page_title: Bevin Boys
section_title: Training
hierarchical_section_title: Bevin Boys / Programme / Training
caption_attribution_description: English: Bevin Boy- Mining Training at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, February 1945 In the lecture room of the training school for 'Bevin Boys' at Ollerton Colliery, mining trainees listen to a lecture on the Davey lamp by G B Tristam. The original caption states that the lecture room is "equipped with a dyascope for lantern slides". This projector, and its associated screen, can be seen on the right of the photograph.
context_page_description: Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in the coal mines of the United Kingdom, between December 1943 and March 1948, in order to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of World War II. The programme was named after Ernest Bevin, a former trade union official and then British Labour Party politician who was Minister of Labour and National Service in the wartime coalition government.
  Chosen by lot as ten percent of all male conscripts aged 18–25, plus some volunteering as an alternative to military conscription, nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys performed vital and dangerous civil conscription service in coal mines. Although the last ballot took place in May 1945, the final conscripts were not released from service until March 1948. Few chose to remain working in the country's coal mining industry after demobilisation; most left for further education or for employment in other sectors.
  During their time at the mines, Bevin Boys were targets of abuse from the general public, who mistakenly believed them to be draft dodgers or cowards and they were frequently stopped by the police as possible deserters.
context_section_description: Boys when they were nearly 18 years old received an official postcard instructing them in five days time to report to a training centre such as at Cresswell Colliery, Derbyshire.
  Bevin Boys with no previous experience of mining, were given six weeks' training (four in a classroom-type setting and two at their assigned colliery). For their first four weeks of underground work, they were supervised by an experienced miner. With the exception of those working in the south Wales coalfields, the conscripts could not work at the coalface until they had accrued four months' experience underground.
  For the most part, the Bevin Boys were not directly involved in cutting coal from the mine face, but acted instead as colliers assistants, responsible for filling tubs or wagons and hauling them back to the shaft for transport to the surface. Conscripts were supplied with helmets and steel-capped safety boots.
caption: A classroom lecture where Bevin Boys are learning about the Davy lamp at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, in February 1945
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