Boy Soldiers of the Great War: Their Own Stories for the First Time

by Richard van Emden

At the outbreak of the First World War, boys as young as thirteen, caught up in the overwhelming tide of patriotism, enlisted for active service in huge numbers. Many were to serve in the bloodiest battles of the war, like Frank Lindley, who seeking to avenge his dead brother, went over the top on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was just sixteen. Drawing on unpublished diaries and letters, as well as the testimonies of the last survivors, Boy Soldiers of the Great War records their stories of sacrifice and heroism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War I, War, Historical, Military History, Unfinished

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Richard van Emden is a British author and television documentary producer who specializes in the First World War.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember years back going on a school trip to Flanders and visiting the WWI battlefields and cemeteries. At Essex Farm standing in front of the grave of a fourteen-year-old soldier, I remember not being able to grasp that this kid, who was my age at the time, had gone into battle, gone into that hell and gone over the top and been killed and at fourteen.

This book really just reinforces that whilst that soldier may have been particularly young, there were thousands and thousands of under-age soldiers in the First World War, kids who joined up and lied about their age. A lot were sixteen or seventeen, but some were fourteen and a few even younger. One was twelve. Twelve! It's just hard to grasp. By some estimates up to 10-15% of all 1914 enlistments were under-age.

This is a wonderful book, including a lot of testimony in their own words from surviving soldiers who had enlisted under-age. It really brings to light just how many of these boys there were, but it's all so tremendously sad. And it makes you look at kids today, at my own generation, and realise that we could never have done that. Sorts the men from the boys, indeed.

[Sonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of the British enlisting underage boys into their army during WWI. They actually sent boys as young as 13 to fight in the front line trenches. Amazingly, some of them turned out to be excellent soldiers winning medals and being promoted to NCO’s and officers. If you are a enthusiastic reader of WWI history you should enjoy this book.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a researched piece of work about the Great War which is so fascinating and interesting to many.
The author examines the lives of the boy soldiers from their individual perspective, plus that of their parents, the War Office and MP's whose aim was to remove the boys from front line service.
This is moving and heart breaking and a necessary telling of the boys lives, giving up their youth, their future life prospects on return and for many resulting in their deaths. As well as serving King and Country they effectively 'saved' the United Kingdom by their service and got little in return coming home with broken bodies and minds and expected to 'get on with it' unsupported.
A highly recommended read.

[Abby Jones]

I was really excited about this book, but the style of hopping to different boys paragraph to paragraph made it very hard to connect and keep up. The subject matter is fascinating, but I think could have been better served by focusing on a handful of boy soldiers. I hope to come back to this book and finish it later.

[David Vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed examination of under age BRITISH enlistees in WWI. No examination of Central Power's enlistees or other allies (other than some mention of colonies contributions). Occasionally repetitive the best sections were when van Emden followed the experiences of specific boys and quoted their (or their parents) words. His very deliberate focus on enumerating the actual numbers of under age enlistees was a little tedious but might be good for ending debates at pub quizzes. Generally if the book was more tightly edited this would have been an excellent read.

[Martin Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting detailed book. Recalling the lives of the under age soldiers,who fought in the great war. It is evident that the author has researched into their lives and still continues to do so.

[Eireanngobrach · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read. The age of some of these soldiers is sometimes incredulous. Mr. Van Emden shows great understanding for his topic and the book is a pleasure to read.

[Dulcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content wise a rather short book...if it had been edited

[Willem van den Oever · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and intimate perspective on the events of the Great War. Van Emden condenses his research into an accessible account, but it also feels a little too fragmented and random at times.

[George Foord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this on Audiobook. I learnt so much and enjoyed it throughout.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, well researched.

[Olivia Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Very good research presented well and such an intriguing read.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing book, the title is very misleading as it only focuses narrowly on English (and occasionally Scots,Welsh and Irish lads) caught up in the horror of WW1 but fails to even reference this phenomenon against the other Allies and the armies of the Central Powers. It makes occasional mention of colonial troops (Canada) but massively underplays the number of boys as a percentage of population who served from the African colonies and the Antipodes. It should have been called 'Boy Soldiers of the British Army'..... It does remind us that the greatest enthusiasm for conscription in WW1 came from Lloyd George and gives glimpses into the mob psychosis that led to the persecution of men (and boys) who were branded as "shirkers".

