Tragic enough, the boy was buried in an unmarked grave in Comely Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh. Actually, the youth had lied about his age. The BBC reported recently that at 14 years, 152 days, Reginald Earnshaw was the youngest known Commonwealth service member to have died in action during World War II.
In World War II, the US only allowed men and women 18 years or older to be drafted or enlisted into the armed forces, although 17-year-olds were allowed to enlist with parental consent, and women were not allowed in armed conflict. Some successfully lied about their age.
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.
Soldier Boy (Russian: Солдатик, romanized: Soldatik) is a 2019 Russian-language film. It is based on the real-life story of the youngest soldier in World War II, Sergei Aleshkov, who was only 6 years old.
Full conscription of men
On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed a more wide-reaching measure. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service.
On September 16, 1940, the United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft.
The last combat veteran was Claude Choules, who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110. The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch (British Army), who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111.
The people listed below are, or were, the last surviving members of notable groups of World War II veterans, as identified by reliable sources. About 70 million people fought in World War II between 1939 and 1945 and, as of 2022, there are still approximately 167,000 living veterans in the United States alone.
Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I.
Australia was the only English-speaking country which had such a system. The scheme established compulsory naval or military training for all Australian males between the ages of 12 and 26 who were British subjects.
Joseph Alexander became a POW at 15. He was a military and civilian worker at Kelly AFB. Joseph Alexander never got to enjoy his youth. At just 14 years old, and with his grandmother by his side, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and is said to have been the youngest American prisoner of war.
A plaque is to be unveiled in honour of the youngest paratrooper to take part in D-Day at the age of 16 - just weeks before he was killed. Private Robert 'Bobby' Johns was only 14 when he ran away from home and lied about his age to follow his two older brothers in to the war effort.
was the youngest American soldier to fight on D-Day.
The number of living Australian Second World War veterans has halved since 2019. According to a study by family search website Ancestry and YouGov, 7800 remain.
Our research and operational missions involve coordination with hundreds of countries and municipalities worldwide. As of the latest update on May 22, 2023, more than 81,000 Americans remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Gulf Wars/other conflicts.
Only one former Australian WWI veteran now remains alive. Wireless operator John Campbell Ross, 106, of Bendigo in Victoria, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1918 but the war ended before he saw active service.
Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades, surviving plane crashes and PoW camps. His story is like something out of a Boy's Own comic. Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War, World War One and World War Two.
The era ended May 7, 1975, by order of President Gerald Ford. During the 11-year campaign, approximately 2.7 million American men and woman served; of those, 58,220 died and 153,000 were wounded. Today, there are fewer than 850,000 living Vietnam War veterans, many of whom who are eligible for VA benefits.
Today, fewer than 389,000 of the 16 million Americans who fought during World War II remain.
Each branch of the military has age limits to enlist in active duty: Air Force: 17 - 39. Army: 17 - 35. Coast Guard: 17 - 31.
Those who don't receive such status but refuse to fight can face court-martial and penalties from dishonorable discharge to prison. Pro- and anti-war sentiment divided the USA during the Vietnam War. From 1965 to 1973, 2.15 million people served in Vietnam. About 170,000 people earned status as conscientious objectors.