Badge of honour - Eric Johnson with his Bevin Boy badge. Picture: STEVE ARGENT (76538-1)
A former telephone exchange engineer who was sent down the mines during the Second World War has been honoured by the Prime Minister.
Eric Johnson, 83, of Alexandra Avenue, West Mersea, was among 27 Bevin Boys to be presented with a badge by Gordon Brown at Downing Street, in the first formal recognition of their contribution to the war effort.
He was one of 48,000 men, aged 18 to 25, who were recruited by minister Ernest Bevin to help avert an imminent coal shortage by serving in the pits.
Like thousands of others, he had expected to join the Armed Forces, but was diverted as his national registration number ended with a digit that Bevin had pulled out of a hat as a method of random selection.
With no experience of heavy physical work, he found himself hewing coal in the middle of winter at a training colliery in Chiswick, London.
Mr Brown said they had done the country a "great service".
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"They not only helped us to win the war but also to rebuild our country," he said.
Posted by: Tania Rogers, Dordogne, France on 5:02pm Wed 9 Apr 08
I was delighted for my husband Frank Rogers when he received his badge but fail to see why it could not have been a proper medal. He was a Bevin boy serving in Nuneaton during the closing days of the war. He had been expexting to go into the Royal Navy when he received his Bevin Boy call-up.I think it is a pity that it took sixty years to honour these brave men. My husband is now quite hard of hearing and this was probably brought on by his exposure to the immense noise in the underground pits. In those days no-one wore ear defenders. Bevin Boys served their country well, providing much needed coal at a time when it was needed. Many miners had been called up and so were lost to the mines and that was why the scheme had to be introduced. As we now live in France he chose not to go to the ceremony in Downing Street. I would personally like to thank all those who served in this manner.
I was delighted for my husband Frank Rogers when he received his badge but fail to see why it could not have been a proper medal. He was a Bevin boy serving in Nuneaton during the closing days of the war. He had been expexting to go into the Royal Navy when he received his Bevin Boy call-up.I think it is a pity that it took sixty years to honour these brave men. My husband is now quite hard of hearing and this was probably brought on by his exposure to the immense noise in the underground pits. In those days no-one wore ear defenders. Bevin Boys served their country well, providing much needed coal at a time when it was needed. Many miners had been called up and so were lost to the mines and that was why the scheme had to be introduced. As we now live in France he chose not to go to the ceremony in Downing Street. I would personally like to thank all those who served in this manner.
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