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Conscientious Objectors from Croydon in the First World War



Conscientious objectors teachers pack The aim of the pack is for students to investigate a range of sources related to conscientious objectors from the First World War before considering the stories of men from Croydon. This teachers pack contains links to other websites/organisations for extra information as well as background information on each topic covered in the students pack. If you are already studying the topic then you may not need the background information included. Homework: Students to research why people objected to the First World War. We suggest the following websites to research the topic.

http://www.quaker.org.uk/about-quakers/our-history/quakers-and-wwi

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/



Lesson One: Military Service Act Learning objective: For students to understand why conscription was introduced and who the military service act related to. Explain to the students about the move from volunteering for service to conscription.

What caused it? Why did it happen.

Links to information Parliament and the First World War: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/parliament-and-the-first-world-war/ Peace Pledge Union on conscription http://www.ppu.org.uk/cosnew/cos03.html Imperial War Museum: How did Britain increase and maintain the fighting force? http://www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/how-did-britain-increase-and-maintain-the-fighting-force Then give the students the worksheet including the Military Service Act and questions. Work through the questions individually answering them but then discuss as a class. Home work feedback At this point you could discuss the reasons why people objected to war that the students came up with from their homework. Political, social or religious reasons are the most common.

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/parliament-and-the-first-world-war/

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/parliament-and-the-first-world-war/

http://www.ppu.org.uk/cosnew/cos03.html

http://www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/how-did-britain-increase-and-maintain-the-fighting-force

http://www.iwm.org.uk/learning/resources/how-did-britain-increase-and-maintain-the-fighting-force



Lesson Two: Military Tribunals The Learning objective is to start looking into how the military tribunals made their decisions about exemptions to military service. Read out the questions tribunals were supposed to ask those requesting exemption from military service. Have a class discussion about whether these were fair questions. Ask the students to work through the questions about the Military tribunals included in their work pack. They could also look at the Case studies included and state whether they think the people asking for exemption would have been granted it and what kind of exemption it would have been ie absolute exemption, or exemption from combatant service. Case Study One: The widow was granted absolute exemption for her son. Case Study Two: Roderic Kendal Clark was exempted from combatative service if within 21 days he was engaged in work of national importance. Case Study Three: Walter Trevelyan was granted absolute exemption. Information on Military Tribunals (not included in the students packs) Military Service tribunals were bodies formed by councils to hear applications for exemption from conscription into the British Army during the First World War. They were not recruiting bodies, however they played an important part in the process of conscription. The tribunals were originally established as part of the Derby Scheme in 1915 but were continued by the Military Service Act. To reflect the two areas of local government present in Croydon at the time of the introduction of the act, two tribunals considered exemptions to military service. They were the Croydon Tribunal and the Coulsdon and Purley Tribunal.



Croydon tribunal The first sitting of the Croydon tribunal under the Conscription Act was held on the 29th February 1916. The tribunal was led by the mayor Howard Houlder. During the war Houlder acted as the chief magistrate, chairman of the Military Tribunal, advocate for war loans and for all funds for the support and comfort of sailors, soldiers and their families. The tribunal was made up of Aldermen, JP’s and local men such as Charles Heath Clarke who had resigned his membership to the Croydon Friends during the First World War because he could not accept the pacifist position. The Croydon tribunal held its last hearing on 7th January 1919 at the Town Hall. In the three years they had existed they had held 258 sittings and dealt with 10,445 cases. They granted 2,901 exemptions to service. Coulsdon and Purley tribunal The first meeting of the Coulsdon and Purley tribunal was held on January 14th 1916. Duncan Mackenzie Kerley was elected Chairman at the meeting. He was a Kings Counsel, and was knighted in 1921 as a member of the commission on income tax. The Coulsdon and Purley tribunal featured at least one MP J Hugh Edwards who was a Congregationalist minister and Member of Parliament for Mid Glamorganshire. Three of the conscientious objectors mentioned in this pack appeared at the Coulsdon and Purley local tribunal Roderic Kendall Clark, Robert Oscar Mennell and Mark Guy Pearce. Tribunals were provided with a list of questions which were designed to test whether or not a conscientious objector was genuine. The answers to these questions were supposed



to show the Tribunal that the applicant had a long standing objection to fighting in the war. Men objecting had to state precisely why they objected and then answer questions about:

Whether they would be willing to join in military service of any nature including non-combatant service.

