Friends compile CO database
‘There’s no single national source, incredibly.’
Quakers are compiling a database to remember conscientious objectors (COs) in world war two.
The team includes Ellis Brooks, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), Philip Austin and Barry Mills, from the Northern Friends Peace Board, and Rosemary Rich, who recently completed a PhD on the subject. The team is encouraging descendants to share details about their relatives on a purpose-built website (https://bit.ly/ww2co).
Ellis Brooks, from QPSW’s peace education team, told the Friend that the project emerged from research on world war two begun by Barry Mills during lockdown. ‘[He] is still going, trawling libraries and archives for every mention of a tribunal – there’s no single national source, incredibly,’ said Ellis.
‘QPSW is grateful for Barry’s work because he and [the Peace Pledge Union (PPU)] are already confident there were more COs than is generally estimated, but there might be even more than PPU thought. I’m hoping to turn this into a big map like the test one on the website. As well as the “big data”, we’re also hoping people will share stories we can feature as case studies (you can see one on the map for Bournemouth).’
Ellis added that, as world war two is commemorated next year, the team can highlight ‘how much conscientious objection was and is part of British culture’.
Rosemary Rich, whose grandfather was a CO, said she wished for ‘stories like his to be more widely known’. The researcher presented her paper at Northumbria University last month about pacifism and conscientious objection in children’s literature, in partnership with her mother, Julia Hope from Goldsmiths University. Quakers Joanna Dales, Mark Stanley and Graham Taylor also gave talks at the conference ‘Protesting War in the Twentieth Century’.
People can share their stories at https://sites.google.com/view/....
