London, Feb. 18.
Britain's conscript army wavered near the 900,000 mark this morning as 200,000 men between the ages of 20 and 23 took leave of absence from their office and factory jobs to sign forms incorporating them into the British army, navy and air force.
The British army thus swelled to more than 1,400,000 is another step in Britain's methodical preparation to defeat the Nazi military machine.
The latest registration makes this new age group liable to actual incorporation in fighting units on short notice but most of the new conscripts will continue their peace-time occupation until they receive notification to join specified units for training.
Last-minute changes in the ages of certain reserved occupations brought about 11,000 twenty-year old men under the exemption list—United Press,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.