How long they had held their objections for (providing evidence for this such as letters of support)

Whether they were a member of a religious body Whether they would be willing to accept national service of some kind. If they were not willing to undertake service how had they reconciled the

privelege of enjoying british citizenship with this refusal. The outcomes of the tribunals: Decisions could be appealed to higher tribunals such as the Central Tribunal whose members were appointed by the Crown. If exemption was refused, a man was considered to have enlisted into military service and so would be absent without leave. They were subject to arrest and handover to the military authorities. Refusal to wear a uniform or sign enlistment papers would result in a Court Martial. Punishment would start with a month in solitary confinement with bread and water performing repetitive jobs such as breaking stone or picking oakum. At first CO’s were sent to military prisons, but from mid 1916 this was changed to civil prisons. Most CO’s served around 3 months but could be re-arrested as a deserter, court martialled and returned to prison.



Lesson Three: Punishment The learning objective for this lesson is for students to gain an understanding of the types of punishments CO’s could face for refusing military service during the First World War, including prison and labour camps. Give out the CO postcard to students. Ask them what they think this postcard shows? Please look at the information below regarding treatment of CO’s in prison. This is not included in the student’s work packs. You could ask them to write creatively, imagine they are a CO in prison writing to a family member Prison treatment

Under a hard labour sentence, the first month was spent in solitary confinement in the cell.

Men would have half an hours exercise a day with wardens supervising to check they did not communicate.

A silent rule was imposed on the men. Men were allowed baths once a week when they were also issued with clean

shirts, socks and towels. Twice a week men could change their underwear Hair cutting and shaving was permitted at regular intervals. Sentences were originally short to try and shock the CO’s into considering military

service. Men were allowed no writing materials in the cell other than a slate and chalk

and were given limited access to pen and ink, allowing them to write letters. Several CO’s started a newspaper at Winchester Prison called “The Winchester

Whisperer” which they produced by siphoning off ink and hiding it in improvised pots made from balls of wax prisoners were given as part of their work making



sanks. The newspaper was written on the brown sheets of toilet paper using improvised pens such as needles

Conditions for CO’s in prison were often the same as criminal prisoners but they did succeed in getting prisons to offer a vegetarian diet. Vegetarianism was common among CO’s.

Co’s were allowed a very limited number of consored letters, they had no calendars or newspapers and were allowed only a few visits.

They were limited to a few books from the prison library but later CO’s were allowed to have books sent in under the condition thay they donated them to the prison library once they had finished with them.

CO’s at work camps Later in the war the government looked to create new schemes to get CO’s out of prison and working on the land. The first camp was at Dyce in Scotland. Dyce •Mark Hayler described Dyce in some of his diaries. He said at Dyce men worked in granite quarries for ten hours a day and lived in tents, in the northern part of Scotland. •The camp was eventually closed after a CO died. Dartmoor The second camp Dartmoor was designated a Labour Camp in 1917. •Around a thousand such men replaced the convicts, occupied their cells and performed the same work as they had done. •All locks were removed, they had freedom of movement locally and the Warders acted as supervisors only. •However the CO’s and their families were generally despised and suffered hardship. •1,200 men were set to work upon the farm, quarry and recovery of moorland. •They worked every day except Sunday, often moving stones in barrows from the mines to the crushing machines and then onto the roads where they were needed for repairs. •Applications for leave of absence were hard to get unless doctors evidence was forthcoming to the effect that someone in their family was gravely ill.



•There were generally two types of CO’s at Dartmoor, the religious group including the Quakers and the political or revolutionary group. •Men described the work as completely useless causing a waste of their energy and irritation among the men. They felt that there was no attempts to use the talents of these men, instead they carried out agricultural work in which for example eight men were involved in engaging a hand roller on a field which could have been completed by a horse in a third of the time. •The boots the Co’s were made to wear bore the marks of the conscientious objector, the three pronged broad arrow, intended to trace anyone should they escape.



