Conscription in the United Kingdom - wikipedia Conscription in the United Kingdom This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2014 ) Conscription Military service National service Conscription crisis Conscientious objector Alternative civilian service Conscription by country Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1920, the second from 1939 to 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963. Known as Military Service from 1916 to 1920, the system of conscription from 1939 to 1960 was called National Service, but between 1939 and 1948, it was often referred to as `` war service '' in documents relating to National Insurance and pension provision. Contents 1 First World War 2 Second World War 3 After 1945 4 British Overseas Territories 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links First World war See also : Recruitment to the British Army during the First World War Conscription during the First World War began when the British government passed the Military Service Act in 1916. The act specified that single men aged 18 to 40 years old were liable to be called up for military service unless they were widowed with children or ministers of a religion. There was a system of Military Service Tribunals to adjudicate upon claims for exemption upon the grounds of performing civilian work of national importance, domestic hardship, health, and conscientious objection. The law went through several changes before the war ended. Married men were exempt in the original Act, although this was changed in June 1916. The age limit was also eventually raised to 51 years old. Recognition of work of national importance also diminished, and in the last year of the war there was some support for the conscription of clergy. Conscription lasted until mid-1919. Due to the political situation in Ireland, conscription was never applied there ; only in England, Scotland and Wales. Second World war World War II poster from the United Kingdom Conscription legislation lapsed in 1920. However, as a result of the deteriorating international situation and the rise of Nazi Germany, Leslie Hore - Belisha, Secretary of State for War, persuaded the cabinet of Neville Chamberlain to introduce a limited form of conscription on 27 April 1939, with the Military Training Act being passed the following month. Only single men 20 to 22 years old were liable to be called up, and they were to be known as `` militiamen '' to distinguish them from the regular army. To emphasise this distinction, each man was issued with a suit in addition to a uniform. The intention was for the first intake to undergo six months of basic training before being discharged into an active reserve. They would then be recalled for short training periods and attend an annual camp. At the outbreak of war, on 3 September 1939, the Military Training Act was overtaken by the National Service ( Armed Forces ) Act, and the first intake was absorbed into the army. This act imposed a liability to conscription of all men 18 to 41 years old. Men could be rejected for medical reasons, and those engaged in vital industries or occupations were `` reserved '' at a particular age beyond which no one in that job would be enlisted. For example, lighthouse keepers were `` reserved '' at 18 years old. From 1943, some conscripts were directed into the British coal mining industry and become known as the `` Bevin Boys ''. Provision was also made for conscientious objectors, who were required to justify their position to a tribunal, with power to allocate the applicant to one of three categories : unconditional exemption ; exemption conditional upon performing specified civilian work ( frequently farming, forestry or menial hospital work ) ; exemption from only combatant service, meaning that the objector had to serve in the specially created Non-Combatant Corps or in some other non-combatant unit such as the Royal Army Medical Corps. By 1942 all male British subjects between 18 and 51 years old and all females 20 to 30 years old resident in Britain were liable to be called up, with some exemptions : British subjects from outside Britain and the Isle of Man who had lived in the country for less than two years Police, medical and prison workers Northern Ireland Students Persons employed by the government of any country of the British Empire except the United Kingdom Clergy of any denomination Those who were blind or had mental disorders Married women Women who had one or more children 14 years old or younger living with them. This included their own children, legitimate or illegitimate, stepchildren, and adopted children, as long as the child was adopted before 18 December 1941. Pregnant women were not exempted, but in practice were not called up. Men under 20 years old were initially not liable to be sent overseas, but this exemption was lifted by 1942. People called up before they were 51 years old but who reached their 51st birthday during their service were liable to serve until the end of the war. People who had retired, resigned or been dismissed from the forces before the war were liable to be called back if they had not reached 51 years of age. Britain did not completely demobilise in 1945, as conscription continued after the war. Those already in the armed forces were given a release class determined by length of service and age. In practice, releases began in June 1945, and the last of the wartime conscripts had been released by 1949. However, urgently needed men, particularly those in the building trades, were released in 1945, although some restrictions on their immediate employment were supposed to be enforced. All women were released at the end of the war. After 1945 National Service ( 1939 -- 1960 ) memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum National Service as peacetime conscription was formulated by the National Service Act 1948. From 1 January 1949, healthy males 17 to 21 years old were expected to serve in the armed forces for 18 months, and remain on the reserve list for four years. They could be recalled to their units for up to 20 days for no more than three occasions during these four years. Men were exempt from National Service if they worked in one of the three `` essential services '' : coal mining, farming and the merchant navy for a period of eight years. If they quit early, they were subject to being called up. Exemption continued for conscientious objectors, with the same tribunal system and categories. In October 1950, in response to the British involvement in the Korean War, the service period was extended to two years ; in compensation, the reserve period was reduced by six months. National Servicemen who showed promise could be commissioned as officers. National Service personnel were used in combat operations, including the Malayan Emergency, the