A schoolboy who fought on the Somme after lying about his age has been declared the youngest authenticated combatant of the First World War. Private Sidney Lewis joined the East Surreys at Kingston in August 1915, aged 12, and fought on the Somme front for six weeks at the age of 13.
Subsequently, men were expected to appear when they turned 21 years old. In 1918 draft ages were expanded to include those aged 18 to 45. By the end of the war, more than 24 million men registered for the draft with almost three million being inducted into the Army.
What was the youngest age you could enlist in ww1?
Conscription introduced
In January 1916 the Military Service Act was passed. This imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, but exempted the medically unfit, clergymen, teachers and certain classes of industrial worker.
How old did you have to be to fight in ww1 Germany?
Conscription in Germany
Britain did not enforce conscription until January 1916, but in Germany all able bodied men aged 17-45 were liable for military service. By 1914 the Germans had a well-established and organised system of peacetime conscription.
He joined the Army at age 15 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge at age 16. But he wasn't the youngest to serve. That honor belongs to Calvin Graham, who joined at age 12. And his story is one of the saddest you'll ever hear.
One of Australia's youngest World War I diggers has finally received recognition, after a six-year fight from his family. Arthur Roy Johnson was just 13 when he enlisted and until recently, was buried in an unmarked grave.
Nearly 250,000 teenagers would join the call to fight. The motives varied and often overlapped - many were gripped by patriotic fervour, sought escape from grim conditions at home or wanted adventure. Technically the boys had to be 19 to fight but the law did not prevent 14-year-olds and upwards from joining in droves.
It is estimated that thousands of children under the age of 16-years-old fought in the ranks of the Red Army. One of them was Sergei “Seryozha” Aleshkov, the youngest soldier of World War II.
"To the glory of God and in loving memory of Reginald Earnshaw who died aged 14 the youngest known service casualty of the second world war. Sacred to the memory of over 500 boys of the Merchant Navy aged 16 and under who died in the service of their country during world war two."
World War I The youngest known soldier of World War I was Momčilo Gavrić, who joined the 6th Artillery Division of the Serbian Army at the age of 8, after Austro-Hungarian troops in August 1914 killed his parents, grandmother, and seven of his siblings.
Those discovered underage were often accepted, their age ignored; thus, those in authority perpetuated their illegal enlistment. A few unfortunate ones were not as lucky. Caught serving underage, they were discharged for lying about their age, a fraudulent enlistment.
A boy of just 12 years old, Sidney Lewis, has just been recognised as the youngest British soldier to sign up to fight in World War I. It was a family secret that remained hidden for almost 100 years. Duration: 02:19.
In January and May 1916 the Military Service Acts introduced compulsory military service, known as conscription, first for single men and then for all men between the ages of 18 and 40.
Using the assumed name of Fred De Reaux, he enlisted at Kansas City, Missouri, in June of 1917 when he was just eleven years old. He was said to be the “Youngest Yank” in the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.
Ellison had survived four years of trench warfare, including fighting in the battles of Ypres and the Somme. However at 40 years old, he was shot while out on the outskirts of Mons and killed at 9.30am on 11 November 1918, a day we now mark as Remembrance Day.
British soldier Adrian Carton de Wiart lived through some of the most remarkable war stories and events ever recorded shares Shane Daly earning himself the moniker 'The Unkillable Soldier', a title he carried with him into his retirement in Macroom.
As of September 30, 2023, more than 100,000 WWII Veterans are still living, including about 6,000 women. Their median age is 98 years old. Approximately 5,000 of surviving WWII Veterans also served in the Korean War and/or Vietnam Era. By 2034, the number of living WWII Veterans is expected to fall to 1,000 (9).
Apparently not. The last veteran was Florence Green of Great Britain, who died at age 110 in February 2012. The last combat veteran, Claude Choules of the Royal (British and Australian) Navy, died in 2011, also at age 110.