Lesson Four: CO Literature Students have been given a poem written by a CO during the First World War and some questions related to the motives behind the poem. The poem mentions several organisations that a CO could join during the war. Extended work: The students could research each of the groups listed in the poem to find out more about them. I have included a glossary below that could assist with this.



Glossary Conscription: This is a law that says if you are able to fight you must fight. Conscientious objector (CO): A conscientious objector is a person who as a matter of conscience objects to combatant service. This could be for a religious reason one such group would be the Quakers, or for a political reason such as the Independent Labour party. Absolutist: A conscientious objector who demanded absolute exemption from military service. They believed that any compromise within the conscription system was to support the war effort. Alternativist: A conscientious objector who accepted exemption from military service conditional upon performing civilian work of national importance, for example at Dartmoor or Dyce work camp or volunteering for the Friends Ambulance unit. Non- combatants: These were people prepared to accept call-up into the army but not to be trained to use weapons. Tribunal: A kind of court. In the First World War if you objected to war you had to apply to a tribunal for exemption. These men listened to your arguments to try and decide whether you had a valid exemption to conscription. The Non-combatant Corp: Established in 1916 to coincide with the Military Service Act, there were 8 NCC companies who catered for the men who accepted non-combatant service. These men wore uniform and obeyed military law but undertook work such as road building and quarrying. Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU): Established in 1914 by a group of young Quakers this was seen as an alternative work that Quakers could commit to in order to avoid active service in the army. Independent Labour Party (ILP) : A socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The No Conscription Fellowship (NCF): A British pacificist organisation founded in London in 1914. The organisation opposed conscription and was successful in making provision



for CO’s a part of the Military Service Act bill. They kept records of every CO during the war. District Court Martial (DCM): This court martial tried minor offences and could only impose limited terms of punishment excluding the death penalty. The Pelham Committee: An informal but widely used name for the Committee on Work of National Importance. They were established to advise tribunals as to what was deemed work of national importance. Royal Army Medical Corps: The RAMC operated the army’s medical units and provided medical detachments for the units of infantry, artillery and other arms during the First World War. 3 Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA): During the war the YMCA supported the troops. Providing soldiers with food and a place to rest on the frontline or at home in military camps and railway stations. They also embarked on an education programme for soldiers which eventually became known as the Army Education Corps. .



Further work Please see below biographies of men from Croydon. Students could look at all of these men, or you could select a few stories for the students to concentrate on. You could discuss these as a class, based on what the students have learnt about Co’s. Students could do some creative writing; Write a letter from a CO to a loved one from prison or one of the work camps talking about what life is like. Make sure students include the reason why they are objecting to the war. Stage a tribunal hearing in class based on one of the cases. Each of the students could act as a tribunal member, witness or as the Conscientious objector themself. They could work together to create the arguments for and against objection and make their own conclusion about whether they think the CO should have been granted absolute exemption. You could arrange a research visit to the Museum of Croydon, in which the class could learn more about the Hayler family or George Glasscock based on the personal archives we hold. Contact [email protected] for more information.

mailto:[email protected]



Conscientious Objectors from Croydon Roderick Kendall Clark In 1916, Roderick Kendall Clark was a 32 year old Quaker living in Riddlesdown Road, Purley. In 1914 he had assisted in drafting the call for Christian pacifisim which was widely circulated to young men of military age. A member of the No Conscription Council, he trained volunteers for Quaker relief work in Britain and Europe. His case was heard at the Purley Tribunal on March 4th 1916 and he was granted absolute exemption. However the case of R K Clark was reviewed in July 1916, requiring him to prove that his work was of national importance. By January 1917, his exemption had been withdrawn and he was court martialled for refusing to wear a uniform, sentenced to 112 days hard labour and sent to Wormwood Scrubs prison. At his hearing, Mr Clark stated “I have pleaded not guilty because it is not in the power of an earthly authority so to control my mind and soul as to make me a soldier.” He served a further prison sentence of 12 months at Maidstone Prison. Clark’s health suffered at both prisons. He was discharged by order of the War Office on 8th April 1919, after two years imprisonment and spent time in France and Germany doing Quaker relief work. He died in 1937 aged 53.



