Punch

Officer (to a boy of 13 who, in his effort to get taken on as a bugler, has given his age as 16): "Do you know where boys go who tell lies?"

Applicant: "To the Front, Sir."

Drawing by F. H. Townsend (Punch Magazine, 1915)

Underage Recruitment in Wartime Satire

This Punch Magazine drawing from 1915 uses humour to expose a serious issue: boys trying to enter military service before they were old enough. The cartoon reflects recruitment pressure, public attitudes and the blurred line between patriotism and childhood during the Great War.