doi:10.

1093/tcbh/hwm013

HAZEL NICHOLSON* Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln ............................................

A Disputed Identity: Women Conscientious Objectors in Second World War Britain

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Abstract
British women were conscripted to the military for the first time during the Second World War. The legislation introducing this measure incorporated a conscience clause, which allowed women to become conscientious objectors to military service. A total of 911 women were granted this status by tribunals. However, at least three times that number identified themselves as conscientious objectors. This discrepancy was the result of a complex and often contradictory legislative position, combined with the contrasting definitions of the category applied by the authorities and individuals. Refusal to assist the war effort brought many women into conflict with a government which only recognized objection to military service and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of objection to civilian work and civil defence duties. Women who identified themselves as conscientious objectors were not all reacting to state compulsion and many adopted the identity as a result of deeply held beliefs which predated the outbreak of war. The varied experiences of female conscientious objectors are tied together by their identification with a category from which the majority were officially excluded. The problems faced by women who wished to register a conscientious objection to the Second World War are explored in this article, along with the motivations and affiliations which led them to do so.

Just before she was due to begin a Social Science degree at Birmingham University, Patricia Knowles was called to register for war work at her local Labour Exchange in Staffordshire. A committed pacifist, she knew
* hazel.nicholson@bishopg.ac.uk. I would like to thank Professor Martin Ceadel, New College, Oxford and Dr Clare Griffiths, University of Sheffield, for their comments on earlier drafts of this article. I am grateful for being given permission to quote from copyright material held by the following: The British Library; the Library of the Society of Friends; the Trustees of the Tom Harrisson Mass-Observation Archive, University of Sussex.
Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 18, No. 4, 2007, pp. 409428 Advance Access publication 27 June 2007 2007 Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

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other women who felt that even to register was taking part in the war effort. Patricia did not agree with this sentiment, as she felt that registration presented an opportunity to gain public recognition of her identity as a conscientious objector. However, as she later recalled, on arriving at the office she was in for a shock: I said I want to register as a conscientious objector and they said oh no, you cant do that. So I said can I see the form? And she passed it over and it was quite clearasking your name and age and qualifications. And I said I dont know what to do about this. And she said you can see from the form you cant register as a conscientious objector, course the next process was when you were registered, then youd be called up and youd be directed you see. So I said, well, if it isnt on the form, Im going to put it on. And I wrote right across the top of it I am a conscientious objector.1 Conscientious objection is normally viewed as a status conferred upon an individual by the state while conscription is in force.2 It has been an identity overwhelmingly associated with male refusal to be conscripted into the armed forces. During the Second World War, a total of 911 British women were granted conscientious objector status by the tribunals set up to consider such cases. However, the organization of womens conscription meant that access to these tribunals was limited. Womens conscientious objection was an issue that was neglected at the time. The official figures made it appear inconsequential and the Ministry of Labour was keen to restrict the numbers. Press coverage reflected and exacerbated this low profile. However, as Patricia Knowless experience serves to illustrate, many more women identified themselves as conscientious objectors without the states approval or public recognition. This article seeks to explore the reasons for this tension between individual identity and government policy. It will argue that the official figures for female conscientious objection offer a misleading underestimate of the numbers of women who, for conscientious reasons, did not wish to participate in the war effort. The article will examine the problems women faced in gaining official recognition by considering the legislative position and the workings of the tribunals. It will discuss the wider definition of conscientious objection operated by both the peace organizations and individuals and survey the motivations and affiliations which led women to identify as conscientious objectors. Secondary literature on conscientious objection in Second World War Britain is limited when compared to the historical interest shown in the
1 2

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British Library Sound Archive, C880/23. Rachel Barker, Conscience, Government and War (London, 1982), 4.

