ABSTRACT
Who is a soldier? In the present context, the term ‘soldier’ has been very widely construed. It encompasses not only full time career soldiers but also part timers like members of the Territorial Army. See Re Rippon (1943). It covers not only members of combat units but also others such as members of the medical corps, the chaplaincy and other support units. See, for example, In the Estate of Stanley (1944), which concerned the estate of a female military nurse. Moreover, the W(SS)A stipulates that the expression ‘soldier’ includes a member of the Air Force. This is reinforced by cases such as Re Wingham (1949) and In the Estate of Rowson (1944), where the deceased were an RAF officer and a WAAF Squadron Leader respectively. What is actual military service? In order to be entitled to make a privileged will, a soldier must at the material time be in actual military service. According to Lord Denning in Re Wingham, this requirement will be fulfilled if the soldier is serving with the armed forces ‘in connection with military operations which are or have been taking place or are believed to be imminent’. In this case, it was held that an RAF officer training as a pilot in Canada in 1943 was in actual military service since he was liable at any time to be posted to an area where he would become involved in active warfare.
