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Conscientious Objectors During World War One


peterwarr

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Were any conscientious objectors in Sheffield sent to prison during World War One?

Checking through the city’s newspaper reports of local Military Tribunal sessions, I see that most claims for exemption from call-up were based on commercial or family arguments. The few individuals arguing from a position of religion or conscience appear to have accepted medical or non-combatant roles as an alternative to becoming servicemen.

Despite reading a lot of reports, I can’t find any “absolutists” in Sheffield – men who refused to serve in any capacity and were sent to jail (more than 5,000 nationwide).

I suppose it’s possible that those cases were kept out of the papers. But if so I’d expect their story to be publicised in other ways, and that’s not apparent.

Do you know of any such cases, please? It would be great to learn about them.

Many thanks

Peter

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My gut reaction would be that there wasn't much argument in this area. They would just have been sent down the mines or into the works. Both of which would have been undermanned at the time.

Just an idea.

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I think the people Peter is referring to were those who refused to do anything that could be construed as assisting the war effort. Working in the steelworks would certainly fall into this category, since a huge amount of Sheffield's output at the time would have been involved in weapons and munitions. Likewise working in the mines could also be interpreted in a similar way.

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My great uncle was a conscientious objector.( on religious grounds)...and as a result joined the RAMC where he, eventually, rose to the rank of Captain... a rank which he maintained during WW2 as a member of the Home Guard.

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Thanks to all. The Sheffield Military Tribunal did exempt many men who were willing to do work defined as of national importance, and serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps or the Non-Combatant Corps was certainly acceptable.

Instead, I’m hoping to learn about the minority who refused any work which would help the war effort and were thus imprisoned. I’m now wondering if they would have been arrested at a later stage – for example when they refused to join their unit as instructed. I’ve separately located some arrests of previously-enlisted deserters, and these were not noted in a newspaper, so perhaps that’s what happened to the COs who were imprisoned.

Some facts would be useful to balance all this guesswork!

Peter

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Guest Flatlander

Walter Blakeney Morrison (born 1892) was a Sheffield conscientious objector sent to prison for his beliefs.

He was conscripted into the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on 10 August 1917. Three days later, he refused to obey a lawful command and subsequently appeared before a General Court Marshall where he was sentenced to 112 days imprisonment with hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs. He was released from prison on 29 October 1917 and transferred to the Army ‘W’ Reserve for work with the Brace Committee at Wakefield Work Centre (formerly Wakefield Prison). His service record survives in the burnt papers (WO 363).

When conscripted, he was a theology student at Oxford – the Oxford press might have reported any appearances before local Military Tribunals.

In 1914, Walter apparently served as a Second Lieutenant with the Sheffield City Battalion, but resigned his commission following an “overwhelming calamity". He was the son of Walter James Morrison, Vicar of St Peters Church, Nether Edge.

Regards

Mark

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Just of at a slight tangent or words to that effect while looking for articles on conscientious objectors I came across this..

The Sheffield & Rotherham Independent (Sheffield, England), Tuesday, January 16, 1900; pg. 5;

A Cure for alcoholism ??

No conscientious objectors will be allowed under the new order.

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Many thanks Flatlander for the very interesting material about Walter Morrison.

I suspect (but am not sure) that he would not usually be included in lists of “conscientious objectors”; I think those are defined in terms of refusing conscription from the outsel. Quite a lot of men were later imprisoned for refusing to obey military orders.

That doesn’t make his story any less interesting! Thanks again.

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As suggested in the “Sheffield during the war” forum, I’ve now been in touch with Richmond Castle about imprisoned COs in WW1.

“Conscientious objection” took a range of forms – some more definite than others. The complete refusers are usually termed “absolutists”, but there were many others with a less extreme stance. Absolutists were likely to be imprisoned, but Richmond Castle has no records of COs imprisoned there. The “Richmond 16”, who left behind graffiti which is still visible, were locked up in the Castle for only a few days before being sent to France. Their death sentences were later reduced to imprisonment. The Castle has almost no information about the 16, but it appears that none of them came from Sheffield.

In addition, Richmond Castle was one base for the officially-sanctioned Non-Combatant Corps, so there were a lot of original COs there – ones who had accepted a non-fighting role in the war and were not imprisoned. Some men moved between different CO positions. John Bonsall, previously living in Duke Street with a haulage business in Bard Street, started as an absolutist and then moved to become a cook in an army camp in France.

There was no requirement for a religious basis for a man’s CO position. Some claimants before the Sheffield Military Tribunal argued that Socialism was their religion.

I’ve also been in touch with the Peace Pledge Union. It turns out that their WW1 material about individual COs is also limited, but they’re working to compile a more complete register. They told me about brothers William and Joseph Parkin, who were both imprisoned with hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs and then Dartmoor. They had been bone cutters in a Sheffield cutlery factory, but it’s not known which one.

I guess we’re making progress, but the jigsaw is a long way from being complete!

Peter

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