Fighting WWII from below ground
BBC NEWS | UK | Fighting WWII from below ground
Some 48,000 were conscripted to work down the mines during World War II to tackle severe coal shortages. The government has announced that the Bevin Boys, as they were known, will receive a special honour to commemorate their contribution to the war effort. They dreamt of fighting for Britain on the World War II battlefields of Europe but instead they were sent underground to mine for coal.
Yet, despite helping to fuel the war against the Nazis from the dark and dangerous tunnels of the country’s pits, the young wartime conscript miners enjoyed little recognition. The Bevin Boys, named after wartime Labour minister Ernest Bevin, were regularly abused for not being in uniform by those who wrongly thought they were conscientious objectors.
