Loyola News: Colleges Keep Open in England

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An article in the Loyola News discusses colleges staying open in England during World War II, including 37,000 students who kept studying at eleven universities. Most were not eligible for military service, including those under age and who were "physically unfit," as well as those "reserved (deferred) from National Service and assigned to college to study--in most cases at governmental expense." The article compares this to American students deferred to college study to ensure the country had enough "trained technical and scientific personnel." In England, after December 1942, these deferments (for male students) were nearly entirely for scientific students, and were not offered to liberal arts students. Female students wishing to study non-scientific topics could only do so if they planned to become teachers. Teachers and professors above a certain age were also mostly deferred and allowed to continue teaching. Yet all students and faculty still had to train for the Fire Guard, and all men between certain ages were automatically enrolled in the Home Guard.