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First World War conscientious objectors.3 The distinct issue of womens conscientious objection has received even less historical attention.4 Where it has been considered previously, the tendency has been to focus on describing rather than analysing womens experiences.5 The discrepancy between the official figure and the real number of female conscientious objectors has been noted by other authors, but not fully explored.6 A variety of sources have been used here to allow a range of perspectives to be considered. Government attitudes have been ascertained from legislation, House of Commons debates, internal memoranda and correspondence with the Central Board of Conscientious Objectors (CBCO). The press, both national and local, was a significant source for considering the tribunals approach to women. Peace organizations have been examined through their publications and correspondence. Investigation of the motivations and affiliations of individual women conscientious objectors benefited from a collection of taped interviews held at the National Sound Archive.7 In 1941 British women were conscripted for the first time. This took two forms: industrial and military conscription. The government enacted two distinct pieces of legislation: the Registration for Employment Orders, introduced in April 1941, and the National Service Act (No. 2) in December 1941. Under the latter women were given the same rights of conscientious objection as men; for the former there was no recognition of conscientious objection to the service required. This helps to explain the discrepancy between the official figures for female conscientious objection and the real numbers who regarded themselves as such: not all conscripted women were eligible to object. At first sight this distinction seems straightforward and logical; after all, conscientious objection for men only related to military service. Closer examination of the type of service required of women
3 The two main accounts of conscientious objection in the Second World War are: Denis Hayes, Challenge of Conscience (London, 1949) and Barker, Conscience, Government and War. 4 There are only two previous works which deal exclusively with women conscientious objectors: Rena Feld, From the interviewers perspective: Interviewing women conscientious objectors, Oral History, 31 (2003), 2937, and Rachel WaltnerGoossen, Women Against the Good War: Conscientious Objection and Gender on the American Home Front (Chapel Hill, 1997). 5 See for example the chapter on women in Felicity Goodall. A Question of Conscience (Stroud, 1997). 6 See Feld, From the interviewers perspective, 31 and Hayes, Challenge of Conscience, 49. Waltner-Goossens study Women Against the Good War considers American female conscientious objectors, who were all self-identified, as women were not subject to conscription in the USA. 7 British Sound Library Archive, Women Conscientious Objectors, List Recordings C880. The interviews were conducted in 19978 by Rena Feld of the University of Sussex. It is worth noting that by agreeing to take part in this project the women involved once more identified themselves with the category of women conscientious objectors.

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under the two forms of conscription reveals a more complex, contradictory situation. The National Service Act (No. 2) mobilized single, childless women for military service. Those aged between 20 and 31 were the proclaimed age groups and were called up in phases.8 They were able to express a preference between the Womens Services, Civil Defence, the Land Army or industry.9 Although their choice could not be guaranteed, officers were under instructions to be accommodating. Women were only required to handle lethal weapons if they volunteered to do so. Consequently, the nature of the service women were mobilized for was of a different nature to men: it was essentially non-combatant. If a woman did not want to enter the forces, she could opt for another type of service, but even so, the legislation still allowed women to register a conscientious objection on the same three grounds as men: to being placed on the register, to performing military service or to performing combatant duties. Since the nature of the service required of them was circumscribed, women who objected on conscientious grounds under the National Service Act were, in practice, able to object to wider participation in the war effort. This contrasts with the experience of the much larger number of women who were registered for war work under the Employment Orders. These orders affected all women aged 1940 (later lowered to 18 and raised to 50).10 They also applied to older men who had not been called up for military service. Women were required to register their particulars and following this could be called for interview at a Labour Exchange. After their current work and domestic responsibilities were taken account of, they could be directed to work of vital importance, such as nursing, munitions, agricultural, factory or domestic work. If necessary a woman could be compelled under Regulation 58A to take the job allocated to her. There were no rights of conscientious objection against this so-called industrial conscription. This particularly impacted on women, but older men were also affected. Those who objected to being directed under the Employment Orders found that they had no way of getting their position recognized.
8 Those aged 2022 were dealt with first, later those up to 24 and down to 19 were called. In the end, those aged between 24 and 31 were not actively called up under this Act; registration for women ended in July 1943 and compulsory enlistment in January 1944 as the womens services reached peak strength. See H.M.D Parker, Manpower: A Study of War-Time Policy and Administration (London, 1957), 290, and Constance Braithwaite, Conscientious Objection to Various Compulsions Under Law (York, 1985), 180. 9 The option of Civil Defence was later dropped, when legislation which dealt with that separately was introduced. 10 The Registration for Employment Orders emanated from the Emergency Powers (Defence Act) 22 May 1940.

