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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Emmeline Saunders

A footballer, bricklayers, Teddy Boys - memories of National Service 60 years on

National Service defined a generation of young men as a traumatised Britain emerged from the horrors of the Second World War.

Introduced by Labour PM Clement Attlee in 1948 to boost military manpower, the scheme conscripted all able-bodied men aged 18 to 30 to serve for 18 months with the armed forces.

During the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953, it was increased to two years, before being axed in 1963 at the dawn of the Swinging Sixties.

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