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

Glad you're enjoying the break!!

I've just brought a sheet in off the line, it was making a right racket. Just messaged the neighbour to apologise & hope it hasn't spoilt her afternoon in the garden! (Hopefully not as she's over the back fence)

25 is young.

It was 19 in Vietnam and in WW2 I think. The pilot of the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb was 24 and he was an experienced pilot

It was 18 for both.

Ahhh here it's soo breezy and cool! It's perfect 🤣 yesterday was far too hot even with the rain!!

I always laugh at the idea that 18 -25 years old are useless and we would be fucked if we needed them to do anything.

Ye raised them! They are YOUR kids! They are a reflection of YOUR parenting!

Just say you did a shit job and move on!

It's a bit short sighted.

The UK is one of the cushiest and most liberal countries on earth.

If we lost a war against China, Russia, north kora or Iran, say, due to all the gentle souls not wanting the inconvenience to defend their country, life for everyone including gentle souls would change irrevocably due to either political defeat and pro enemy regime change, nuclear war, military occupation or some sort of catastrophic scenario.

Like so?
After the war, everything turned cold and cruel. The new rulers didn’t care if you were kind they saw it as weakness. He never wanted to fight, just wanted peace, but that made people hate him. Now, he had to say loyalty pledges to get food, and soldiers watched him like he was a threat. People disappeared for asking questions or not clapping fast enough. Even smiling felt dangerous. Friends were gone some joined the regime, others vanished. He kept his head down, trying to survive.

If we were at war, we'd all have to step up. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Agree with this. Very unlikely that the powers-that-be would force anyone to enlist these days. Attitudes are very different to what they were in 1939.

We aren't going to war, so why even think or discuss this. I appreciate the situation is important, but to even suggest that GB is going to war is just utter bullshit, so to suggest it is just drama loving.

I'm surprised any young males in the UK sign up to defend this country when they are just relentlessly mocked and shamed for living in a technical age that our generation created.
Some of these young males will be the ones creating cures for cancer and other life threatening diseases due to advances in technology and science.
You look at the gender disappointment threads, all related to boys.
The nasty snidey comments on this thread alone are a reflection of a society that enjoys hating on young men yet expects them to stand on the front line risking life and limb, whilst they themselves are hiding away safely at home.

I also have sons and think about this most remembrance days.

I think, perhaps modern warfare is different and there is less trench warfare? Perhaps conscription would be targeted more on skills and less on numbers to get shot at. No idea, probably very naive of me.

My grandfather said at the start of ww2 he joined up and they were all assessed and then sent for jobs that matched thier assessment. He was found to be suitable for engineering and was given 4 weeks training and was then engineering stuff in different places. Mainly Africa.

Yeah wasn't me I was working it was school and childcare

I’ve been thinking about this lately with a similar aged dc. They are taking a degree with a science/tech focus so, in the unlikely event they’ll be called up, it will probably be a tech or science role (hopefully not developing poisonous chemicals to kill - they wouldn’t like that).

Well if both / all sides are relying on 18-25 year olds that could be good as it’ll be the shortest conflict ever as they’ll not want to do anything !

Let's send the Tory voters out first, after all national service was in their manifesto 🙄
Being serious, I can totally understand your son is worried. It's a hugely unnerving time in our world.
As mum of a teen, I am worried for the future of our young people and boys/young men in particular should this situation escalate.
For now, put pressure on our government to stay out of what's happening by joining demos and writing to local MPs. Our voices can be heard in different ways.

Plenty of people in 1910 were grumbling about young people being feckless wasters. I don’t think there’s any reason to think our young people in general wouldn’t be on the whole just as brave as those who fought in WW1. They haven’t been tested, and that’s a good thing.

OP, the chances of us getting involved in a war involving conscription are minuscule. It’s not equivalent to Ukraine- we are not about to be invaded.

Torrential in Lanarkshire x 2 today!

Conscientious objection is a thing and people that did object either worked in factories, mines or sometimes as stretcher bearers or medical personnel in the field in WW2, they were treated better than WW1 where many went to prison.

If an actual land war occurred with any country the outcome would be horrific for the UK population in an invasion. People have no idea just how much liberty they have. I suggest he looks at what the Russians did to women when they got to Germany and what the Japanese did to women who they forced to be comfort women, they also wholesale murdered many civilians. If he thinks we are any more civilised now than in WW2 I suggest he looks at what the Russians have done to some Ukrainians they have captured. In the Bosnian conflict many women were deliberately impregnated to weaken morale, it happens in every single warzone. There were reports of allied rapes but they are not well reported on here for obvious reasons, an estimated 3,500 American troops in France committed rape, small scale compared to what the Russians did.

I am like you in my fifties and have no desire to take part in bloodshed and don’t want bloodshed, but if we were being invaded I would fight. My family fled a conflict in which ultimately millions died. Led by the country that is currently so popular and in vogue, The Japanese. It’s still within living memory and a few of those comfort women are still alive. The UK hasn’t been invaded for so many years people can very much stand on a high ground.

And the people on this thread moaning about the young people of today must know that their parents/grandparents generation were saying exactly the same about them too? Luckily for them they were never tested with being conscripted!

I do get tired of the criticism of young people. A great uncle (15) thought it would be a great idea to join WW1 (lied about his age of course) He was on active service at 16 and got a Distinguished Conduct Medal for outstanding bravery a couple of years later, badly wounded in the process. The account of what he did is amazing. His mother was told it would have been a VC had all the officers who could verify not been killed before they could.

He wasn't outstanding physically (in the photos he looks about 12 and not a very tall one) and he left school at 14. I wish he and all the other young people who've been to war didn't have to do it but we shouldn't underestimate what every generation is capable of when pushed.

You’d like to think that modern warfare would be fought differently but take Ukraine and Russia for example - it’s 2025 and war there has involved fighting street by street, trenches, tanks and battle lines and so on as well as modern drones

during war there is a place for everyone - much like the Hone Guard, Land Army etc during WW2 to contribute to the war effort and you should be focussing on that and fostering some national pride in him rather than considering ways he might be able to dodge any participation

Russia/Ukraineis completely different to any possible widened conflict in the middle east:

Ukraine didn’t have sophisticated weapons
Russias kit is very out of date and poorly maintained
borders are adjoining
The west has more leverage

Israel and doing what the fuck they want, and Iran will do whatever the fuck it can. A ground war involving our children is low on the list of what is concerning.The Middle East has enough money to buy what they want from whoever (KC had a lovely meeting with the crown Prince of Saudi very recently).

We sell military capability to anyone who wants to buy it. still, happy shareholders,right?

'Dodge participation' eh? 'There's a place for everyone during war'...yeah like 6 feet under! You make it sound like a fun activity or bloody Dads Army!

This is the problem, you have hit the nail on the head.

Too many people see it as the good old days, roll out the barrel, we'll meet again blitz spirit war where we gave the Germans wot for and showed em.

People couldn't stay indoors or look after their community for more than 2 weeks during the pandemic!

We live in the US and Ds1 just turned 18. They have a “selective service” but as of now no draft. They have to sign up to it for student aide and could be charged if they don’t.

Federal law requires nearly all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants to register at age 18. The agency permits males up to age 25 to complete their registration with Selective Service System.
In a national emergency, Selective Service System will use the registry to provide personnel to the Department of Defense and alternative service for conscientious objectors, if authorized by the President and Congress.