From a letter to Dr. Norman Maclean
A boy of 17, discharged from the Navy, spent 8s. one night on beer and rum, and created a disturbance in a workshop at Sheffield.
Facts in “Sheffield Star,” November 11, 1916
Mr. Justice Atkin, charging the Grand Jury at Bristol, said that in nearly every case where a soldier was tried in the Western Circuit the defence was drink. One lad of 18 was treated to eight pints of beer in two hours, and did not know what happened. That sort of thing, said the judge, must seriously impair the efficiency of the troops when sent to the Front.
Record of Bristol Assizes, Autumn 1914
Two boys, 15 and 17, were fined for being drunk in munition works. One was discovered just in time to save him from carrying molten liquid.
Birmingham Munitions Tribunal, Dec. 1916
“A boy joined the Royal Navy as a carpenter, living in barracks and working on shore. Every day he was given ‘grog’ for his rations, although he never asked for it and never took it.”
Facts in letter to the Author
Such are the tragedies of boys handed over in our camps to drink and its temptations. What of the girls in our munition shops? They have learned to drink in thousands since the war began—respectable girls leaving home to go into munitions, respectable young wives alone at home. With no restraining hand upon them, with new companionships and pocket-money flowing freely, it is not surprising the temptation should be too strong for them. We can take only one or two cases.