The story of the youngest soldier to be killed in the First World War has been debunked.

BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: KennethHanna/BNPS

Pictured: Kenneth Hanna and his friend Ian Green while at at Bovington Junior Leaders Regiment in 1960.

The story of the youngest soldier to be killed in the First World War has been debunked over 100 years later by a military historian.

Fourteen-year-old Private John Condon joined the army in 1914 by pretending he was 18.

A year later he was killed in a gas attack at the Second Battle...
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BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: KennethHanna/BNPS

Pictured: Kenneth Hanna and his friend Ian Green while at at Bovington Junior Leaders Regiment in 1960.

The story of the youngest soldier to be killed in the First World War has been debunked over 100 years later by a military historian.

Fourteen-year-old Private John Condon joined the army in 1914 by pretending he was 18.

A year later he was killed in a gas attack at the Second Battle of Ypres and his body wasn't recovered for another 10 years.

His headstone in Poelcapelle British Cemetery in Belgium has an inscription stating: "Private J. Condon, Royal Irish Regiment, 24th May 1915, Age 14."
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