Recall 60: 10 years on: 2

In 1938 the armed services numbered 381,000. The first year of the war the number was 2 million and in 1945, 4,680,000 of whom 437,000 were females. In all, including early releases, fatalities, wounded, and Prisoners of War, 5,900,000 people served in one of the services during W.W.II.

Of the 40,000,000 civilians, 61,000 were killed and a further 86,000 severely injured. Approximately 2,500,000 of the service personnel were married, and women of eligible service age were usually given the option of doing essential civilian work, i.e. in industry, or of joining one of the services. This was not an option for the men.

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