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One such case was Winifred Ibbotson, an employee of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, who wrote to the Ministry of Labour: Might I suggest that the fact that the Registration for Employment Order does not provide for conscientious objection does not alter the fact that I for one hold very strong Christian objections to work which is directly furthering the war, and that therefore my case and cases such as mine should be dealt with by the National Service Act II which does recognise the right of conscience in such matters.11 Despite such protestations, and the work of organizations such as the CBCO and the Society of Friends, the Ministry of Labour steadfastly refused to recognize conscientious objection to civilian work. In womens cases this was contradictory: although legislatively the position was quite separate, potentially women could end up doing identical work via either route, as it was possible to opt for industry or agriculture under the National Service Act. In practice, some concessions were made when directions were given under the Employment Orders: women were not forced into munitions or any work closely associated with the military side of the war effort if they objected. Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, emphasized that he should like it to be clearly understood that no conscientious objection to serving in hospitals or similar peaceful occupations can be recognized . . . I am confident that there is no substantial support in this country for conscientious objection to works of mercy of this kind.12 However, some women did include precisely these sorts of activities in their personal definition of objection. Kathleen Wigham, a Quaker who served a traumatic prison sentence, later explained how her refusal to be directed into hospital work was a logical result of her refusal to kill: . . . I was releasing someone to go to war. I was releasing someone to do something I wasnt prepared to do myself and it felt wrong.13 There were 272 prosecutions of women for refusing directions under the Employment Orders, of whom 214 were imprisoned (usually for refusing to pay their fine). Fifteen were prosecuted twice, although the
11 Library of the Society of Friends (hereafter LSF): TEMP MSS 914/7/4, File 008.4, letter from Winifred Ibbotson to Arthur Creech Jones, 7 February 1942. Winifred Ibbotson had been able to provisionally register as a conscientious objector under the National Service Act (because as a single woman her age group had been proclaimed but not called) but found that this made no difference to her liability under the Employment Orders. 12 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/7/4, File 008.4, letter from Ernest Bevin to Cecil Wilson, MP, 21 April 1942. 13 British Library Sound Archive, C880/11. Kathleen Wigham was later granted unconditional exemption by a tribunal, but this came after her prosecution under the Employment Orders.

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Ministry later quietly adopted a policy of leaving women alone after their first prosecution.14 Some voluntarist women were opposed to state compulsion of any kind and refused to register at all.15 Joyce Foster, a member of the Methodist Peace Fellowship and Secretary to the General Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, wrote to the Ministry of Labour to explain her refusal: I would respectfully submit that I have a conscientious objection to changing my way of life so as to become more useful in the war effort, because I believe so firmly that war is not the method that will eliminate Nazism and bring the reign of justice, liberty and real peace, the only way being the way of Christ. I feel that compulsion to serve the community is a complete denial of the true spirit of service.16
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Only one woman was prosecuted for refusal to register: Kitty Alexander, a left-wing war resister, was prosecuted at Northumberland Petty Sessions on 2 December 1942. She was fined 5 and imprisoned for a month when she refused to pay.17 Legal issues subsequently persuaded the Ministry that it was easier to prosecute for failure to attend interview: 57 women were prosecuted for this, 31 of whom went to prison. As with industrial conscription, there was no conscience clause incorporated in the regulations governing fire-watching, which were enforced by the local authorities and applied to both sexes. At the start of the war this was a voluntary activity, with compulsion introduced for women aged 2045 in September 1942. Expectant mothers or those with children living at home were exempted. Nationally, 80 women were prosecuted for refusal to register or carry out fire-watching duty, although it is likely that the actual numbers who refused were significantly higher than that.18 Interestingly, although local authorities refused to recognize conscientious objection to fire-watching, there are anomalous cases where they simultaneously acknowledged selfidentified objectors. Margaret Porteous, a primary school teacher in
14 For statistics relating to prosecutions under the Employment Orders, see LSF: TEMP MSS 914 COR/5 22/3 Women: Conscription. 15 It was estimated by the Ministry of Labour that non-registration was running at 3.5% in 1942 and that only a small number of these were COs. At least 17 women wrote to the Ministry to explain their reasons for non-registration. The National Archives: Public Record Office (PRO), LAB 8/501. 16 British Library Sound Archive, C880/27 (reading verbatim from a copy of the original letter). Joyce Foster was eventually imprisoned for 4 weeks for refusal to attend interview. 17 Hayes, Challenge of Conscience, 267. 18 Hayes, Challenge of Conscience, 308. Hayes suggests that local authorities were generally reluctant to prosecute women. In contrast, 475 men were prosecuted for offences connected with firewatching.

