Youngest British soldier in World War I

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Youngest British soldiers in World War I (short version)

Sidney Lewis
- The youngest authenticated British soldier in World War I was Sidney George Lewis. He joined the army at age 12 in August 1915 and fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, when he was 13.
- His family kept papers about him, and his birth certificate helped prove his age. The Imperial War Museum authenticated his story in 2013 after research by Richard van Emden.
- Lewis later re-enlisted in 1918 and served with the army of occupation in Austria. After the war he worked in the police and later ran a pub. He died in 1969.

George Maher
- George Maher, born in 1903, also claimed to have joined young (age 13) and served with the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. He began crying under heavy shelling and was found out by an officer, then kept with other underage recruits on a train.
- Maher’s story was reported in books and documentaries, and he has been described as a possible youngest soldier, but his claim was never authenticated.

Other underage recruits (context)
- A BBC documentary, Teenage Tommies (2014), says about 250,000 boys under eighteen joined the British Army during World War I. Some notable cases include:
- Horace Iles (14) died at the Battle of the Somme after joining.
- Reginald St John Battersby (14) was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant but was wounded and later lost a leg.
- Valentine Strudwick (14) enlisted in 1915 and was killed at age 15.
- John Masters (about 13 years 8 months) joined the East Surrey Regiment and served on the front before his 15th birthday; he later served in the Home Guard in World War II.

See also (other young soldiers)
- Momčilo Gavrić, who was eight years old and fought in World War I for Serbia—the youngest soldier in the war.
- John Condon, an Irish lad once thought to be the youngest Allied soldier killed, later found to have died at 17.

Bottom line
- The youngest confirmed British soldier in World War I was Sidney Lewis, who enlisted at 12 and fought at the Somme as a 13-year-old. Many other under-18s served, but not all of their ages were verified.