Cyprus Emergency, in Kenya against the Mau Mau Uprising, and the Korean War, where conscripts to the Gloucestershire Regiment took part in the last stand during the Battle of the Imjin River. In addition, National Servicemen served in the Suez Crisis in 1956. During the 1950s there was a prohibition on serving members of the armed forces standing for election to parliament. A few National Servicemen stood for election in the 1951 and 1955 general elections in order to be dismissed from service. National Service ended gradually from 1957. It was decided that those born on or after 1 October 1939 would not be required, but conscription continued for those born earlier whose call - up had been delayed for any reason. In November 1960 the last men entered service, as call - ups formally ended on 31 December 1960, and the last National Servicemen left the armed forces in May 1963. British overseas territories Bermuda Regiment recruits clean their Ruger Mini-14 / 20GB rifles prior to a shoot at Warwick Camp during the 1994 Recruit Camp. Currently, the British overseas territory of Bermuda practises conscription. Recruitment into the part - time military reserves in Bermuda ( from 1895 ; service in the old Bermuda Militia, as in that in England and Wales, had been compulsory for all able - bodied, military - aged males ) had originally followed the practices in England for the militia, in which soldiers voluntarily enlisted for six years, and in the later Volunteer Force, in which part - time soldiers served voluntarily and could quit their service with 14 days ' notice, except while embodied for training, war, or national emergency. The Militia, Volunteer force, and Yeomanry were merged into the Territorial Force ( later renamed the Territorial Army ) in Britain in 1907, with the introduction of terms of service ( specific lengths of service for which volunteers enlisted ), but this did not occur in Bermuda until the 1920s. Conscription into the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was discussed during the First World War, but had not been put into place before the cessation of hostilities. It was introduced during the Second World War, with conscripts serving full - time for the duration in the BMA, BVRC, the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, or the Bermuda Militia Infantry. Those unable to serve full - time were directed into the Bermuda Home Guard. Although conscription ended with the war, a shortfall of volunteers led to its reintroduction to the BVRC in 1957 and the BMA in 1960. Since the two units were amalgamated in 1965, conscription has been retained, making the Bermuda Regiment the only conscripted force still serving under the British Crown. Conscription is for three years of part - time service, with the terms of service otherwise identical to those which originally applied to Territorial soldiers in Britain ( with a basic service requirement of one drill night per week, one weekend camp per month, and one two - week annual camp per year, not including embodiment for active service. Service is for home defence purposes, and soldiers can not be compelled to serve in overseas campaigns ). In popular culture Film and TV The following productions have content inspired by British conscription or National Service : 2013 Privates - Mini-series about soldiers at an Army base. 2013 Father Brown, Series 3, The Sign of the Broken Sword. - Crime - drama. 2002 - 06 Bad Lads Army - Reality TV series. 1990 The Krays - Barrack room scene. 1977 Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers - Based on the novel of the same name. 1975 - 78 Get Some In - TV sitcom set in an RAF base. 1969 The Virgin Soldiers - Based on the novel of the same name. 1958 Carry On Sergeant - Comedy. 1957 - 61 The Army Game - TV sitcom contemporary with National Service. 1956 Private 's Progress - Film. Literature Baxter, D ; Two Years to Do, 1954. - Memoir. Ions, E ; Call to Arms : Interlude with the Military, 1972. - Memoir. Lodge, D ; Ginger, You 're Barmy, 1962. - Fiction. Thomas, L ; The Virgin Soldiers, 1966. - Fiction. Thomas, L ; Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers, 1975. Fiction. Weston, P ; A Stranger to Khaki : Memoir of a National Service Officer, 1997. See also Military service Recruit training Alternative service Class Z Reserve Court - martial Demobilisation of the British Armed Forces after the Second World War Impressment References Jump up ^ Chelmsford, J.E. `` Clergy and Man - Power '', The Times 15 April 1918, p. 12 Jump up ^ Simkin, John ( August 2014 ). `` Conscription ''. Spartacus Educational. Jump up ^ The British General Election of 1951 : Candidates and Parties, John Williams Jump up ^ Ministerial statement reported in The Times, Thursday, Apr 18, 1957 ; pg. 4 ; Issue 53819 ; col E `` Defense Policy Approved / Conscription To End With 1939 Class '' Jump up ^ National Service ( RAF ) Association Jump up ^ Imperial War Museum. `` What was National Service ? ''. archive.iwm.org.UK. Retrieved 4 April 2013. Further reading Broad, R ; Conscription in Britain 1939 - 64, 2006. Broad, R ; The Radical General : Sir Robert Adam and Britain 's New Model Army, 2013. Carradice, P ; The Call Up, 2016. Chambers, P ; ( ed ), Called Up, 1955. Coates, B ; National Service Fifty Years On, 2014. Hickman, T ; The Call Up : A History of National Service 1947 - 1963, 2004. Johnson, B.S ; All Bull : The National Servicemen, 1973. McCutcheon, C ; ( ed ), The National Serviceman 's Handbook, 2007. Paul, E ; National Service, 2012 Pollard, R ; You and the Call Up, 1942. Royle, T ; National Service : The Best Years of Their Lives, 2002. Shindler, C ; National Service, 2012. Thorne, T ; Brasso, Blanco and Bull, 2012. Vinen, R ; National Service : A Generation in Uniform, 2014 External links British Armed Forces National Service Stories British Armed Forces National Service Stories -- Bill Wyman National Service Memoirs Parliamentary Archives : WW1 Conscription BBC History -- Conscription Introduced BBC History -- The Peacetime Conscripts : National Service in the Post-war Years BBC History -- WW2 People 's War -- Fact File : Reserved Occupations Conscription in Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom States with limited recognition Abkhazia Artsakh Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependencies and other entities Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=814897588 '' Categories : Conscription in the United Kingdom Public policy in the United Kingdom British Army recruitment Conscription by country Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2014 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 11 December 2017, at 15 : 43. 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Question: when did compulsory national service end in uk
Answer: 31 December 1960