparently after he was demobbed he thought of doing something else, but his mother thought he would be better to go back to a secure job - he was a milkman. I know After fighting the Japs in Burma he was pleased to get back home, but it must have taken some getting used to going back to a humdrum job. Jackie

Kim According to 'All Quiet on the Homefront: an oral history of life in Britain during the first world war', after the war the demobilisation process caused a lot of unrest: 'orders were given for each command to give details of their forces by 'industrial groups'. In effect, men were to be demobilised according to the strategic importance of their civilian occupation, not their length of service. A coal miner was therefore likely to be released before a carpenter... Winston Churchill speeded the process up, enabling the release of 'those who are the oldest...those who came in the earliest...those who have suffered the most'. In Feb 1920 there were still 125,000 awaiting a return to civilian life...Many soldiers came back home hoping to pick up their lives where they left off, taking jobs back that had been promised to them when they left...one veteran when he returned to his former employers was told his job no longer existed and that he had let his boss down by joining up. Two women wre now doing his job for the same money. In 1922 the British Legion estimated that 1 million ex-servicemen were unemployed.' The book also gives these statistics about female employment: Before the war, just under 5 million women were in work. By 1919 there were well over 6 million. B the end of 1918 750,000 had left work, some voluntarily, but otheres were pressurised into leaving 'it was their duty', though they were reluctant as jobs in munitions factories, while dirty and dangerous, paid better than civilian jobs open to women. Married women who remained in jobs were criticised by the press. 160,000 women lost husbands in the war and needed work to support themselves and their families. nell ps of course in the 2nd WW, women were told it was fine to leave their children in nurseries all day to work for the war effort and again, after the war, nurseries disappeared and they were expected to stay home and look after their children.

Kim, When I started work there were 2 men who had been in WW1. They said all the men in the office went to lunch and heard that the war had started, signed up and didn't return till after the war. They had theeir jobs back. Later after WW2, during National service jobs had to be held open. One person I knew had to be found a job in another firm as the department he worked in had closed. he was a printer's compositor. kind reagards david

Thanks Julie for explaining that ! Clearer in my head now, thank you Kim

It was expected that you went back to your old job when demobbed. Everyone taken on for the duration to replace someone called up knew that they had to relinquish the position when the discharged serviceman returned. However some didn't return, others were unfit to work in the same job and for quite a few perhaps they didn't want to go back to the work they'd done before.

Well my Grt grandfather was in the 1st and his sons were in the 2nd. I just wondered if you walked back into your old job and they kicked out whoever was doing it before... Can't have worked like that can it? I don't know. Perhaps so few came back from the 1st war 'alive' that there wasn't much of a problem? Just wondering how the whole thing worked. Of course it was different if you volunteered I suppose. Kim

Kim Which war? I think that most jobs in the war (I and II) that were made vacant by men were filled by women, who were encouraged to get back to their knitting afterwards! It is highly likely that this happened to your relative. nell

If you were called up for the war did your normal civilian job remain open when you got back, or did you have to be reinterviewed or find another post? My grt grandfather 'appears' to work in the same bank before and after the war..... Anyone know? Kim