Labour battalion
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Labour battalions have been a form of
Political reasons
In some countries labour battalions were created from part of population which for various reasons were not suitable for regular military service, often because this population was considered "undesirable" or "unreliable", e.g., political enemies, population of occupied territories or "lower
Examples include labour battalions in the late
Alternative service
In some countries labour battalions are a form of civil conscription instead of military conscription for people who cannot join military service for various reasons, e.g., due to bad health or being conscientious objectors to any forms of violence, as long as they aren't considered unfit for other work.
In the British Army during the First World War, labour or pioneer battalions were initially formed in December 1914 from recruits with skilled trades or experience in manual labour, trained to fight as infantry but usually used to build trenches and carry out other manual labour. Early in 1916 these began to also include men not assessed as fit enough to fight to carry out a similar role and were sometimes also known as Infantry Works Battalions. Initially assigned to individual regiments, the existing Labour and Infantry Works battalions were grouped together in February 1917 to form the new Labour Corps.[1][2]
Until the last days of the
References
See also
- Bevin Boys in the United Kingdom from 1943 to 1948
- Civil conscription
- work relief program in the United Statesfrom 1933 to 1942
- Bausoldat in East Germany
- Hand and hitch-up services
- Labour army
- Labour camp
- Reichsarbeitsdienst in Nazi Germanyfrom 1933 to 1945
- Workfare