Sudbury: Author uncovers forgotten history of the Bevin Boys

Liz Trenow’s tenth novel, The Secret Sister, takes place in a fictional fishing town on the Suffolk coast during the Second World War. 

It has been inspired, explained Mrs Trenow, by the story of Ivor Smith, the father of one of her close friends, who died in 2014. 

Ivor was a Bevin Boy, one of thousands of young men forced to work in coal mines during, and after the war.  

The Secret Sister by Liz Trenow will be published on April 3. Credit: Liz Trenow (Image: Liz Trenow)

By 1943, Britain’s supplies of coal were running dangerously low. The government called for volunteers to work in the mines, but few responded.  

It was Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour and National Service who came up with an ingenious way of recruiting workers: each week, his secretary would pull a card containing a digit from a hat. All men whose National Service number ended with that digit were then directed to work in the mines.  

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“They had visions of being in smart uniforms and seeing faraway places, when all they would be seeing was the inside of the earth,” explained Mrs Trenow.  

It was hot, dangerous work, and had little recognition. Mrs Trenow remembers being shocked when she saw the scars Ivor still bore. 

“He was caught in a rock fall, and pinned to the ground by these rocks. They dug deep into his back, and the coal dust got under his skin,” said Mrs Trenow. 

“If gets deep enough, the dust doesn’t ever get out. These coal marks were there for the rest of his life, like a permanent reminder.” 

The Secret Sister tells the story of twins Lizzie and Edward Garrod. Traumatised by what he has seen during the evacuation of Dunkirk, Edward dreads being called up to fight – but receives a summons to work in the coal mines.

The Secret Sister will be published on April 3.