If World War 3 breaks out, men of these ages could be forced to join the UK’s army and fight in Europe.
Pat McFadden discusses prospect of conscription in 2025
Preparation for WW3 worst-case scenarios could be stepped up after fresh threats were levied against the UK by Vladimir Putin, with concerns that the Russian president could order a strike on a critical sector.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been warned Britain faces an “inevitable” Russian attack on its defence and security in revenge for the UK’s consistent support for Ukraine. Security chiefs were put on high alert on Tuesday for a potential strike, either targeting the Prime Minister himself or key military sites, after Mr Burnham’s high-profile visit to Kyiv and his decision to further strengthen military co-operation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the same time, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with little sign of a solid peace plan in sight.
Last year, new military service plans were announced by one of the UK’s key allies in Europe in a clear signal for preparation for escalating conflicts. French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new national military service plan in November as France seeks to boost its armed forces to address growing concerns over Russia’s threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine.
British people could be forced to join the army if WW3 breaks out (Image: Getty)
It’s not something anyone wants to think about, but as tensions escalate around the world, there is a possibility that World War 3 could erupt. Just this past summer, the UK government last year told people to prepare for war on British soil, and is urging better preparedness for conflict across society.
Assuming tensions continue to ramp up and a new global conflict were to erupt, there are some indicators about what would happen if the UK went to war and needed to introduce conscription, or mandatory military service, whether in a WW3 situation or not.
In WW2, conscription began for men aged between 20 and 22 in 1939, up to six months before the war actually broke out.
The UK Parliament website says: “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.”
But when war was declared, the age range was immediately widened to any man aged 18 to 41.
It continues: “On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed a more wide-reaching measure. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service.”
The only men who weren’t called up were those who were too unfit medically, or who worked in vital industries like baking, farming, and medicine, which were vital to the war effort.
It adds: “Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering.”
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.”
In 2024, Grant Shapps, who at the time was Defence Secretary, said that we are “moving from a post-war to a pre-war world”, and General Sir Patrick Sanders, Britain’s most senior army officer, called for an increase in the size of the army and said that the country needed to increase preparedness for conflict.
A YouGov survey carried out on 3,044 people found that 38% of under-40s said they would refuse to serve in the armed forces if a new world war broke out, and 30% would not serve even if the UK faced ‘imminent invasion’.
The same poll found that 72% supported women being conscripted as well as men.
It isn’t clear what would happen to those refusing to serve in a potential WW3 scenario, but in WW2, British ‘conscientious objectors’ were put on trial, with some given mandatory jobs to contribute to the war effort in other ways instead.