Michael Caine, Henry Cooper and now Gen Z? How National Service introduced in 1949 saw more than two million young men take up military roles before being phased out in 1960... and why it might be making a comeback
- Males aged between 17 and 21 were conscripted between 1949 and 1960
- Initially recruits had to serve for 18 months, but this was extended to two years
- Did YOU do National Service? Email [email protected]
For those who did not enjoy the experience, it must have felt like the Second World War had not truly ended.
Between 1949 and 1960, more than two million men aged between 17 and 21 were conscripted into the armed forces as part of National Service.
Among them were acting legend Michael Caine, boxing champion Henry Cooper and former Conservative leadership contender Michael Heseltine.
Initially recruits were required to serve for 18 months, but this was extended to two years when the Korean War started in 1950.
Only those who failed the medical or who worked in the three 'essential' industries of coalmining, farming and the merchant navy were exempt.
This week, Commons Leader and former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt backed a National Service-style scheme that could see every 16-year-old in Britain sign up.
The proposals - mooted by think-tank Onward - would not be compulsory, but youths would have to opt out if they did not want to join. As many as 600,000 youngsters could be involved.
![Between 1949 and 1960, more than two million men aged between 17 and 21 were conscripted into the armed forces as part of National Service. Above: Triplets Allan, Brian and Dennis Kirkby (front, left to right) reporting with other recruits at North Frith Barracks, Hampshire, in 1953](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/11/74913187-12465219-image-a-9_1693478607301.jpg)
Between 1949 and 1960, more than two million men aged between 17 and 21 were conscripted into the armed forces as part of National Service. Above: Triplets Allan, Brian and Dennis Kirkby (front, left to right) reporting with other recruits at North Frith Barracks, Hampshire, in 1953
![Michael Caine (back row, fourth from left) was among the men who were called up. He served in the Royal Fusiliers from from April 1952 and ended up fighting in the Korean War](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74911941-12465219-Michael_Caine_back_row_fourth_from_left_was_among_the_men_who_we-m-11_1693481094290.jpg)
Michael Caine (back row, fourth from left) was among the men who were called up. He served in the Royal Fusiliers from from April 1952 and ended up fighting in the Korean War
National Service was deemed necessary in part because of Britain's military commitments abroad.
The British Empire - although diminishing - still existed and both Germany and Japan were still occupied following the end of the Second World War.
Ministers also wanted to re-establish British influence in the world, including in the Middle East.
Further manpower demands were imposed by the Cold War with the Soviet Union, whilst Indian independence in 1947 meant Britain no longer had the huge Indian Army to call upon.
Those who were conscripted as part of National Service would have to sleep 20 to a room in ramshackle barracks, with little heating, primitive toilets and poor washing facilities.
They would be woken at 5.30am and spent hours marching on the parade ground, with afternoons taken up by field or rifle training, ten-mile runs and obstacle courses.
Recruits spent their evenings cleaning the barracks, their kit and their rifles in a routine that was known as 'the bull'.