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it's unfair to criticise a book for not meeting an objective it didn't profess to have, but I was a little disappointed in this. My grandfather, a regular soldier, was 17 when he was sent to France in October 1914, and I was hoping for some insight into his experiences and whether they differed from those of his older colleagues because of his relative youth. However, this book deals exclusively with boys and youths who enlisted under age at the outbreak of WW1, which it does extremely well. It wears its detailed research lightly and the interviews it features with veterans still surviving when it was written a decade or so ago are interesting and used well

[Anna Kļaviņa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patriotism, seeking adventure or revenge, pressure to join the army, escaping boredom or dead end job, having been raised in time when war was glorified, innocent view of soldier life these are just some reasons why teenage boys lied about their age to join the war. That boys aged fourteen and seventeen were accepted its shame.
My favourite chapter 14 Aftermath speaks about problems what these who joined underage and survived had to struggle with when the war was over.
Some pictures in the book are worth a thousand words.

[Moxie Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the newly revised 2012 edition, with approximately 10,000 new words of text.

A well-organized and carefully documented look at the occurrence of under age soldiers who fought on the Western Front during World War I (as well as the ones who tried to do so). He includes many personal stories from the soldiers as well as presenting the general trends of who was joining up and why.

A worthwhile read for anyone interested in British history or history of World War I, especially that of the Western Front.

[Rue Baldry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading about the First World War and particularly about the experiences of British soldiers in the Trenches for the last few years, and there was a lot in this book which was new to me. Fascinating, horrifying and upsetting stuff mostly. I actually welled up a few times. There were other points, though, where the author's reams of statistics became meaningless. It was the unique details of the personal stories of several individuals who were followed through the war which really hit home. The author writes really well, too, which isn't always the case with factual books.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and, sometimes heartrending, account of the "boys" who went to war for this country in 1914-18 and of the Government who, for a long time, let them. As somebody on the cusp of my senior years, I can't conceive how I would have been able to go through what they did (though, as the book makes clear, some couldn't cope with the reality of front line life.) As a parent, I'm just glad that my son never had a chance to go through something similar.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of how many served under-age in the First World War and how the Army amended regulations to enable them to send younger men to the Front when under attack of the German push in 1918. Van Emden balances personal memoirs with the political situation and highlights many things that I hadn't considered before despite having read lots of military and social history on the First World War.

[Mavis Hewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but would have preferred the political/numbers stuff altogether and then each lad's story kept together, which would have given a better feeling for their personal war. Done like that the publishers might have let the photos be put with the people rather than in 2 blocks, which I always find annoying. The epitaphs at the beginning of each chapter were moving, but would have been more so if it had been a picture of the grave. Not a book I'll keep to read again.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, if somewhat disturbing read. Full of mini-biographies of underage Great War soliders with the British Expeditionary Force, some of whom may have been as young as 12 (!). Explains why they signed up, how they were used, and how they fared afterwards. A valuable glimpse into a world that no longer exists.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book as it brought to mind the experiences of my great grandfather and great great grandfather both of whom joined the army at 13 years of age and things must have been for them although they were not part of the first world war when they signed on.

[Pauline Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brave accounts of boy soldiers aged 15 and 16 in the Great War researched by one of Britain's esteemed historians of the First World War. Their stories are amazing and I've been priviledged to visit cemeteries in Belguim honouring them.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear, straightforward, well researched, if unremarkable, account of underage soldiers in the Great War. The plates are excellent and really very moving as the extreme youth of some combatants is very clear.

[Joanna Costin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and at times emotive, this book focusses on the youngest soldiers of the Great War and their experiences. It doesn't really look at the war outside the Western Front, but has some very good parts on how boy soldiers were reported in the Press, and how policy changed towards them.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just started to read this. It's a bit soon to offer a review.

[Kazimiera pendrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

i just did not like this at all

[Jeff Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very harrowing but enjoyable read from a man who clearly knows his subject.

[Brian Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing read about the sacrifice made by the boy soldiers

[Chris Wilby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and true. My Grandad was there