38. The Powder Monkeys
The British Royal Navy, and later the United States Navy, employed boys known as powder monkeys as members of gun crews. Taking advantage of their small size, the child sailor would rush ferry gunpowder from the magazine to the gun deck in leather buckets, usually two at a time.
During combat, they were just as exposed to danger as were all other sailors aboard ship, regardless of age. Indeed, considering that they were scurrying about carrying gunpowder liable to go off if it came into contact with any spark or shard of flaming timber or scorching shell fragment, the powder monkeys might have been at greater risk than the rest of the crew.