John Arthur Clinch John Arthur Clinch was a 20 year old Quaker living in South Croydon when he appeared at the Croydon Tribunal on March 25th 1916. A report in the Croydon Advertiser lists him as ‘an insurance clerk who considered war and the New Testament irreconcilable’. He refused non-combatant work which he saw as helping the war and was given exemption from combative service. In May, he was escorted in handcuffs from Croydon to Kingston following an appearance at the Police Court. John was sent to the 10th Border Regiment to train at Seaford where he refused to obey orders, resulting in a sentence of 3 months hard labor at Maidstone prison. He was transferred to Dyce Camp under the Home Office Scheme and then to Wakefield, Newhaven and Armor. By June 1917, he was arrested again for failing to salute three officers. He stated that he had no desire to offer any discourtesy to those who like himself, were “following the dictates of conscience in doing what they believe to be their duty.” The result of this court hearing was 12 months hard labour, later remitted to 8 months at Maidstone prison. By April 1919, having served 3 sentences of almost 2 years, he was released. In 1924 he married Elsie Sleep, sister of Philip, another CO and died in 1981.



Charles John Cobb Charles John Cobb, a tea merchant’s clerk from Croydon was married with a young son. He was imprisoned 5 times between 1916 and 1919 and is arguably one of Croydon’s most famous conscientious objectors. His first appearance at the local tribunal resulted in the refusal of exemption. He served sentences in Maidstone, Winchester, Pentonville prisons and by June 1918 was severely ill. He was discharged by order of the Home secretary on 25th February 1919 but died at his home on 17th March 1919. Charles John Cobb was featured in an article in ‘The Tribunal’ of March 27th 1919. He had been suffering from congestion of the lungs, pleurisy and consumption. Carrying heavy sacks of coat whilst at Pentonville Prison had caused curvature of the spine. He was just 41 years of age when he died and his grave was unmarked until a headstone was erected in 1988 69 British men died after arrest for conscientious objection; ten whilst still in prison.



Gilbert Arthur Foan Gilbert Arthur Foan was born in Yeovil Somerset, and was a shopkeeper, hairdresser and tobacconist. He was a Quaker, a member of the non-conscription fellowship and an Independent Labour party supporter. Gilbert and his wife Edith were married in October 1914. They had one son Henry who was born around 1926. Gilbert appeared three times at the local Croydon Tribunal in July and August 1916 and again in 1917. He was sent to the Pelham Committee on 21st July 1916. At one hearing he stated: “I am not a soldier and therefore do not recognise any military authority. I am here today because a body of men, termed a ‘tribunal’ had failed to live up to its title and to be a ‘court of justice’ The Military Service Act, no 2 enacts that a man who is found to have a genuine conscientious objection is entitled to absolute exemption from Military Service. The tribunal found me to be a genuine Conscientious objector but failed to carry out the law. The immediate responsibility resting upon the tribunal. The larger responsibility falls upon the governing classes which has by various means used force to gain its ends and propagate war as a gospel” Gilbert was sentenced to hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs prison and later at Maidstone. Later he was the subject of a petition to the War Office due to his poor health and was eventually discharged to his home by order of the Army council on the 2nd April 1919. After the First World War, Gilbert Foan stood as a local councillor and as a Labour Candidate for Croydon North at the 1923 general election where he won 37% of the vote. He also stood in the 1924 and 1929 general elections for Croydon and the 1931 election for Chelsea. He was a member of the Borough Council and also a member of the Board of Guardians in 1930. On 9th January 1924 he attended the “Fetters and Roses” dinner at the Houses of Parliament, given for Members of Parliament who had been imprisoned for political or

A caricature of Gilbert Foan from the Surrey Gazette



religious reasons. Alongside Gilbert Foan was Robert Mennell another of the conscientious objectors mentioned in this pack. Gilbert Foan died on Feb 15 1935 aged 46 and was buried at West Norwood Crematorium.



