Editing Conscientious objector (section)

===United Kingdom===
{{Further|Conscription in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Conscientious Objector memorial, Tavistock Sq Gardens.jpg|thumb|Conscientious Objector memorial in [[Tavistock Square]] Gardens, London—dedicated on [[May 15#Holidays and observances|15 May]] 1994]]
The United Kingdom recognised the right of individuals not to fight in the 18th century following major problems with attempting to force [[Quakers]] into military service. The Militia Ballot Act of 1757 allowed Quakers to be excluded from service in the [[Militia (Great Britain)|Militia]]. It then ceased to be a major issue, since Britain's armed forces were generally all-volunteer. [[Press gangs]] were used to strengthen army and navy rolls on occasions from the 16th to the early 19th centuries. Pressed men did have the right of appeal, in the case of sailors, to the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]]. The [[Royal Navy]] last took pressed men during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

A more general right to refuse military service was not introduced until the [[First World War]]. Britain introduced conscription with the [[Military Service Act (United Kingdom)|Military Service Act]] of January 1916, which came into full effect on 2 March 1916. The Act allowed for objectors to be absolutely exempted, to perform alternative civilian service or to serve as a non-combatant in the army [[Non-Combatant Corps]], according to the extent to which they could convince a [[Military Service Tribunals|Military Service Tribunal]] of the quality of their objection.<ref>A. J. P. Taylor, ''English History, 1914–1945'' (Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 116.</ref>

Around 16,000 men were recorded as conscientious objectors, with Quakers, traditionally pacifist, forming a large proportion: 4,500 objectors were exempted on condition of doing civilian "work of national importance", such as farming, forestry or social service; and 7,000 were conscripted into the specially-created Non-Combatant Corps. Six thousand were refused any exemption and forced into main army regiments; if they then refused to obey orders, they were [[Court-martial#United Kingdom|court-martialled]] and sent to prison. Thus, the well-known pacifist and religious writer [[Stephen Henry Hobhouse]] was called up in 1916: he and many other Quaker activists took the unconditionalist stand, refusing both military and alternative service, and on enforced enlistment were court-martialled and imprisoned for disobedience.<ref>Brock, Peter,''These strange criminals: an anthology of prison memoirs by conscientious objectors to military service from the Great War to the Cold War'', p. 14, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0802087078}}</ref> Conscientious objectors formed only a tiny proportion of Military Service Tribunals' cases over the conscription period, estimated at 2 per cent.<ref>Adrian Gregory, 'Military Service Tribunals, 1916–1918' in J. Harris (ed.) ''Civil Society in British History''. (Oxford, 2003).</ref> Tribunals were notoriously harsh towards conscientious objectors, reflecting widespread public opinion that they were lazy, degenerate, ungrateful 'shirkers' seeking to benefit from the sacrifices of others.<ref>Lois Bibbings, ''Telling Tales About Men''(Manchester University Press, 2009).</ref>

In an attempt to press the issue, in May 1916 a group of thirty-five objectors, including the [[Richmond Sixteen]], were taken to France as conscripts and given military orders, the disobedience of which would warrant a death sentence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://menwhosaidno.org/Sentenced/index.html |title=The Men Who Said No |publisher=Peace Pledge Union |accessdate=2021-05-30}}</ref>  These men, known as "The Frenchmen", refused; the four ringleaders were formally sentenced to death by court-martial but immediately reprieved, with commutation to ten-years' penal servitude.<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10507058.Silence_in_castle_to_honour_First_World_War_conscientious_objectors/ Silence in castle to honour First World War conscientious objectors] dated 25 June 2013 at ''thenorthernecho.co.uk'', accessed 19 October 2014</ref>

Although a few objectors were accepted for non-combatant service in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]], acting as nursing/paramedic assistants, the majority of non-combatants served in the Non-Combatant Corps on non-lethal stores, road and railway building and general labouring in the UK and France. Conscientious objectors who were deemed not to have made any useful contribution to the state were formally [[Disfranchisement|disenfranchised]] (through a clause inserted in the [[Representation of the People Act 1918]] at the insistence of back-bench MPs) for the five years 1 September 1921 – 31 August 1926, but as it was a last-minute amendment there was no administrative machinery to enforce it, which was admitted to be a "dead letter".<ref>[[A. J. P. Taylor]], ''English History, 1914–1945'' (Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 116; [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/FWWpacifists.htm FWW Pacifists] at spartacus-educational.com</ref>

Britain's conscription legislation of 1916 did not apply to [[Ireland]], despite it then being part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. In 1918 the Army's manpower shortage led to passing a further act enabling conscription in Ireland if and when the government saw fit. In the event, the government never saw fit, although the legislation led to the [[Conscription Crisis of 1918]]. British conscription in the [[Second World War]] did not apply to [[Northern Ireland]]. Many [[Irishmen]] volunteered to fight in both world wars. The various parts of the [[British Empire]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] had their own laws: in general, all the larger countries of the Empire participated, and some were, in proportion to their population, major participants in the First World War.

In the Second World War, following the [[National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939]], there were nearly 60,000 registered Conscientious Objectors. Testing by tribunals resumed, this time by special Conscientious Objection Tribunals chaired by a judge, and the effects were much less harsh. If objectors were not a member of the Quakers or some similar pacifist organisation, it was generally enough to say that they objected to "warfare as a means of settling international disputes", a phrase from the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]] of 1928. The tribunals could grant full exemption, exemption conditional on alternative service, exemption only from combatant duties, or dismiss the application. Of the 61,000 who were registered, 3,000 were given complete exemption; 18,000 applications were initially dismissed, but a number of such applicants succeeded at the Appellate Tribunal, sometimes after a "qualifying" sentence of three-months' imprisonment for an offence deemed to have been committed on grounds of conscience. Of those directed to non-combatant military service almost 7,000 were allocated to the Non-Combatant Corps, re-activated in mid-1940; its companies worked in clothing and food stores, in transport, or any military project not requiring the handling of "material of an aggressive nature". In November 1940 it was decided to allow troops in the NCC to volunteer for work in [[bomb disposal]] and over 350 men volunteered.<ref name="UXB92">{{cite book |title= Danger UXB The Remarkable Story of the Disposal of Unexploded Bombs During the Second World War |last=Jappy |first=M. J |year=2001 |publisher=Channel 4 books |isbn=0-7522-1938-3 |page=92}}</ref> Other non-combatants worked in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]]. For conscientious objectors exempted conditional upon performing civil work, acceptable occupations were [[farm]] work, [[mining]], [[firefighting]] and the [[Emergency medical services|ambulance service]]. About 5,500 objectors were imprisoned, most charged with refusal to attend a medical examination as a necessary preliminary to call-up after being refused exemption, and some charged with non-compliance with the terms of conditional exemption. A further 1,000 were court-martialled by the armed forces and sent to military detention barracks or civil prisons. Unlike the First World War, most sentences were relatively short, and there was no pattern of continually repeated sentences. The social stigma attached to 'conchies' (as they were called) was considerable; regardless of the genuineness of their motives, cowardice was often imputed.

[[Conscription in the United Kingdom]] was retained, with rights of conscientious objection, as [[National Service]] until the last call-up in 1960 and the last discharge in 1963. The use of all volunteer soldiers was hoped to remove the need to consider conscientious objectors. Ever since the First World War, there have been volunteer members of the armed forces who have developed a conscientious objection to service; a procedure was devised for them in the Second World War and with adaptations, it continues.