42:. In the front lines, Maher began crying during heavy shelling. He was taken before an officer of his regiment when his young age was discovered and subsequently locked in a train with a number of other underage boys. Maher said, "The youngest was twelve years old. A little nuggety bloke he was, too. We joked that the other soldiers would have had to have lifted him up to see over the trenches". Maher's story was first reported in
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Although World War I army recruiters often turned a blind eye to underage recruits, another factor may have been Lewis's mature appearance. He was a tall heavily built boy, who would grow to 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) as an adult. The minimum height requirement of the
British Army at the
145:, who was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant at the insistence of his father and headmaster, who thought that his rank was inappropriate for a middle-class boy. Battersby was wounded by machine gun fire while he was leading his men over the top at the Somme. Three months later, he lost a leg to shellfire.
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in 1916. Lewis' claim was not authenticated until 2013. In World War I, a large number of young boys joined up to serve as soldiers before they were eighteen, the legal age to serve in the army. It was previously reported that the youngest
British soldier was an unnamed boy, also twelve, sent home
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after research by van Emden uncovered the evidence, including family papers and Lewis's birth certificate. The family papers have been donated to the museum by Lewis' surviving son. Lewis' story was also found to have been reported in newspapers at the time.
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134:(first broadcast 2014), the British Army recruited 250,000 boys under eighteen during World War I. They included Horace Iles, who was shamed into joining up after he was handed a
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56:, a 2009 television documentary. The boy Maher met was formerly reported as the youngest British soldier in World War I, but the claim has never been authenticated.
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George Maher (20 May 1903 – 27 July 1999) at age thirteen lied to a recruiting officer, claiming he was eighteen. He joined up with the 2nd
Battalion
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325:"The Boy Soldier: Sidney Lewis, the youngest man to serve in the British Army | Surrey in the Great War"
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96:. He re-enlisted in 1918 and served with the army of occupation in Austria. He joined the police in
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release him. It asked her for his birth certificate and discharged the boy. Lewis was awarded the
84:. His mother was told where her son was by a comrade home on leave, and she demanded that the
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online edition, 18 November 2013, (includes photos, birth certificate, and facsimile of 1916
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in August 1915 at the age of twelve. His parents had no idea where he was. He fought in the
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by a woman when he was fourteen. He died at the Battle of the Somme at the age of sixteen.
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417:"My dad the hero aged 12: Mystery of Britain's youngest First World War soldier is solved"
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Private Henry
Marshall − bandsman of the 5th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
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Lewis, aged 13, waiting to be discharged after being returned from France
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in 1916, then aged thirteen, in the 106th
Machine Gun Company of the
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from France in 1917 with other underage boys from various regiments.
377:"World War 1: Youngest British soldier Sidney joined up aged 12"
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enlisted in 1915. He was killed in action in
Belgium at age 15.
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353:"Boy, 12, was Britain's youngest soldier in First World War"
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Sidney George Lewis (24 March 1903 – 1969) enlisted in the
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Boy, 12, was 'youngest
British soldier in First World War'
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Also signing up as a private at the age of fourteen was
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reported to be the youngest
Territorial soldier of WW1.
273:"Sidney officially youngest WW1 soldier at age of 12",
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time was only 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m).
469:"Campaign to honour 15-year-old WW1 casualty launched"
302:"Boy of 12 was Britain's youngest Great War soldier"
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was twelve-year-old Sidney Lewis, who fought at the
100:after the war and served in bomb disposal during
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16:Youngest British soldiers in the First World War
21:The youngest authenticated British soldier in
210:Veterans: the last survivors of the Great War
189:Veterans: the last survivors of the Great War
48:Veterans: the last survivors of the Great War
458:, BBC Two, first broadcast 11 November 2014.
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279:, 11 November 2013, page 6, retrieved from
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115:Lewis' claim has been authenticated by the
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250:Phillips, Jacob (11 November 2020).
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187:Richard van Emden; Steve Humphries,
40:King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
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375:Shaw, Adrian (10 November 2013).
128:According to the BBC documentary
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329:www.surreyinthegreatwar.org.uk
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281:InfoTrac Custom Newspapers
143:Reginald St John Battersby
53:Last Voices of World War 1
50:and was later featured in
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104:. Later, he ran a pub in
284:(subscription required)
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440:"Joined at twelve",
427:pages) accessed and
212:, Leo Cooper, 1998,
98:Kingston upon Thames
74:East Surrey Regiment
397:on 23 November 2013
286:, 20 November 2013.
150:Valentine Strudwick
117:Imperial War Museum
78:Battle of the Somme
27:Battle of the Somme
237:, 31 October 2009.
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431:24 November 2013.
365:20 November 2013.
351:Nicholas Hellen,
314:20 November 2013.
94:British War Medal
82:Machine Gun Corps
44:Richard van Emden
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23:World War I
511:Categories
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175:References
86:War Office
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156:See also
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