Historically, children often served in ancillary roles during wartime, as couriers, drummer boys, or “powder monkeys,” who ferried ammunition to cannon crews.

During the Napoleonic Wars, so-called “powder monkeys,” some as young as ten, helped arm cannons for the British Navy.

"Powder Monkey" by Chrissie Gittins talks about the little boys who worked on ships in the old days to take the powder to the cannons.