The Forgotten Conscript; a history of the Bevin Boys by R. Warwick Taylor.
This guy is the former secretary of the Bevin Boy Association, formed by all the British men who were unlucky enough to get called up and sent down the pit, rather than to the front.
They got no thanks, no medals, and no guaranteed jobs on demob; in fact, when they asked about jobs the standard reply was "you've got one".
The book records their trials, tribulations and eventual repatriation to the armed forces just before the war's end.
From the industrial archaeology viewpoint, the book contains a complete list of all types of mines operational in Britain in 1945. The list is amazing in its size.
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