#genuinely fr i'm not vaguing anyone i am simply unwell in the head about this man

[grinchwrapsupreme]

ok i keep seeing people say that the captain must have served in WWI because of his age. Personally, I don't think he did because of how he behaves in the flashbacks in Redding Weddy (and, more obviously, his lack of medals showing a lack of involvement) but I don't think we'll ever know for sure, it doesn't seem important to his character and he hasn't made any references to anything outside of WWII let alone the first one. So just for kicks, here's a list of possible reasons the Captain didn't serve:

Reserved Occupation: conscription exempted a lot of people due to a variety of reasons and about 1/3 eligible men were exempted due to RO. Basically it means that men who were in jobs considered important could only be conscripted in a very narrow age margin (they could volunteer but they didn't have to go) such as vets, clergymen, miners (complicated situation for that one), and a variety of men who worked in engineering or industrial related jobs (including those who worked in munitions (sound familiar?))

Health: there's a whole variety of health problems that could exempt an otherwise fit man including asthma, arthritis, a rash even. It could literally have been a passing illness or a childhood problem that passed by the time WWII rolled around, just a bit of bad luck that hit him at just the wrong time (or it could have been bad knees that he lied about 20 years later)

Conscientious Objection: I don't think it's this one, that guy loves war, he wants to fight so bad, but I'm not going to just not put it here

Age: LISTEN. We don't know the Captain's canon age. At his youngest I would say he was born in 1900, putting him at 46ish when he died (the age Ben was when Ghosts first started (he could easily be older and in fact probably is idk (Ben help me out here ple-))) which would mean when the war kicked off he was 14 and conscription began he was only 16. He would have hit conscription age at 18 in 1918 which was the year the war ended. Conscription continued until 1920 but the fighting was "officially" over so they wouldn't have been calling on as many people and he might have been passed over for someone more fit, more healthy, less reserved occupationy etc. etc. I don't think it was this one either but for posterity here it is. Or he was conscripted late which would lead to

Training: This one happened to my own relative during WWI. If Cap came of age during the war, which he would have if he died anywhere between the ages of 46-50, he would have been conscripted and trained in England during the war. If the war ended while he was still in training he might never have been sent out at all despite being the right age for it. Any of the above could also have caused this - a bad rash, a nasty cough, being too young, working in a factory building ships, and so on - but it might very well have happened and would have prevented him from seeing any medal-worthy action or getting the experience needed to make him less of a nervous wreck leading to the Cap we see in Redding Weddy

To conclude: the Captain might have served in WWI but he could just as easily not have. We'll probably never know and any interpretation of his backstory is both valid and a very interesting read into his character

#long post // #fr though he's got no medals from WWI in the flashbacks that's the most damning evidence in my eyes #no one think i'm angry please i'm not i just fucking love history and theorizing about fictional men #bbc ghosts #bbc ghosts captain #redding weddy #genuinely fr i'm not vaguing anyone i am simply unwell in the head about this man