Coalmining and the National Scheme for Disabled Ex-Servicemen after the First World War

Abstract

After the First World War, disabled British veterans returned home to an uncertain future of work. In addition to voluntary efforts, the government’s response to the national employment crisis – the National Scheme for Disabled Ex-Servicemen (commonly known as the King’s Roll) – was established in 1919 to encourage employers to hire a five per cent quota of disabled ex-servicemen. Historians have recently revisited the scheme, noting that in many cases the process was slow and fraught, with many disabled veterans facing the prospect of unemployment, yet few have paid attention to soldiers’ pre-war working backgrounds and the specific requests of British industries. This article focuses on British coalminers returning from war. What role was there in this national situation for an industry known for its own high rate of accident and injury? Although the King’s Roll made some attempt to find veterans specifically targeted jobs above and below ground according to their impairments, it proved unable to incorporate coalmining. Instead, many disabled ex-servicemen returned to the workplace and utilized their existing identities as miners to navigate the process. With the industry beginning to decline, many faced potential regression in job status, exploitation or unemployment. By shifting to an industry-specific focus, this case study explores the contested nature of work for disabled people after the First World War, and highlights the interrelation and importance of workplace identity for the returning disabled veteran.

Assessing work disability for social security benefits: international models for the direct assessment of work capacity

“…The American and Dutch assessments connect to a wider tradition of job matching within vocational rehabilitation; indeed, the British Government in 1919 attempted to match war veterans to a [40]. Yet in general there is a "dearth of job matching" research in the return-to-work literature [41].…”

The industrial politics of disablement

“…During the economic troubles of the inter-war period, however, such practices became harder to maintain. 126 Ultimately, if the Employers' Liability Act and subsequent compensation legislation did not result in a wholesale displacement of disabled people from the world of work, these laws created a new rationale for disability discrimination that some employers found sufficiently persuasive to act upon. In an era of compensation, disabled workers faced renewed negative reflection on their capabilities, reliability and worth that saw them as posing a greater risk to their employers, their fellow workers and themselves.…”

Disability in Coalfields Literature c.1880-1948: a comparative study

“…Return to work was thus linked to a sense of national duty, as can be seen in the foundation of the King's National Roll in 1919, a scheme in which firms agreed that 5% of their employees would be ex-servicemen with disabilities. Although the coal industry did participate, it was considered work particularly suited to men who had experience of mining, and such work was already in high demand because of the existing population of colliers with disabilities and the pressures of the economic recession and pit-closures (Mantin 2016).…”

“…While injuries and disabilities do not preclude a man from working in the coalfields, however, the body of the soldier is required to be intact and healthy. Injured soldiers, including those with shell-shock could, ironically, be sent to work in the mines (Mantin 2016).…”