That's a prime example of one of the great tradgedies of the First World War Moggy.
A lot of lads his age were pressured by the recruiters into joining or lead to believe it was a glorious adventure.
My Grandfather was 17 when he joined up. Fortunately by the time he did, the RFC had a strict policy on not sending anyone under 18 to France. So when he did finally get there, he had a year's worth of training and it was only a couple of months to the end of the war.
Was long enough for him to get shot down once though (fortunately he was able to glide back over the lines and crashland his plane safely in a field).
Guess it's a good thing for me he had all that training.... If he hadn't I wouldn't be here today!