![Former boxing champion Sir Henry Cooper (pictured left with his twin brother George), who died in 2011, spent two years in the Army after representing Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/11/74913205-12465219-image-a-8_1693478545719.jpg)
Former boxing champion Sir Henry Cooper (pictured left with his twin brother George), who died in 2011, spent two years in the Army after representing Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki
![Sir Henry Cooper (left) is seen on a training jog with other recruits during his National Service](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/11/74911957-12465219-image-a-7_1693478530588.jpg)
Sir Henry Cooper (left) is seen on a training jog with other recruits during his National Service
![Former Conservative minister Michael Heseltine, 90, was called up for National Service but served for just nine months before obtaining leave to stand as a Tory candidate in the 1959 election. Above: Lord Heseltine (middle row, fifth from right) with fellow conscripts at Caterham Guards Depot in 1959](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913203-12465219-Former_Conservative_minister_Michael_Heseltine_90_was_called_up_-m-14_1693481360295.jpg)
Former Conservative minister Michael Heseltine, 90, was called up for National Service but served for just nine months before obtaining leave to stand as a Tory candidate in the 1959 election. Above: Lord Heseltine (middle row, fifth from right) with fellow conscripts at Caterham Guards Depot in 1959
![National Service conscripts are seen at a depot in Kingston upon Thames in 1953](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913537-12465219-image-a-15_1693481372048.jpg)
National Service conscripts are seen at a depot in Kingston upon Thames in 1953
![National Servicemen at a depot in Kingston upon Thames enjoy a smoke as a comrade examines his rifle in 1953](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913535-12465219-image-a-18_1693481551482.jpg)
National Servicemen at a depot in Kingston upon Thames enjoy a smoke as a comrade examines his rifle in 1953
![National Servicemen are seen marching at a depot in Kingston upon Thames](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913533-12465219-image-m-20_1693481626410.jpg)
National Servicemen are seen marching at a depot in Kingston upon Thames
![National Servicemen are seen training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Booker in Buckinghamshire in 1951](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913541-12465219-image-a-17_1693481380881.jpg)
National Servicemen are seen training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Booker in Buckinghamshire in 1951
Punishments for any slip in standards included being confined to barracks, washing latrines or peeling potatoes.
Recruits also had little chance to see their families. They were given just 14 days' leave for every eight months of service.
Basic pay in 1949 was 28 shillings (£1.40) a week, much less than the average weekly wage of around £8.
But the men still had to buy all their own razor blades, shaving soap, boot polish, haircuts, dusters and Brasso for polishing any buckles and badges.
If any kit was lost, recruits would have to pay for it twice. Once to replace it and once as a fine.
After finishing basic training, conscripts were posted to regiments both at home and abroad. Overseas postings included Germany, Cyprus and the Middle East.
Other National Servicemen who went on to become household names include Oliver Reed, Tony Hancock, and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones
Around 125,000 National Servicemen were deployed to war zones such as the conflict in Korea and 395 lost their lives in combat.
Others saw action in Malaya and during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
Although for some the experience of serving was a negative one, many National Service veterans look back fondly on the period.
They often formed bonds that have stayed with them ever since.
During his stint in the Royal Fusiliers, which began in 1952, Sir Michael, now 90, served in the Korean War.
He recalled his experiences in an interview with the Daily Mail in 1987.
Commenting on the tactics employed by the enemy, he told of 'attack after attack, you would find their bodies in groups of four'.
'We heard them talking and we knew they had sussed us…Our officer shouted run and by chance we ran towards the Chinese. Which is what saved us; in the dark we lost each other,' he added.
Lord Heseltine, 90, served for just nine months before obtaining leave to stand as a Tory candidate in the 1959 election and then getting his solicitor to persuade the War Office that he did not need to return to the barracks.
Sir Bobby, 85, combined his football career at Manchester United with a stint in the Army in the mid 1950s.
He served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Shrewsbury, meaning he could still play football at the weekend.
Former boxing champion Sir Henry Cooper, who died in 2011, spent two years in the Army after representing Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
![Eighteen-year-old conscripts on parade at the Royal West Kent Depot in Maidstone, Kent, having been called up for National Service, November 195](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/11/74913163-12465219-image-a-10_1693478614179.jpg)
Eighteen-year-old conscripts on parade at the Royal West Kent Depot in Maidstone, Kent, having been called up for National Service, November 195
![Teenagers conscripted for national service line up at the Royal West Kent Depot in Maidstone for their inoculations in November 1954](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913179-12465219-image-a-29_1693481941280.jpg)
Teenagers conscripted for national service line up at the Royal West Kent Depot in Maidstone for their inoculations in November 1954
![Major General Sir Reginald Laurence Scoones of the British Army takes the salute at the passing-out parade of 32 National Service and regular recruits from the depot of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) at the Tower of London, October 17, 1958](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913175-12465219-image-a-23_1693481809709.jpg)
Major General Sir Reginald Laurence Scoones of the British Army takes the salute at the passing-out parade of 32 National Service and regular recruits from the depot of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) at the Tower of London, October 17, 1958
![National Service recruits who have entered the Army are seen lined up in 1952](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913177-12465219-image-a-24_1693481855746.jpg)
National Service recruits who have entered the Army are seen lined up in 1952
He joined up with his twin brother George. Recalling his first day, Sir Henry previously said: 'Well, it's all a bit nerve-wracking because we didn't know what to expect.
