Vintage Military - Part 42

 Conscription, Britain

As in other countries, British military recruits had to get naked to be examined.  The first three photos show the medical inspection of Navy recruits c. 1905-1910.  The examiner wears the British naval rank badge of petty officer.  The photos were taken by Reinhold Thiele, who was born in Germany but moved to England.

The examiner is examining another recruit by measuring his chest.  Note other recruits seated in the background.

Now the recruits are standing in line while the examiner looks at their feet.

This photo, taken by Norman Smith on Aug. 28, 1940 in Chichester, England, shows recruits undergoing decontamination training.  They are bathing before being issued fresh clothing.  Early in World War II, it was feared that poison gas would be used, like World War I, but that particular horror of war never materialized.

This photo, taken by Bill Brandt on Sept. 12, 1942, shows a recruit testing a portable field shower at a training camp in England.  This type of shower was in fact used by troops in the field.

This photo, taken by Lt. Cook on Oct 30, 1943, shows a recruit undergoing hygiene training in Melton Constable, England, by taking an improvised shower.

We end with a more recent photo, taken in Lincolnshire, England on Aug. 15, 1982 during the Falklands war.  Marines visited Butlins Holiday Camp in Skegness to encourage recruitment.  They parachuted in and then demonstrated hand-to-hand combat for the crowd.  Later, the Marines went skinny-dipping at the holiday camp (above).  That's an interesting sales pitch: join the Marines and you'll get to see naked guys like this!