My research into my Australian Great Uncle's WW2 service has thrown up a further mystery - he appears to have lied about his age when he enlisted. Arthur John Clifton (NX36027, 2/19 Battalion) was born on 12 August 1904, which would have made him 35 on his enlistment date of 21 June 1940. But his declared year of birth on the Attestation Form is 1906, giving him a declared age of 33. Was this just a mistake, or did Arthur deliberately knock a couple of years off his age because of any maximum age limits. Does anyone know? (NB: There is lots of other fascinating material on Great Uncle Arthur and his role as keeper of the 2/19 Battalion's kangaroo mascot on the thread "Photo of my Australian Great Uncle". Includes some wonderful photos. View attachment arthur clifton 1.tif Take a look!) Maxine
Maxine, Maybe you didn't notice but I posted an answer to your original question a couple of hours back. Steve
Maxine: In 1939, the AIF accepted men from 20 up to 35 (inclusive) for service in the ranks, with some slack on the upper end for men thought to have NCO potential. Under the influence of the 1940 crisis, age and fitness standards were lowered and ranker volunteers accepted up the age of 40. Actually, due to the lack of a central photographic and fingerprint record it was pretty easy to fib about your age and lie your way into the AIF in 1939-41, and a great many youngsters and middle-aged men did so.
