A BELFIELD man who was among thousands of young British men drafted into the coal mines during the Second World War is searching for his former comrades.

Stanley Taylor, aged 82, became a Bevin Boy in 1944 at the age of 18, one of thousands of young men ordered to work in the pits to replace the colliers who had gone into the Forces.

He began training at Newton Colliery in Swinton and was then posted to serve at Bank Hall Colliery, Burnley.

At the time he was less than impressed with his fate, especially as his twin brother Ken, who now lives in Littleborough, had been called up to the Royal Air Force.

Life in the pits was hard work for the young Stanley, who worked permanently on the 2pm to 8pm ‘backshift’.

He recalls working in tunnels which were so low his back would be scratched to shreds every day, while a constant stream of coal dust blowing in his face led to him developing sores in his eyes.

After two years, he went to the Labour Exchange in Burnley asking to be released from the mines on medical grounds because of his eye problems.

He got his wish and by the time he arrived home in Rochdale papers were waiting for him telling him he had been drafted into the Royal Army Medical Corps.

He was first posted to a British military hospital in Belgium and then transferred to a hospital in Germany.

Mr Taylor, of Reservoir Street, said: "When I got to 18, I expected to be called up to the Forces. Me and my brother had even been in the Air Training Corps since we were 16.

"Then my papers arrived telling me I had to go in the pit.

"I did ask if I could go in the RAF, too, and I thought they wouldn’t want to split twins up, but that was it.

"I consider myself lucky really, the day I went in the pits I had a friend who went in the Army and he ended up losing a leg in Belgium."

Earlier this year Mr Taylor began to ponder how many Bevin Boys are left in the area, after the government awarded commemorative badges to all the survivors to mark the 60th anniversary of when the Bevin Boys were demobbed for the final time.

Mr Taylor knew three other Rochdale Bevin Boys, Jack Lovelady, Bill Woolfenden and Frank Farrar, who have all since died.

He also remembers being given lifts to the colliery for several weeks by another man, from Turf Hill, whose name he has forgotten.

Mr Taylor added: "I just wondered if there is anyone left in Rochdale who was also a Bevin Boy and got their badges this year."

Are you a former Bevin Boy? If so contact Helen Johnson on 354321 ext 320.

FACTFILE

• Bevin Boys were named after Ernest Bevin, the wartime Minister for Labour, who realised there was a shortage of able-bodied men to work in the mines as many had been called up into the Forces.
• Famous Bevin Boys include Sir Jimmy Savile, Lord Brian Rix and the late Eric Morecambe.
• Almost 48,000 young men aged between 18 and 25 became Bevin Boys, with 20,000 of those selected randomly by ballot.
• There are now only about 2,000 surviving Bevin Boys.