Issue 2. Chapter 1- Recruitment & Conscription ( conchies also) Flashcards
What did the military service act specify and were there any exceptions?
Men, from the ages of 18 to 41, were called up. Unless they were married ( or widowed with children) , or in one of a number of reserved professions ( usually industrial but also involved clergymen)
How did one have to go about exemption?
They had to fill out an application before the appointed date to a local tribunal for the issue of a certificate of exemption.
What were the main grounds for exemption ?
- If it was in the nation interest if the man should be engaged in other work
- if serious hardship would arise owing to his exception financial or business obligations or domestic position ( no mother etc )
- if there was Ill health or infirmity
- if he had a conscientious objection
What was conscientious objector defined as?
They weren’t clearly defined by the military service act, but the gov issued under the act made reference to those whose ‘objection genuinely rests on religious or moral convictions’
Why were ‘conchies’ unpopular ?
Saw them as unpatriotic shirkers and at worst subversive revolutionaries.
Who were ‘conchies’ mainly and what were their reasons ? Why did others object ?
Jehovas witnesses, whalers or other Christian denominations, who simply saw killing wrong, while others objected to war on political grounds.
What’s the estimation of the amount of of conscientious objectors?
16,500.
How many ‘absolutists’ refused to apply for exemption?
2,425.
What happened to the absolutists who refused to apply for exemption?
They were eventually imprisoned, often sent to wormwood scrubs in London.
How many conchies were there in Scottish prisons by September 1916 and why did they object mainly?
121, many members of the ILP.
What were conditions like in the prisons for conchies ?
Not much to eat, poor sanitation, harsh conditions , leaky roofs , no treatment for illness. They could take supervised work in building projects and agriculture and forestry schemes.
What did the no-conscription fellowship oppose and who did it work with?
Presented an unceasing and unequivocal opposition to the war. Worked with ILP, the society of friends and the fellowship of reconciliation and other pacifist groups.
How did the no- conscription fellowship and other pacifist groups help conchies?
They maintained contact with hundreds of men who resisted conscription, and frequently arranged for their defence in court.
Created discussion through sympathetic MP’s in the House of Commons for the conchies treatment in the prisons and camps.
