I'd like to share with you the story of my great grandfather, Arthur Robinson, who was a 'teenage Tommie'. He enlisted underage on 16th October 1917, claiming he was 18 but in fact he had only just turned 17 three days prior to enlisting. This wasn't the first time he'd attempted to join the army, the first two times his dad Enoch, had brought him back home; However, realising that Arthur wasn't going to be deterred, his father let him stay this final time. Interestingly Arthur's favourite older brother Cooper Allen Robinson had been killed in action earlier that same year. On April 14th 1918 Arthur's birth certificate 'turned up' A full six months after he enlisted. (which begs the questions why didn't they just ask for a D.O.B on the enlistment form?) And as described in the BBC2 documentary he wasn't discharged from the army when his real age was discovered, but transferred to a reserve battalion in Ireland where he spent the rest of the war, generally misbehaving and getting himself into trouble until he was finally discharged in 1919.
Luckily my great grandfather's service record still exists, so I will write another post at some point in the future with a more detailed account of his First World War service.
Teenage Tommies is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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