Poelkapelle British Cemetery

This British military cemetery holds a sad and unenviable record. It is here that (probably) the youngest soldier to die on the Western Front lies buried. John Condon was killed during a gas attack on 24 May 1915, aged14 years.

However, there is now doubt about the veracity of this 'fact'. Recent research suggests that it is not John Condon who lies buried in the grave, but his younger brother, Patrick. Patrick was 13 years old in 1914 but used the identity of his brother John - aged 18 in 1914 - to trick his way into the Army.

It seems that some 250,000 soldiers younger than 18 years - the official age for joining the Army - served overseas during the First World War. An estimated 34, 000 of them never went home. After the Armistice, George Maher claimed that he was only 13 years old when he was went to the front. His true age was soon discovered and he was sent back home by train. There he met other young boys who were also being sent back, the youngest of whom was only 12. “A little nuggety bloke he was, too. We joked that the other soldiers would have had to have lifted him up to see over the trenches.”" Another 12 year old - Sidney Lewis - did see active service at the front during the Battle of the Somme.

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