Commonwealth War Graves - Age 14

[gurkharifles]

This was on a CWGC social media post and I thought I'd share some of it with you - I must admit I had to do a double take when I saw the headstone and saw his age. How was that even possible ?
Thomas Joseph Woodgate was born 31 Dec 1903, the sixth of seven children. He joined the RAF in Sept 1918 giving his date of birth as 3 Sept 1900 - but his physical description was "slight build - 5'5" tall with a 29"chest" ( did he really look 18? ) - he gave his civilian occupation as a "general labourer" though presumably he was still at school. He was onboard the RMS Leinster when it was sunk by a German U Boat in Oct 1918 - 578 lives were lost including Joseph. His body was recovered and buried in a military cemetery in Dublin - I'm not sure at what point his true age became known - but at least they recorded it correctly on his headstone. I suspect he was the youngest RAF casualty of the war. Tim