By BETH HALE

Last updated at 00:31 26 March 2008

Badge of honour: Jimmy Savile receives recognition

Instead of uniforms they were given a pair of boots and a hard hat and instead of the front line they were sent underground.

And when the Second World War was over, still the Bevin Boys toiled.

They were the forgotten conscripts of the conflict, bringing Britain back from the edge of an energy crisis by shovelling coal at the order of Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin.

Now, 60 years on, the Bevin Boys have been granted the official recognition they have long deserved.

A group of 27 of the original "boys" - now aged in their eighties - received commemorative badges from Prime Minister Gordon Brown today.

Some 48,000 Bevin Boys aged 18 to 25 were recruited during the war to work down the mines as Britain was hit by severe coal shortages.

Many existing miners had been called up into the armed forces, leaving a shortfall of able-bodied men available to go underground.

Scroll down for more...

A number of boys volunteered for the coal mines following a Government appeal, and started their training at Markham Main Colliery, near Doncaster

Among their number, selected as a representative sample by the Bevin Boys Association, was former DJ and TV presenter Sir Jimmy Savile.

He said: "The fact that 60 years later somebody says 'Here's a medal for what you did' comes as a tremendous surprise and honour."

Bevin organised a ballot to select a proportion of conscripted men for the mines instead of the armed services.

It was a shattering blow for those young men who had been filled with a sense of excitement at serving their country on the battlefield, at sea or in the air.

Instead they were to be sent many hundreds of feet underground into a blackness "like no other" while they watched friends, brothers and neighbours go off into regular service.

Scroll down for more...

Former Bevin Boy Warwick Taylor with a picture of him in his War time cadet uniform

Each month for 20 months Bevin's secretary drew two digits from a hat and all men whose National Service registration number ended with one of them were directed into coal mining.

For many, fresh from school, apprenticeships or from military cadet forces, the first they knew of it was when they received letters out of the blue.

Any refusal to comply would result in a heavy fine or possible imprisonment under the wartime Emergency Powers Act.

Not all Bevin Boys were ballotees, as men were also given the opportunity of choosing the mines in lieu of armed service.

The underground army included names that were later to become household ones, such as Jimmy Savile, who received a badge yesterday, Brian Rix and Eric Morecambe.

Scroll down for more...

The fabulous Bevin Boys outisde 10 Downing Street today

Anyone who was conscripted directly into the mines, who joined the mines instead of the armed forces or who originally served in the armed forces and later volunteered to become a miner, is eligible to apply for a badge.

The ceremony coincides with the 60th anniversary of the demobilisation of the last Bevin Boys in 1948.

As he prepared to meet the men the Prime Minister said: "The service that the Bevin Boys gave to this country was incredibly important and not only helped us to win the war but also to rebuild our country after the war.

"It is a great privilege to meet these men today to honour the work they did and on behalf of the whole country to show our appreciation for the service they gave."

Warwick Taylor, 81, was one of the Bevin Boys and is now vice-president of the Bevin Boys Association.

Like many of his fellow conscripts Mr Taylor had been looking forward to a quite different form of service back in 1943.

After three-and-a-half years in the Air Training Corps his hopes were pinned on joining the RAF.

He was "devastated" when his calling up papers arrived and he found himself packed off from Harrow to South Wales.

Scroll down for more...

Jimmy Savile receives his commemorative badge from Gordon Brown

"At the time I did feel like my opportunity to help my country had been snatched away," he said.

"It was a job that had to be done, but it was only as time went on that I realised what an important job it was."

But without a uniform Mr Taylor said it was often hard to meet the accusatory glances of others, who assumed the miner's were draft dodgers or conscientious objectors. He even got stopped by police.

The pensioner, who achieved his dream to work with planes after he was demobbed, said: "It's absolutely vital to receive this recognition. What we did was absolutely essential."

Geoffrey Baker, 83, of Deal, in Kent, thought he would enter the Royal Marines when he received his papers aged 18.

"I did what I did without complaining but it was a nightmare when I got that letter," he said.

Morris Pearce, 82, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, was another who had dreamed of joining the Royal Marines.

"I was excited, young lads are a bit macho and the Royal Marines were top notch, I still get a tingle when I see them march."

He was first asked to volunteer for mine work, then was ordered to the pit.

"I was absolutely disgusted," he said. "I was brought up in the country and I had no idea what to expect."

Scroll down for more...

Former Bevin Boy Brian Rix meets the Prime Minister

He was sent to a mine north of Doncaster where he worked until 1947, watching as other men returned from war to "a gratuity and a new suit" while "we were stuck in a dark place".

There was one bright spot when he met wife Sylvia.

"I'm glad now I had that experience," he said.

"There is no finer kind of man than the miners, they are marvellous people. when you think of what they have to go through."

Widower Raymon Benedyk, 81, dreamed of joining the RAF as a pilot when he left bomb-blasted South London for the mines.

"I can't remember exactly what I did, but I think there may have been a few rude words when I got the letter.

"We got no uniform, we didn't even get work clothes, all we got were out boots and our helmet."

He was invalided out in 1945 after suffering a back injury.

In the 1970s he enquired about a disability pension, only to be told he was not entitled to the pension as the injury was not sustained in combating the enemy.

Fellow widower Dan Duhig, 82, had two brothers in the Army and was already a volunteer sick attendant for the Navy, which he expected to join, when he got his call up.

"I was claustrophobic and absolutely frightened to death when I started," he said.

"You can't imagine what it's like if you have never been down a coal mine. You have never known a world of darkness like it and the conditions were disgusting."

Even now Mr Duhig feels a slight sense of disappointment that he didn't achieve his dream, but he said his family were proud of him.

"We've received recognition and that's the main thing," he said.