This letter is written by a 9 year old Irish boy, Alfie Knight, to the British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, who wants to volunteer for the British army as a dispatch rider, despite his adolescent age.

Alfie is one of many young boys who were caught up in Britain’s patriotic “war fever” after the outbreak of WW1, where there was an overwhelming sense of national pride. Over 5.7 million men volunteered or were conscripted into the British army. Of which 250000 were boys who were aged 19 or under, with some lying about their age and name to slip through recruitment. Due to the increasing manpower demand for the war effort, some recruiters often turned a blind eye to the age limit and fitness standards of these boys. Hence, they were trained and sent to the front line as able-bodied soldiers.

There were varied reasons why boys aspired to become soldiers. Escapism, societal pressures, a thirst for adventure, loyalty, and duty to service and family. Whatever the case, the tragedy was that war can be seen as a death and trauma of one’s innocence.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-ways-children-took-part-in-the-first-world-war

https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/young-soldiers-the-tragic-stories-of-cwgcs-youngest-world-war-casualties/

https://www.mylearning.org/stories/alfie-knights-letter-to-lord-kitchener/721?