OT: D-Day flypast

[Terry Casey]

And the two veterans interviewd yesterday who landed on the Normandy beaches at the ages of 15 an 17 most definitely weren't conscripted.

[Terry Casey]

Just because a man wasn't prepared to go ff and kill doesn't mean that they weren't prepared to risk their own lives as firemen, etc.

I believe that some of them also worked in bomb disposal.

[Spike]

Many conscientious objectors found themselves drafted into the Auxiliary Fire Service, and history has it they were loathed by members of the National Fire Service, at least until the Blitz started.

I used to live across the road from a secondary school, which was used overnight as an AFS post. One night during the Blitz a bomb fell on the school, the AFS crew were all killed.

After incidents like that, the difference became irrelevant.

[John Rumm]

The ultimate example of that being Desmond Doss, his storey as told in the film Hacksaw Ridge. A Conscientious Objecting *volunteer* into the UA Army. They then did everything in their power to get rid of, or entice to quit. Fortunately (for them) he insisted on staying.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup. No bone spurs to rely on in those days.

[bert]

Bit of both I suspect. Certainly many volunteered as they did in WW1