everybodyilovedies:

So Peggy’s SHIELD file says she was born in 1919.  The sign at her funeral says 1921.  Obviously one of them is wrong.  Which one, and where did the error occur?  Why would SHIELD think Peggy was two years older than whoever arranged her funeral?

Assuming 1921 is the correct date, Peggy would have been 19 in 1940, as the war in Europe was really swinging into gear.  If she were born in 1919, it would make her 21.

Peggy lied on her enlistment form.

Okay so I read this post and my initial thought was “um… but 19 is DEFINITELY old enough to enlist in the British army in 1939… it’s old enough NOWADAYS… so…” (And maybe OP thought this was common knowledge but not for me so!!)

So I did some research, and there IS a reason the switch up to 21 years old would have made a difference (all of this is based on Wikipedia, so, you know. Take with a grain of salt)!

My first instinct was right: minimum enlistment age in the British army was between 16-17 years old at 1939. Conscription was for men between 18 and 40, but obviously Peggy wasn’t conscripted–being non-male and also just being Peggy. None of this indicates there would have been any use lying about her age for Peggy.

BUT! In order to be eligable to serve overseas as of 1939, you had to be over twenty.

Men under 20 years old were initially not liable to be sent overseas, but this exemption was lifted by 1942.

So if Peggy signed up in 1939/1940 and had been determined to serve in the continental front, then she WOULD have good reason for bumping her age 2 years.

o/ History!