Catalogue description War Office: Boy Messenger Friendly Society and War Office School: Records

Boy messengers were employed by the War Office in a temporary capacity, being recruited at the age of fourteen or fifteen then superannuated at the age of twenty. Concern felt within the War Office at their limited employment prospects after they were superannuated led to the War Office Boy Messenger Friendly Society (WOBMFS) being formed in 1906 under the auspices of the Department of the Secretary of State for War, with Sir Edward Ward as its president.

Its main objects were to help the boys obtain good permanent employment after leaving the War Office, to provide them with opportunities for healthy recreation, and to promote more friendly relations between them and other staff. The Society was administered by a senior Committee of the Boy Messenger Friendly Society, appointed by the president from the staff of the War Office, and also a Junior Committee elected by the from the ranks of the boys themselves. The society arranged evening classes, sports, and other leisure activities, and introduced an employment scheme with a view to improving their employment prospects after they were superannuated at the age of twenty.

The War Office School opened on 31 October 1910 to provide more structured education for the boys on a compulsory basis. The school held evening classes so that boys could attend after their day's work, and, while the school was intended initially to benefit the boy messengers from the War Office, boys from the Patent Office, the Board of Education, the Local Government Board and the Board of Trade also attended. This facility was only available for boys up to the age of eighteen.

Both the society and the school ceased to exist in August 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War.