Service in WW1 - 1914 - 1918 (General)

by HarryBrook , Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 09:53 (4396 days ago) @ ForestPrints

Early in WW1 conscription was resisted by the government, but as the flow of volunteers dried up Prime Minister Herbert Asquith appointed Lord Edward Derby to be Director-General of Recruitment in May 1915. He devised the so called Derby Scheme whereby men registered for service in the Forces but would not be called up until necessary. Married men were assured they would not be called up until the supply of single men had been exhausted. The scheme registered large numbers of men for delayed service but did not supply sufficient immediate manpower, and in January 1916 conscription was brought in. There were men in reserved occupations who were not called up until later in the war when manpower shortages became desperate. In 1917/18 men were conscripted from the Forest of Dean collieries in a process known as "combing", taking so many men of suitable age and fitness from the labour force.
So your grandfather could well have been registered under the Derby Scheme.