Chester Storyhouse will hear a remarkable piece of wartime history from Culcheth resident Phil Robinson, who was conscripted as a Bevin Boy in 1944. At 98, Phil is still making sure this overlooked chapter of the Second World War is not quietly shoved into history’s already overstuffed cupboard.
Phil will appear at Storyhouse on Wednesday, June 11, alongside historian Tessa Dunlop, as part of HistFest. He will explain how Bevin Boys, named after Ernest Bevin, the then Minister of Labour, were sent into coal mines instead of the armed services to keep the country supplied with fuel for the armaments industry and the Royal Navy.
The scheme was introduced after so many experienced miners joined up that the collieries were desperately short of workers. Every 10th 18-year-old called up could be sent to the mines by ballot. Refusal meant prison, making it less a career choice and more a particularly grim version of having your life planned by committee.
Phil, born near Seacombe Ferry in Wallasey, was given a one-way ticket to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he joined hundreds of young men who had hoped to serve in uniform. Instead, after around six weeks of training, he was sent to a colliery in County Durham. He had never even seen a coal mine before.
“We weren’t going to get a uniform - we were all annoyed and nobody wanted to do it,” Phil recalled. That resentment is understandable. These young men performed dangerous, essential work, yet for decades their contribution received little recognition.
After being demobbed, Phil unexpectedly stayed in the coal industry. He initially rejected the idea of a mining career, responding, “Not on your nelly,” but was persuaded to train as a surveyor. He later became a colliery surveyor, working across the industry, including in North Wales during the 1970s.
His career ended when the collieries began closing, but his campaign for recognition continued. Bevin Boys eventually received medals around 2008, and a memorial was established at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. Phil believes waiting more than 60 years for that recognition was far too long, and frankly, it is difficult to argue with him.
The event is listed as Lest We Forget: An Evening with Tessa Dunlop and Bevin Boy Phil Robinson at Chester Storyhouse. The original report was written by Barrie White, with the event bringing together Phil’s firsthand account and Tessa Dunlop’s historical perspective. The article appeared in the context of a subscriber partnership involving USA Today and The Herald.