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Salford, refused to register for fire-watching (although she was actually doing it voluntarily) as she objected to state compulsion. She served a month in Strangeways for non-payment of her fine. She later recounted what happened when she was sent for by the Director of Education on her release: He was sat behind a large desk, I stood there and he gave me an absolute tirade about what he thought about conscientious objectors and did I not think of all these men dying for me and what use was I?. . . Then he came to the pointthis authority doesnt employ conscientious objectors. So he said from today youre dismissed.19 Margaret Porteous had not registered under the National Service Act, as she was in a reserved occupation. Yet she was still regarded as an objector by the Director of Education and dismissed for that reason.20 The legislation governing conscription meant that only a restricted number of women were eligible to be officially recognized as conscientious objectors. They were an age-restricted group of single, childless women, and were only eligible with regard to their liability for military service. If a woman was a wife or mother, or over the age of 30, she could not officially be a conscientious objector. In establishing the legislation regarding womens military conscription, care had been taken to emphasize equality of status with men in terms of rights to objection, yet the service required was considerably different. Added to this, conscientious objection to military service was not seen as preventing availability for industrial conscription, even though the work required could be identical. The lack of a right to conscientious objection to civilian work, which affected a far wider group of women during the war, is significant. It indicated that the government viewed conscientious objection as an objection to killing and direct involvement in that process, and not a wider objection to war itself or to state compulsion. (This also affected older pacifist or voluntarist men who were not subject to military conscription, but could still be conscripted for industry or fire-watching.) It is true that some women conscientious objectors also specified thou shalt not kill as the essential component of their conscientious objection and confined their refusal to the military side of the war effort.21 However, the non-combatant nature of most womens service and the options for agricultural or industrial work under the National Service Act reveal contradictory reasoning on
British Library Sound Archive, C880/29. Middlesex County Council was another authority which took action against female teachers who refused to register for fire-watching duty. LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/2/9, Teachers World, 13 January 1942. 21 For example, Joan Pasco felt that you shouldnt kill people and accepted a condition to go into the Land Army. See British Library Sound Archive, C880/15.
20 19

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this point. Women conscripted under this Act were theoretically in a privileged position compared with those mobilized by the Employment Orders, having been given the right to object to a wide range of options, none of which was directly combatant. Eligible women who applied for exemption from military service on conscientious grounds under the National Service Act were referred to the conscientious objectors tribunals, which also dealt with mens cases. However, this did not mean automatic sanction of their identity as a conscientious objector, and even those eligible for a tribunal faced a range of problems in having their objection recognized. Local tribunals were made up of a chairman and six other members, two of them women.22 The chairmen were County Court judges, although the tribunal was not a court of law. The other members were selected by the Ministry of Labour and represented a variety of backgrounds, including trade unionists, academics, local councillors and members of the legal profession. The applicant and the Ministry both had the right of appeal to decisions taken at local tribunals. The appellate tribunals were chaired by a nominee of the Lord Chancellor, with four other members. Decisions at both local and appellate tribunals were taken on a majority vote. A total of 1074 women appeared before tribunals between the spring of 1942 and the end of 1943.23 Four decisions were available to the tribunals and were the same for men and women: unconditional exemption, conditional exemption, non-combatant service or removal from the register. These decisions were labelled A, B, C or D respectively. Local tribunals conditionally exempted 64.1 per cent of female applicants, rejected 26 per cent and unconditionally registered 6.4 per cent. The appellate tribunals reconsidered the cases of 430 women, 55 per cent of whom had their decision altered as a result. This added another 115 women to the register, reducing removals to 15.2 per cent. In addition, unconditional registrations rose to 9.8 per cent. Overall, 911 women were successful in obtaining official status as a conscientious objector. As argued throughout this article, these figures are not an accurate indication of the numbers of women who considered themselves to be conscientious objectors. They are not even a true representation of the numbers who objected under the National Service Act. Even theoretically eligible women experienced difficulties in gaining access to a tribunal. Women within the proclaimed age groups who
22 Not all the members were required to be present at a tribunal. A sitting of a local tribunal required the Chairman and four other members to be present; if the applicant was a woman, one of these had to be female. 23 The first womans tribunal was held in April 1942. Registration for women under the National Service Act ended in July 1943. The CBCOs press cuttings and correspondence files indicate few women appeared before tribunals after this date.

