Conscientious Objectors

While army sign up was high during World War One, there were many people who simply did not want to fight in the war, and these people became known as the conscientious objectors.

Also known as ‘conscious’ or CO’s, conscientious objectors were seen as a clear sign that not every member of the public was as enthusiastic about the war the government had initially believed. In fact, following the release of figures relating to the number of casualties in battles such as the Somme and Ypres, the number of people signing up to the British Army as volunteers was starting to fall.

It was in response to this that the British government decided to introduce conscription, and in 1916 the law was changed so that it was a legal obligation for men to service in the military for a certain period of time. However, there was a clause included that stated those who had a “conscientious objection to bearing arms” were freed from this obligation. As a result, four different type of CO evolved:

1. Pacifists who were against any war in general.
2. Political objectors who did not consider the German government to be an enemy.
3. Religious objectors who believed war was against their religion, such as Quakers and Jehovah Witnesses.
4. A combination of the above.

However, there were also some CO’s who were against fighting but still wanted to ‘to their bit’ for the country. This often involved working in factories or helping even closer to the front line by becoming stretcher bearers in the trenches on the Western Front.

Meanwhile, there were other CO’s who completely refused to get involved in the war, and these were referred to as ‘absolutists’.

Anyone who tried to use the clause to get out of service was required to face a tribunal to explain why they were not willing or able to fight.

By the end of 1915, more than 528,000 people had been lost from the British Army due to being killed, rounded or missing. However, Volunteers to ‘Kitchener’s Army’ had also begun to reduce. Conscription aimed to deal with situations such as this, but it became a rather controversial issue. Commenting on the idea of conscription, Lord Roberts wrote:

"Compulsory service is, I believe, as distasteful to the nation as it is incompatible with the conditions of an Army like ours, which has such a large proportion of its units on foreign service. I hold moreover, that the man who voluntarily serves his country is more to be relied upon as a good fighting soldier than is he who is compelled to bear arms."

When conscription was eventually introduced in 1916, it was known as the Military Service Act. Despite this, it soon became known by many as the ‘Batchelor’s Bill’ due to the fact that conscription only included unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 41. However, by May 1916 it was expanded to include married men, and by April 1918, all men from 18 to 51 were obliged to take part in the war effort.

As the net widened, more and more people began to object to the act in spite of the CO clause. A No-Conscription Fellowship was founded early in the war and produced the following leaflet to explain why it felt the act of enforcing conscription was wrong.

All of the men who signed the leaflet above were charged under the Defence of the Realm Act, and were fined for their actions. Those who refused to pay the fine were sent to prison.