19 yr old son and fear of being called up to fight in a war

[User287264]

This is not a thread about "will WW3 start tomorrow", there are plenty of those already

Ds is 19 and has been talking about lot about what would happen if the UK did enter a war and if young people his age would be called up to fight.

He's such a gentle soul, I think this would be his worst nightmare. (Not that many people would relish it I know)

I'm not sure what to say to him. It feels to me like a general call-up WW2 style would not happen nowadays but what do I know?

I guess we all have our different worries about world security right now but I guess his is quite a specific worry. I'm 52 with arthritis, I'm not ever likely to be called up to fight.

It's total speculation and I still dont feel it's very likely, but does anyone have any idea how a massive call-up might work nowadays? Or would the current armed forces and reserves be enough? I'd like to reassure him without just dismissing his fears.

He does have a tendency to anxiety which doesn't help, but he's generally good at handling it. We're having a news-free day (apart from me right now) and going out for a big walk in the rain

Try to help alleviate his anxiety on this. He could be enjoying life now instead.

I agree with this. Most teenage boys and young men nowadays would be entirely unsuitable for war...it's a very different generation

Off topic but I’m in the midlands and it’s raining

I have some limited knowledge of this. I believe the plan would be to incentivise people first (eg today’s “offer young recruits a £10k sign up bonus), then social engineering to make it unacceptable not to join (like the “don’t kill granny” stuff during Covid).

The armed forces don’t actually want people who don’t want to be there. They are a liability.

Ukraine is different given it’s a land war with a geographically close neighbour with a shared border. We don’t have those, apart from Ireland.

I think conscription is unlikely, but if it did it might be more likely to be specific skills or in support roles rather than anything front line.

Exactly.

Mine is ND, he’s non verbal and has limited understanding of language so doubt he’d be much use to them 🤷🏻‍♀️

Very true

Surely male only conscription would now be deemed sexist? Wouldn’t it be open to all?

I didn't say it was I thought it was a fear for the UK. I think it's highly unlikely. But if it were to happen conscription may well be a possibility.

Al Murray (The Pub Landlord) does a hilarious sketch about the patheticness of today’s youth in the eventuality of WW3.

In the end, are men in the UK prepared to stand by whilst men from other countries rape their wives and kill their kids because essentially that’s what is happening in Ukraine. You fight because the alternative is death or humiliation.

I’m too old to fight and am female but I will be in the Resistance. 😎

There will no doubt be lots of mummies writing letters to the Defence Secretary saying my PFB (who is now over 20) is too anxiety prone to leave their home town never mind go to war

As pp said god help us if conscription come around with some of parenting that’s seen on here

I am sure our grandfathers and great grandfathers had some anxiety too but they still had to go and fight with no choice

Well you would just tell him it will never happen . Because it won't happen.
He sounds like he needed that more then an unsure response adding to his anxiety.

I have two sons. One is 24 and the other is 21. The 25 year old is Royal Marine in a mortar troop. I imagine he would be deployed somewhere necessary and was posted to Cyprus briefly earlier in the year when there was some consideration to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon.
They have been training extensively with drones etc.
my 21 year would absolutely not be a person to “go to war”. He is a musical theatre and professional dance graduate. He is a sweet soul who just wants to sing and dance his way through life. He would be the last person you would want anywhere near a war ( unless it was to entertain the troops…)

It’s unlikely we’d be fighting a land war on UK soil: don’t see much of a reason for anyone to physically invade us. The only ones to be conscripted will be the ones with brilliant scores on call of duty drone edition and people who have drone companies at a guess.

not that I support riots but given prisons are letting actual prisoners out early I can’t imagine there would be room for objectors

Oh I don’t know - they’ve probably got great x-box controller skills which would be vital.

Rather than be called up as frontline cannon fodder (as in WW1 and 2) they’re more likely to be called upon to sit in their rooms ‘gaming’ - except they’ll be flying and firing real drones. Most of our younger generation that have played Call of Duty for years, hours on end, would be brilliant.

But I don’t think anything involving civilians fighting will happen - we’ve got the armed forces, reserves and it’s mostly tech based warfare. Genuinely, he is so unlikely to be called up - Russia and Ukraine needed foot soldiers on the ground and have National Service (I believe) so those going had been trained. There’s no point sending untrained rookies anywhere these days.

On a ‘lighter note’ and a really cheery thought, North Korea, Russia, China or Pakistan might wade in and nuke us all - by the time we know what’s happening, it’ll be too late to worry about anything.

Prisons are full as it is, they wouldn’t be able to put people refusing conscription in them.

In World War 2, unlike World War 1, conscientious objectors did not go to prison. They instead were deployed in hospitals, mines, farms, etc.

My 19 year old son has voiced the same worry OP, he’s absolutely terrified of what could happen.

The UK isn’t going to be invaded, so stop worrying. And given the government can’t fix any of the problems at home, there’s no chance of them being organised and effective enough to manage a conscription.

It's raining in the midlands too.

Have you never been to the military cemetaries in Normandy and seen the ages of the young men on the headstones? I bet all their poor bereaved parents thought the same - no-one wants their sons/daughters dragged into fighting in a war brought about by elderly dictators boosting their egos at the expense of young lives.

Why be so nasty?

Are you going to offer to risk your life?