George Glasscock and other CO’s at the prison camp George Glasscock George Glasscock, a 20 year old from Morland Road in Croydon first appeared at Croydon Local tribunal on March 18th 1916. His case was disallowed but on appeal he was given exemption from combative service. At his appearance at Croydon Police Court in May 1916, his father objected to the Mayor sitting on the bench.Glasscock was fined £2 and given a police escort through town in chains alongside John Arthur Clinch to the army barracks at Kingston. After refusing to obey an officer’s command, his response was “Gentleman in making my statement I merely wish to point out that though technically I disobeyed the order in question, yet as a conscientious objector I did not. The fact of my holding a non-combatant certificate shows that I proved to the Tribunal my objection to military service, but although they admitted my objection and although according to the Military service act I have the right to absolute exemption, the Tribunal declared that they had power to grant exemption from combatant service only. So far I have done no military service and only can only continue on these lines. I therefore do not admit myself to be a soldier and plead “not guilty” to the charge.”

George Glasscock Local Tribunal exemption. Museum of Croydon collection.



George served 4 months hard labour at Maidstone Prison. He was released on August 21st but on refusing to sign army papers was sent on to Dyce work camp in Aberdeen from August to October 1916. At Dyce work parties in the local quarries were organised into five hour shifts, starting at 7am. George was only given 8 days leave and was then transferred to Dartmoor. Towards the end of his sentence his parents were able to visit George at Dartmoor, but the visit only lasted five minutes. George’s mother attempted to get him work during the war. The letter included in this pack is from Cadbury Brothers Limited. She was unsuccessful in finding him work. George remained at Dartmoor until March 1919 when he returned to the family business in Croydon and worked well into his 70s as a carpenter, dying in July 1991.

Letter to Mrs Glasscock from Cadbury Brothers Ltd. Museum of Croydon collection.



The Hayler Family Guy Hayler was a campaigner who had run a temperance (abstinence from alcohol) hotel in Hull during the 1870’s and later became full-time secretary to the North of England Temperance League. During this time, he began to work with Rosalind, Lady Carlisle who became President of the league. He became an international temperance campaigner travelling to North America several times. Around 1906, Guy became unable to work. Lady Carlisle provided accommodation for his family and an allowance so that he could continue in his work. His wife Ann Elizabeth was left money which allowed the family to move to London in 1909 and buy a house in Avenue Road, South Norwood. Guy continued his temperance work there. In the 1918 general election that followed World War I, he stood for Parliament as an independent Liberal candidate. He died in September 1943, aged 93. Guy and Elizabeth had 8 children. One of their sons, Guy Wilfrid emigrated to Canada in 1911 and the three remaining sons were all conscientious objectors. Walter Trevelyan (1881 – 1958) initially worked alongside his father Guy as Clerk to the North of England Temperance Society in Newcastle. After the family moved to South Norwood, he is listed in the 1911 census as a glass and china merchant in Selhurst Road. At his tribunal at the Town Hall, Croydon on March 31st 1916, Walter declared an absolute objection to warfare in general. He would not consent to non-combatant service, YMCA or land work. His father Guy supported his son, emphasing their firmly rooted conscientious convictions against war. Walter was granted absolute exemption which could be appealed against by the Military representatives at any time. He compiled a register of local conscientious objectors with details of the applicants, the tribunal they appeared before, police and army court appearances with notes of their fate and subsequent biographical information. This register is held within the archive collections at the Museum of Croydon (Reference: AR1064). Later in life, Walter became quite eccentric and his nephew Wilfrid remembers that he would only eat radishes and butter beans.



Mark Henry Chambers (1887 – 1986) was living in Liverpool when the Military Service Act came into force and his appeal to the Local Tribunal in Earlstown, Lancashire was heard on March 3rd. He was given exemption from combative service, which was withdrawn after appeal in Liverpool on March 23rd. Following a District Court Martial at Aldershot in May 1916, he served 84 days at Wandsworth Prison and was released in July 1916. In April 1917, he was arrested for being absent from a training battalion and was sent to Winchester Prison, then transferred to Dartmoor under the Home Office Scheme, remaining there until January 1919. In February 1919 he went to work in Paris as a member of the Friends War Victims Committee. After the war, Mark continued to work with his father and in 1925, he became the executive secretary of the World Prohibition Federation and continued to edit their publication, the ‘International Record’ until 1968. Mark married Daisy, the widow of a fellow conscientious objector, John Warin in 1930. Their son, Wilfrid was born in 1931 and sadly Daisy died in March 1935. His sister Edith moved in with the family which allowed Mark to continue his international temperance work. Glen Herbert (1889 – 1986) had taken a strong religious stand against war whilst at school. In 1916, he was living in Highgate as a gardener to Lady Cory Wright. Glen was an absolutist, refusing to contemplate either combatant or non-combatant service, on grounds on conscience. He appeared before tribunals at Hornsey and Middlesex during March and April 1916 and his application and appeal were dismissed. Finally he was granted CO status by the Central Tribunal provided he went to one of the Home Office Work Camps. By September 1916, he was at the notorious Dyce Camp in Aberdeen. Glen wrote to his father describing the lack of a hospital or building for those who were ill, of taking them food and trying to comfort them. Guy Hayler wrote to the Aberdeen newspapers and the camp was closed down in November 1916 after a man died there. Glen also spent time at the Newhaven work centre with other Croydon conscientious objectors



