If World War 3 breaks out, certain key jobs could be spared from conscription in the UK, based on historic precedent from World War 2. These include bakers, farmers, doctors, nurses, and engineers, whose roles were deemed too vital to national security to be sent to the front lines.
Historic Exemptions from WW2
In WW2, conscription began for men aged between 20 and 22 in 1939, up to six months before the war actually broke out. Those in key industries involved in feeding the nation were spared conscription, including bakers, farmers, doctors or nurses, and engineers.
Conscientious objectors were sent to tribunals and then made to work non-combatant jobs that helped the war effort in other ways.
Government Plans and Military Training Act
The UK Parliament website states: "During the spring of 1939 the deteriorating international situation forced the British government under Neville Chamberlain to consider preparations for a possible war against Nazi Germany. Plans for limited conscription applying to single men aged between 20 and 22 were given parliamentary approval in the Military Training Act in May 1939. This required men to undertake six months' military training, and some 240,000 registered for service."
When war was declared, the age range was immediately widened to any man aged 18 to 41. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act, passed on 3 September 1939, imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service. Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering.
Expansion of Conscription and Current Tensions
By the end of 1941, women and 'all childless widows' between the ages of 20 and 30 were called up, while men aged up to 51 were called up for military service. Even those aged 52 to 60 were required to take part in 'some form of military service'. The main reason was that there were not enough men volunteering for police and civilian defence work, or women for the auxiliary units of the armed forces.
General Sir Roly Walker, the head of the army, told Sky News that 'every' citizen will be 'asked to make sacrifices' and play their part in the defence of the country. Mike Martin, an Afghanistan veteran and the MP for Tunbridge Wells, told the Express: "There's a significant chance that it [war with Russia] might happen so we must be prepared. Obviously, if we get involved in a general war with Russia, we'll be conscripting the population - there's no question about that. Being prepared generates deterrence, which decreases the likelihood [of war]. The whole point about building the military up is it decreases the likelihood of this happening. I think that's an important caveat. I've fought in wars, I'm not a warmonger. But I recognise that you've got to [pursue] peace through strength."
