Hampshire Papers Series 2

No 11: ‘Comrades, let us go on together in the course we have begun, Fearless, tireless and unfaltering till our cause be won.’ The Experience of Conscientious Objectors in Hampshire during the First World War
by Alison Wilcox

During the First World War a group of men refused to fight in the British Army and as their refusal on the grounds of conscience was recognised in the conscription law they became known as Conscientious Objectors. The men’s entitlement to exemption from combat duty due to their conscience was not always recognised by the institutions created to manage conscription which resulted in prosecution and many spent their war years in prison or serving the country in other ways.

This paper examines the prevalence and experience of COs from Hampshire and those who spent time in Winchester prison for their beliefs. There is also a consideration of the small amount of anti-war activity which took place in Hampshire.

Hampshire Papers, Series 2, No 11 ISBN 978-0-907473-25-1

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Read the Hampshire Chronicles' report on HP No. 11 and HP No. 12 on Winchester Volunteers.