'We went to Blackdown where we did our basic training.
'We had to have medicals, strip off in front of doctors, put our arms up and they stuck a needle, one in our shoulder, one in our arm, and we wondered what was going on.'
He added: 'They were hard on you in those days. Thank God we were a little bit better than a lot of the ordinary guys.
'We were very fit because we'd been training as amateur boxers so the physical fitness side didn't bother us at all.'
Sir Henry was crowned Army Boxing Association champion two years' running and went on to win the Imperial Services Boxing Association title.
In the late 1950s it was decided to bring National Service to an end, in part because of the burden it placed on the Army and the fact that workers were being drained from the economy.
![Rifleman E Akid showing National Service recruits a captured Korean flag at the Royal Ulster Rifles Depot in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913189-12465219-image-a-21_1693481800018.jpg)
Rifleman E Akid showing National Service recruits a captured Korean flag at the Royal Ulster Rifles Depot in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
![Yorkshiremen are seen in 1956 posing for a group photo before they entered the armed forces for their National Service](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913193-12465219-image-a-22_1693481804576.jpg)
Yorkshiremen are seen in 1956 posing for a group photo before they entered the armed forces for their National Service
![A group of national servicemen in the canteen at their barracks, November 1954](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913195-12465219-image-a-25_1693481908596.jpg)
A group of national servicemen in the canteen at their barracks, November 1954
![Swansea Town and Wales international footballer Cliff Jones serving his National Service at with the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery regiment of the British Army. Here he is having his rifle inspected at the St John's Wood barracks, October 14, 1957](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74913191-12465219-image-a-26_1693481912479.jpg)
Swansea Town and Wales international footballer Cliff Jones serving his National Service at with the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery regiment of the British Army. Here he is having his rifle inspected at the St John's Wood barracks, October 14, 1957
![Recruits are seen taking part in an assault course in 1955 after being called up for National Service](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/31/12/74912109-12465219-image-a-27_1693481918792.jpg)
Recruits are seen taking part in an assault course in 1955 after being called up for National Service
The last recruits entered the armed forces in November 1960, with their service coming to an end in 1963.
The last man to be discharged was Second Lieutenant Richard Vaughan of the Royal Army Pay Corps, who departed on June 14, 1963.
Ms Mordaunt enthusiastically endorsed the blueprint for the new National Service-style scheme yesterday in an article for the Telegraph, saying it would foster the 'goodwill and community spirit, energy and imagination' of teens.
She also insisted it could promote 'good mental health and resilience' after the upheaval of the Covid crisis.
Most watched News videos
- Prisoner on early release from Wandsworth is sprayed with champagne
- Germany implements temporary border controls to combat migration
- Ukrainian sniper fires at two Russian soldiers with grenade launchers
- Moment 'drunk' Brit and his wife are hauled off Ryanair flight
- Moscow woman reports live: 'Where are we supposed to run to?'
- Trump upset by Putin's endorsement of Kamala Harris
- 'I'm on a bench tonight': Former convict prefers prison over freedom
- Moment diners tip vintage £3,200 Petrus to make £100,000 Sangria!
- Hairbrush and women's clothes found in tunnel where hostages died
- Moment of 'Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack' on Moscow building
- Princess Kate mirrors the late Queen driving in candid recovery video
- Knife-wielding break-in suspect chases local after being confronted