Please welcome Sally Zigmond to the blog today. Sally is the author of the recently-published historical novel The Lark Ascending. Today, she’s sharing about conscientious objectors in World War I. It’s fascinating!
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
When Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914 the War Office knew full well that Britain was woefully unprepared and began a major propaganda campaign to encourage more men to join up. Conscription started on 2nd March 1916. The act was extended to married men on 25th May 1916 and later the age was extended to 50.
Included was a clause that said that those who were in jobs essential for the war effort, those who were the only supporter of dependents, were medically unfit or “those who could show a conscientious objection.” So who did object and why?
The answer is more complex than the Act implies and was often dealt with idiosyncratically by the many tribunals the men stood before. The most common reason was religion. Quakers did not enlist because to be a Quaker meant you did not approve of war, although some did join up, but not many. Many Christian Fundamentalists took the Bible at its word. “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and could not be dissuaded from their stance although many agreed to take on non-combative roles.
Then there were people that today we would call “humanists” who also thought that killing ones fellow man was wrong but not through any religious law. Finally, many conscientious objectors held left-wing political beliefs and hated everything the Tories or Whigs stood for. [Michael Hardy, the male protagonist in The Lark Ascending, falls into this category.]
Every man who did not answer the call to enlist was summonsed before a tribunal of local prominent people. Their role was to check the person’s truth and sincerity in refusing to fight. Unfortunately, personal prejudice frequently swayed their decisions. Appeals were possible but rarely, if ever, successfully. Britain was very much in the mood to fight this war and despised any naysayers.
Conscientious Objectors themselves were dived into two camps – Alternativists or Absolutists. In The Lark Ascending this is represented by two men: Eleanor’s lover, Jack, and Michael Hardy. The two of them, as Eleanor recalls, had a vicious argument on Scarborough beach. Jack, the alternativist, chose to work as an ambulance driver and was soon killed. Michael, the absolutist, suffered guilt because of it but refused to change his stance and made amends by loving Eleanor as a sister. Later on, he was a good friend of one conscientious objector who died in prison as a result. This explains his hatred for a certain family.
In fact, over a third of Cos were sent prison, mainly absolutists. At first this was military prisons and later civil prisons where their they were treated like convicted murderers – how ironic was that? Their punishment followed a strict routine of 112 days third division hard labour, the worst level of of prison sentence at that time in England. The sentence began with one month’s solitary confinement on bread and water rations, then hard labour – stone-breaking, sewing mail-bags and picking oakum. With good behaviour, the sentence would be three months only. However, many were subject to Cat and Mouse tactics as experienced earlier by the Suffragettes.
The cruellest punishment reported was when a troop of men were taken to France with their regiments and were told when they arrived that if their refused to obey orders they would be court-marshalled and shot. This was to unnerve them as the sentence was never carried out.
Daily life for COs during a war that in the event proved to be everything they objected to – the pointless destruction of far too many young men – needed strength and determination. To be reviled, sneered at, called conchies and cowards or in the vocabulary at the time, pansies, beaten up, starved and hated more than the enemy soldiers was no easy option. Siegfried Sassoon, wrote:
“The conscientious objector is a brave man, He will be remembered as one of the few noble actors in this world drama when the impartial historian of the future sums up the history of this awful war.”
Sally Zigmond
About The Lark Ascending
Leeds 1919. The war is over but young Alice Fields, who hates her job in an old-fashioned shop, isn’t celebrating. However, her life is about to change when a rich customer leaves behind an expensive fur stole and Alice makes great efforts to return it. Dark secrets bring not only money but misery, too. During the contrasting worlds of the roaring twenties and the General Strike, love and deep friendships bloom like poppies on the devastated battlefields over which the lark rises again.
Reviewers have called it a “rewarding and compelling” novel that is a “different slant on the usual wartime novel.” Buy The Lark Ascending on Amazon and check out all the reviews on the blog tour.
About Sally Zigmond
Sally Zigmond was born in Leicester in 1951, has lived in Lincoln, Market Harborough and North London where she attended Queen Mary Collge, University of London. Having studied English Literature, she was a civilian Executive Officer in various departments in The Metropolitan Police (including the London bureau of Interpol).
When she married, she moved with her husband to Harrogate, North Yorkshire where they lived for over 30 years, bringing up two sons. With its stunning countryside and fascinating history, she was inspired to put pen to paper (or rather, fingers to keyboard) and write first, articles and short stories, both commercial and literary. The impetus of being published and winning competitions and awards for her fiction, Sally wrote historical novels, set in Yorkshire. (Hope Against Hope and The Lark Ascending) and a novella, a fictional interpretation of the life of Henriette d’Angeville, a French aristocrat, who was the first woman to willingly climbed to the summit of Mont Blanc in 1838.
After 10 years living in Rosedale Abbey in the middle of the North York Moors, she and her husband now live in Middlesbrough, the vibrant history of which has given her more ideas for future historical novels. Sallyzigmond.blogspot.com
Twitter @SallyZigmond
Thank you, Sally, for joining us on the blog today!