Lost Youth.

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VIA: John Anzevino / Barry At War Museum

Lost Youth.

It's hard to know where to begin: "They should have been at home. They should have been playing in the park. They were just kids. They were too young to be fighting a war." One can only imagine the pain and anguish their families suffered: Here are the 20 Barry Boys age 14-16 years that went to war and did not return. A disproportionate amount of the boys were Merchant Seamen as the school leaving age was 14 years and Army enlistment 18 years. The First World War 1914-1918. Lest we Forget.

[Administrator]

Reggie Earnshaw was too young to join his mates in the Merchant Navy when they all went to war in 1941.
So he lied about his age to sign up as a cabin boy - and proudly went to sea aboard the SS North Devon.

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Youngest Welsh boy: Raymond Victor Steed.

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Locally, one Barrian shows how common going to sea at a young age became, a young Jim Luen, walked out of school one day and was not heard of for two years until he came of a ship in Cardiff. Like so many had made what was known as a pier head jump. My late father recalled Jim locally. "It took some time, but there is at last a stamp of approval for our locals such as Jim Luen of Barry and others of whom little is known. Remembering the few like Jim will help recall all and at last pay an ultimate tribute to our MN men".

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[Administrator]

VIA: Old Barry



355 men were lost during world war 2