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chose to object were initially placed on a provisional register, which is known to have included the names of at least 2500 women.24 More than half of those on the provisional register were never given the opportunity to present their case to a tribunal and therefore be officially recognized as conscientious objectors. These were women in reserved occupations (such as teaching or nursing) or those aged 2431, who were not actively called up under this Act. Following the intervention of the CBCO, provisionally registered women did have the right to a tribunal, whether or not their age group had been called. However, the Ministry of Labour was keen to limit the numbers appearing before tribunals and told officials to discourage women from putting their cases before tribunals until they were actually called up.25 Furthermore, internal memoranda recommended that if a provisionally registered woman was not already in a reserved occupation, she should be directed into one.26 The CBCO did provide guidance which explained to women their rights to a tribunal, but the regulations were not always clearly understood, even by officials at Labour Exchanges. The CBCO was anxious that as many eligible women as possible faced a tribunal, because in practice, once conscientious objector status had been granted, a woman would not later be directed under industrial conscription to work which violated her tribunal conditions.27 The government, however, always refused to admit this connection between the National Service Act and the Employment Orders, adamant that there was no right of conscientious objection to civilian work. As well as these problems for women in appearing before a tribunal, there were also difficulties associated with the tribunals decisions. Used to dealing with mens cases, tribunals considered that combatant service was the real issue, even though this had never been required of any of the women who appeared before them. The majority of women (72.2 per cent) who were given conscientious objector status were given the B decision, or conditional exemption. Where this decision was given, chairmen still required sincere women objectors to undertake
24 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/2/4, News and Times (Worcester), 25 February 1943. Mr. Bevin reported that 2500 women have applied for registration as COs. More must have been provisionally registered after this date, but figures have not been located. 25 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/7/4, File 008.4, letter from the Ministry of Labour to Stuart Morris of the CBCO, 9 March 1942. 26 PRO LAB 6/183, General procedure for dealing with women conscientious objectors, 19412. 27 The case of Winifred Ibbotson is an example of this. As already seen, her liability under the Employment Orders had not been affected by provisional registration as a conscientious objector under the National Service Act. However, she insisted on her right to a tribunal and was officially granted conscientious objector status in May 1942. Following this she was not pursued further about her refusal to accept direction under the Employment Orders. See LSF: TEMP MSS 914/7/4 File 008.4.

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civilian work of national importance. They avoided insensitive directions, such as munitions work. The type of conditions tribunals set included instructions to work on the land, in hospitals, in social services or education. If it was felt appropriate, women were allowed to continue in their own employment. Some women accepted the conditions willingly, but clearly felt strongly enough to want to gain conscientious objector status rather than accept direction prior to the tribunal.28 Others refused to accept any conditions because they were opposed to assisting the war effort in any way, hence their decisions to object in the first place, rather than opt for land or industrial work when they were called up. Joyce Millington (nee Allen) had been the first woman to appear before a tribunal.29 She accepted conditional registration to continue in her employment as a teacher, although years later she regretted accepting any conditions and wished she had held out for unconditional exemption.30 Refusal to accept the conditions accounts for both the high rate of appeals (40 per cent) and the cases of women objectors prosecuted for non-compliance.31 Despite women applying for unconditional registration, local tribunals became increasingly reluctant to grant the A decision, and it was only given in 69 cases. Unconditional exemption meant that a woman was left to decide her own employment for the duration of the war. It was noted that this was anomalous with the governments insistence that there would be no recognition of objection to civilian work. In a circular to local tribunals, the Ministry of Labour admitted that unconditionally exempted objectors were in a privileged position compared to those who were called for civilian work, commenting: if it is a defect, it is a defect inherent to the whole system of the acts.32 Tribunals only very rarely gave women the C decision, or non-combatant duties. This decision was irrelevant in womens cases: all the service required of them was effectively non-combatant. As a non-combatant corps did not exist for women, the 38 who were granted this decision found
28 See for example the case of Florence Salway, who readily accepted a condition of working in a wartime nursery. British Library Sound Archive, C880/06. 29 National press coverage of womens conscientious objection was limited. The first womens tribunals were held in April 1942 and created a brief flurry of interest as the papers rushed to discover the identity of the first woman objector. The Daily Express won this scoop with an article about Joyce Allen on 4 April 1942, under the headline Girl Conchie Teaches at Boys School. 30 British Library Sound Archive, C880/05. 31 In May 1945, there were 732 women conditionally registered, of whom 583 were complying with their conditions. Of the 149 who were not, 84 had already been prosecuted for non-compliance, 68 were being investigated, 15 were about to prosecuted and one was in prison. Sixty-five had given satisfactory reasons for non-compliance. Hayes, Challenge of Conscience, 258. 32 LSF: TEMP MSS Tribunals Box 6, London Appellate 19401950, Appellate Tribunal Precedents, February 1942.

