ith the fall of France and the bombing of London by Nazi Germany in 1940 it became apparent that the United States might soon be called upon to help preserve democracy Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act that year, giving the country its first peacetime draft.

All males between the ages of 21 and 35 were required to register with their local draft board and if drafted, would serve one year in the military. The draft boards established in Yonkers were: 731 - the 1st and 4th Wards, 732 - the 2nd and 3rd Wards, 733 - the 6th and part of the 10th Wards, 734 - the 9th and part of the 10 Wards, 735 - the 7th and 8th Wards and 736 - the 11th and 12 Wards. The draft boards in Yonkers and throughout the nation were run by civilians.

8,500 numbers were assigned to possible draftees with the number 3,552 the highest assigned to any Yonkers resident.

The choosing of numbers from the "War Bowl" was to be on October 29,1940. Notices were to be sent out to the chosen draftees on November 7 and 30,000 men were to be ready to enter the armed services by November 18. That number was to be 400,000 By March 1941 and 800,000 by June 15. By May 15,1945, when the Conscription Act was scheduled to expire, another 900,000 could be called up. Volunteers would reduce the number that had to be drafted. Initially the act of 1940 exempted registrants with dependents and those with occupations essential to the national health, safety and welfare.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941 changed everything. The eligible age group was expanded to 18 to 65 with 20 to 45 the ages most liable for service. The term of service was to be for the duration of the war plus six months.

At noon on October 29, in a Washington, D.C. auditorium, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson picked the first number from the bowl and handed it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be read. It was 158. Mrs. Robert Bell, a spectator in the auditorium, screamed. Her son had been assigned number 158. Board 738 in New Rochelle was headed by Henry G. Bragg whose son was also number 158. The first number picked for the World War I draft had been 258. All Yonkers draft boards had a number 158.

Patrick J. Carey of Board 731, a 35 year old bartender at the Pick-a-Chick Restaurant at 352 Riverdale Avenue, who lived at 403 Riverdale Avenue, heard his number announced on the radio and was "tickled to death being chosen first, quite and honor." Edward J. Miller of 414 Warburton Avenue, Board 732, worked at the Habirshaw Cable and Wire Corporation, had some hunting experience and was glad to be chosen first.

Joseph Lambert, Board 733, lived at 55 Mulford Gardens with his wife and seven-year-old son. In 1934 he had left the navy after eight years and was then employed by the WPA.

Myles G. Partellow of 136 Devoe Avenue was 25 years old, worked as an assistant engineer at the Alexander Smith carpet factory and was studying mechanical engineering at N.Y.U. He didn't know his number because he never looked it up and found out he was first when The Herald Statesman asked him for a picture. His response to the paper was, "It's all right with me."

Samuel Johnson, 26, of Board 735, lived at 123 Waverly Street with his wife and three children and was employed by the W. RA. A native of Plymouth, North Carolina, he had been aYonkers resident for 12 years. He stated, "I'm absolutely glad I was called first" and thought his wife, a domestic worker, could get along for the one year he would be away.

Thirty-two-year-old Arthur Anderson of 507 Tuckahoe Road, also married with three children, worked for a construction company and had stayed home from work October29 because he told his wife he had a "feeling" his Board 736 number would be called first. The second number, 192, was picked by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. and six Yonkers residents were desig-nated; Edward Sokol of 171 Buena Vista Avenue, John Rice of 26 Arthur Street, Martin Zombeck of 316 Gavin Street, Douglas Matheson of 114 Devoe Avenue, Rico DeMarco of 39 Park Hill Avenue and Samuel Allar of 531 Bronx River Road.

Number 105 was the 19th number picked, 2441 the 34th, 2563 the 37th, 188 the 41st, 120 the 46th and 2914 the fiftieth. These six numbers plus 158 and 192 were the eight numbers of the first 50 chosen that affected Yonkers boys.

Number 105 was held by a boy from each local draft board: Ernest Quinn of 154 Radford Street, Elwin Flood of 739 Palisade Avenue, Samuel Porcello of 24 Mulford Gardens, George Kokinchak of 42 Cliff Street, Davis Davis of 122 Saratoga Avenue and Edward Hanson of 101 Ridgewood Avenue.

By the end of World War II in 1945,10,000,000 males had been drafted into the United States armed forces.

—Tom Flynn