Honour for Bevin Boys at last

9:47am Wednesday 26th March 2008

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AN ABERTILLERY pensioner, one of just seven surviving Bevin Boys in Gwent, has finally been honoured for his contrbutions towards the Second World War.

Yesterday, on the 60th Anniversary of the last Bevin Boy being demobbed, the Prime Minister invited 27 of the former miners to Downing Street for a presentation ceremony, where they were awarded special badges.

Raymond Isted, along with the remaining Gwent men, received his in the post yesterday morning.

The medal comes after years of lobbying by the Bevin Boy Association to honour the vital service the young men provided at home.

Some 48,000 18-25 year olds were signed up for National Service in coalfields across the UK and represented 10% of male conscripts. They took their name after wartime Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin.

Mr Isted was born and brought up in Sussex, but came to Abertillery to work in the pit in 1944 and stayed after meeting his wife Phyllis.

The 82-year-old is delighted with his medal, which features a pithead design and profile of a miner.

He said: "I'm not too sure if I'll wear it, but I'm very proud to be the owner of it. At long last we are recognised."

Mr Isted explained how the Bevin Boys were known as the forgotten conscripts and had been regarded as cowards that were too scared to go and fight on the front line.

"There was no truth in it," he said.

"We were conscripted just like the soldiers and faced danger everyday underground."