Scott Duckers portrait. Photo: Taken from his book Handed Over.
2 March 1916: D-day for conscientious objectors
Drawing on the memoirs of Scott Duckers, David Boulton reports on the knock on the door that told conscientious objectors they were now ‘deemed to be soldiers’
The five weeks between the passing of the Military Service Act 1916 on 27 January and implementation day on 2 March saw a frenzy of activity as the government made the necessary preparations for the social revolution which compulsion entailed. The War Office was instructed to organise new Non-Combatant Corps to accommodate conscientious objectors (COs) willing to support the war effort without bearing weapons. Local councils were instructed to set up tribunals to assess the sincerity of those pleading conscience. And out in the country the No-Conscription Fellowship, the Friends Service Committee and local peace groups, which had fought and lost the battle against conscription but won the battle for a conscience clause, organised rallies, circulated leaflets and marched under the conjoined banners of the Red Flag and the Prince of Peace.
