I think in general Wodehouse liked to pretend that the war hadn't happened. Indeed in real life he seems to have spent a long time trying to ignore its existence, which got him into terrible trouble and led to his permanent move to the USA in 1955. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse.)
Someone with money, like Bertie, would have had options; he could simply have left the country at the start of the war and waited it out in some neutral place like South America or the Caribbean. Plenty of people did. Jeeves, naturally, would have gone with him. Alternatively if he was pro-War he could have decided to join up at an early stage and found himself an appropriate role - either combatant or non-combatant depending on your view of his character. A third option would be to secure a job in a 'reserved occupation' both for himself and for Jeeves; farming or forestry, perhaps, or the insurance business or railways - the possibilities are legion. And there is always the vexed question of whether they are in fact fit for active duty; such small things as flat feet, perforated eardrums or colour-blindness could have kept them out of the services, and if either had a record of, say, asthma, that would, too. I don't think class enters into it as far as the conscription business goes, but men with money had more options and could pre-empt conscription by already being in jobs of their own choosing or, indeed, well out of its range if they preferred.
no subject
Someone with money, like Bertie, would have had options; he could simply have left the country at the start of the war and waited it out in some neutral place like South America or the Caribbean. Plenty of people did. Jeeves, naturally, would have gone with him. Alternatively if he was pro-War he could have decided to join up at an early stage and found himself an appropriate role - either combatant or non-combatant depending on your view of his character. A third option would be to secure a job in a 'reserved occupation' both for himself and for Jeeves; farming or forestry, perhaps, or the insurance business or railways - the possibilities are legion. And there is always the vexed question of whether they are in fact fit for active duty; such small things as flat feet, perforated eardrums or colour-blindness could have kept them out of the services, and if either had a record of, say, asthma, that would, too. I don't think class enters into it as far as the conscription business goes, but men with money had more options and could pre-empt conscription by already being in jobs of their own choosing or, indeed, well out of its range if they preferred.