Other members of the Hayler family supported the temperance and peace keeping work. Ethel was involved in compiling the Croydon Council Roll of Honour when working at Croydon Library and became the Children’s Librarian. Edith was involved in the No Conscription Fellowship, an organisation formed to support those who objected to war. Support was provided by documenting the circumstances of those who objected as well as providing practical support for families whilst their relatives were in prison.



Robert Oscar Mennell Robert Mennell was a member of the Purley friends (A Quaker) and the secretary of the Friends Service Committee. He was also a tea dealer from Kenley and was married with 4 children. His brothers Bryan, Edward and Roger were also conscientious objectors during the First World War. Robert first appeared at the Coulsdon and Purley Tribunal on July 31st 1916. This resulted in exemption from combative service on condition that any work was satisfactory to the Pelham Committee. He appeared at various hearings in August and September to try to gain exemption and was finally granted this at the Central London Tribunal on 5th October 1916. On 3rd March 1917 he refused to accept work under the Home Office Scheme resulting in another appearance at the Purley tribunal in May 1917. On this occasion after his application was refused, he was arrested and escourted by army escort to Kingston Barracks. After a District Court Martial on 9th January 1917, he was sentenced to 112 days hard Labour in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. After release in April 1917, he appeared for a second DCM at Gravesend in May 1917 and was sent to Maidstone prison until April 1918. He was given temporarily release from 24th December 1918 to 30th December 1918. By January 1919 he had served 4 prison sentences totalling 2 years. He was discharged by Order of the Secretary of State on 7th April 1919. Robert Mennell stood as the Labour candidate for Surrey Eastern at the 1924 general election. He also stood in 1929 when he obtained 16.% of the vote . Robert Mennell died on 1st January 1960.



Mark Guy Pearce “I am as convinced today as I was then, nay more so that the greatest crime that the world has ever seen was the war to end wars.” Mark Guy Pearce from a letter to Walter T Hayler 1920. In 1916 Mark Guy Pearce was a 30 year old solicitors managing clerk living at Sunnydene Road in Purley. He was a member of the Purley Quaker Meeting, an Adult School attender and a member of the Temperance movement. He attended the tribunal at Purley in July 1916 to claim absolute exemption and was granted conditional exemption. He attended a county appeal in September 1916 and was again granted exemption from combatant service only and refused leave to appeal at the Central Tribunal. On September 22nd 1916 he was arrested and handed over by Croydon County bench for non-compliance with Call-up notices, which made him a soldier absent without leave. He was fined £2 and taken to Kingston barracks. This appearance at the bench was mentioned in the Croydon Advertiser. “Defendant who is a Wesleyan was arrested in Godstone road on the previous evening. He told the Bench that from his youth he had been engaged in philanthropic and religious work and he was always prepared to do whatever he could for the good of humanity. He had appealed on conscientious grounds to both the Local and the Appeal Tribunals but had not been granted absolute exemption without conditions of any kind that he had claimed. The Bench said they had nothing to do but fine him 40s and had him over to an escort” On September 29th 1916 Mark faced a Court Martial at Kingston for refusing to obey military orders and was sentenced to six months hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs prison. Following an appeal to the Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs in October 1916, his case was considered genuine and he was sent to join the Non-Combatant corps at Gravesend. In October 1917, he was sent to Dartmoor to join the Home Office Scheme at Princetown. Mark was a friend of Mark Hayler and they were both at Dartmoor during the same period. Mark was married to Beatrice Pearce and he died on 12 April 1937.



Men at Dyce October 1916. Image courtesy of the Peace Pledge Union. Phillip Sleep On the 15 January 1916 the Croydon Advertiser featured a letter to the editor from Phillip Sleep who lived at 58 Estcourt road in South Norwood. He was writing in reference to the Military Service Bill which was before Parliament at the time. He wrote “Not only would compulsory military service be an outrage upon thousands of men in this country who are resolutely opposed to taking any part in the destruction of human life on conscientious grounds, but there is also the grave danger that it would soon lead to a more comprehensive measure of conscription. I.e. the application of the compulsory principle to industry which would indeed, strike at the very foundations of our traditional freedom.” Mr Sleep was a 24 year old solicitor’s clerk who would later become a clerk in the offices of the No Conscription Fellowship. Mr Sleep appeared at the local tribunal in Croydon on March 25th 1916. He was a member of the Independent Labour Party and the Union of Democratic Control. His case was adjourned for a fortnight until the 6th April to allow him to gain work of national importance. Mr Sleep refused and so his claim was disallowed.



Mr Sleep re-appealed on the 15th April 1916, at this time he was given exemption from combative service. On the 26 May 1916 he appeared at the Police Court in Croydon and was fined £5. He was sent to Kingston and at the army court was put into the 10th Border regiment. On his enrolment papers for the army it states under the section Exemption from combative service on conscientious grounds “Non Combatant, Croydon” Mr Sleep attended a District Court Martial at Seaford on June 12th and served 4 months hard labour at Maidstone Civil Prison. Mr Sleep’s case was mentioned at this time in Parliament. In the CO’s Hansard (the daily record of mentions of matters relating to Conscientious objectors in the Houses of Parliament) Mr King asks the Under-secretary for war “whether he has inquired into the case of Philip H. Sleep, of the 10th Border Regiment, Non-Combatant Corps, who was granted absolute exemption from military service by the Croydon Local Tribunal on 25th March, 1916; whether his exemption was after wards reviewed by the Surrey Appeal Tribunal, who were misled by Sir Lewis Dibden's advice that a conscientious objector could not obtain absolute exemption; whether this man, who was originally granted absolute exemption, is now in Maidstone Civil Prison; and what is it intended to do in this case on Sleep finishing his imprisonment?” Mr Tenant responds that “the case will be dealt with under the arrangements announced by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister last week ” Phillip was transferred to the Home Office scheme. Under the scheme he was sent to Dyce Quarry Camp near Aberdeen until September 1916. On the 26 October 1917 Mr Sleep was recalled to colours, was absent without leave and was declared a deserter. Mr Sleep was discharged as no longer fit for army service on 22nd August 1918 as he he had contracted TB in one lung. Philip Sleep died in 1986 in Croydon. He was 94 and had been living with his sister Elsie and her husband John Clinch (another of the Croydon conscientious objectors).



John Richard Warin John Richard (Jack) Warin was a 23 year old engineer’s clerk in 1916. In 1911 he is listed in the census as living with his family in Crowther Road South Norwood. In September 1916, after appeals to the local tribunal and an appearance at the police court, he was escorted to join the army at Worcester and was placed in the 5th Southern Non-Combatant Corps. After an appearance at a District Court Martial at Tregantle in October 1916, he was sentenced to 6 months in Wormwood Scrubs and Wandsworth prisons. He also served time in Dorchester Prison and in August 1917 was sentenced to a further 12 months hard labour. He was released in June 1918 After the war, John married Daisy Florence Harland in September 1920 in Croydon. He died on November 17th 1923 aged 30 years old. Daisy his wife later married one of the other Croydon conscientious objectors Mark H C Hayler in September 1930.



Evaluation Did you use all the sources with your students? Will you be using the biographies of the CO’s from Croydon and if so in what capacity? What learning outcomes did this pack help you meet with your students? Which other topics would you like us to try and produce a Croydon focused resource pack for? Have you ever visited the Museum of Croydon before? How can we encourage you to visit the Museum of Croydon with your students?

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