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themselves effectively unconditionally exempted (by default) for the rest of the war. Insistence on unconditional exemption usually meant that a woman would encounter more hostility from the tribunals. Chairmen found it difficult to accept that nursing work, for example, was seen as helping the war effort by some women. It was common for tribunals to point out to applicants that they were participating in the war effort purely by paying income tax, or accepting a ration book. One group of women particularly suffered from the tribunals reluctance to grant the A decision. Jehovahs Witnesses applied for unconditional exemption to military service on the grounds that they were engaged in full-time religious work (ministers of religion were exempt from military service). These women did not claim to be pacifists as they were prepared to fight when required in order to establish a theocracy. Central government did not recognize the International Bible Students Association (Jehovahs Witnesses) as a religious denomination.33 One official decided that they were primarily a book selling concern.34 The tribunals reflected this attitude: some female Jehovahs Witnesses received conditional exemption, but it seems that it was far more common for their names to be removed from the register. Some chairmen made no effort to conceal their contempt for this group. During a tribunal hearing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Judge Richardson commented to Dorothy Reeve (who had explained that she made preaching the gospel her lifes work): In my opinion that is just rot and rubbish . . . You are not doing anything, just going about talking . . . You useless woman!. Her name was removed from the register.35 In the case of Olive Bilsborrow at Manchester, Judge Burgis made the following comment: There is an element of suspicion in this case. She became a part time worker for the Jehovahs Witnesses just before she was due to register and we are satisfied that she can fulfil any kind of womens auxiliary service. He also suggested that Jehovahs Witnesses who had previously gained exemption had diddled the tribunal and told her that You can preach the love of God and still be in the ATS.36 For the tribunals, the main problem regarding Jehovahs Witnesses was their refusal to accept alternative service, underlining the tribunals focus on combatant service. This point is emphasized by the contrasting treatment of members of the Society of Friends. It was widely
PRO LAB 6/34 9. PRO LAB 6/34 9. Mr. Luce to the Solicitor, 2 May 1940. 35 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/2/8, Evening Chronicle (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 26 January 1943. 36 LSF: TEMP MSS, 914/11/6/3, Daily Mirror, 21 April 1942, News Chronicle, 21 April 1942.
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acknowledged that Quakers received a warm reception from the tribunals, especially if they were already involved in alternative service such as the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) or social work.37 The first woman to receive unconditional exemption was Marjorie Whittles, who was working with the FAU. Judge Burgis remarked, Your case forms a marked contrast to the synthetic consciences which come before this tribunal. You threw up safety and comfort to do something for humanity.38 The pacifist tradition associated with the Society of Friends carried a good deal of weight with chairmen. At a hearing in Reading, Olive Tremewan was registered conditionally within five minutes after explaining that her father had been a conscientious objector in the First World War and her brother was one in this war. Judge Druquer commented, With a family history like that we are hardly likely to change the young ladys opinions.39 Not all Quakers welcomed their special status in the eyes of the tribunals. Sylvia Ross resigned her birthright membership in order to avoid a Quaker walkover. She felt it would deprive me of the opportunity of thinking through why I wanted to take this stand at this time and refuse to fight, particularly at such a desperate time.40 Neither was it the case that all Quaker women willingly accepted conditional exemption. Edith Aughton was determined not to be compelled into domestic work, and eventually served a prison sentence after refusing to comply with conditions set by the local and appellate tribunals.41 Although the tribunals were clear that conscientious objection could only be recognized with regard to military service, this did not make their task straightforward. As well as the fact that many of the women who came before them objected to war in a much wider sense, panels also had to make judgements on whether a womans conscience was genuine. This often meant a resort to methods which did not purely take account of individual conscience, but instead generalized according to membership of a group, personal background or level of support. As explained above, applicants were most likely to be
37 Voluntary work in the FAU, FRS and Pacifist Service Units varied enormously and included delousing homeless people, caring for air raid victims, providing hostels for elderly people and assisting Jewish refugees. After the war Quaker women were involved in voluntary relief work in Germany. 38 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/6/3, Daily Mirror, 21 April 1942. The Judge is reported to have made these remarks after dismissing the cases of several Jehovahs Witnesses. 39 LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/6/2, Slough Observer, 23 October 1942. 40 British Library Sound Archive, C880/20. Sylvia Ross did not go before a tribunal in the end. 41 British Library Sound Archive, C880/07.

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successful when they combined a long term association with an approved religious group and voluntary social work.42 It was also clear that tribunals placed a great deal of emphasis on the presence of witnesses, or letters which gave testimony to the sincerity of the applicant. Political objectors were fewer, but were also likely to be successful if they belonged to a recognized group and demonstrated a clear understanding of its position. Gladys Canling, a Glaswegian member of the Independent Labour Party, was able to provide letters of support from party leaders James Maxton and Fenner Brockway, which together with Mothers wiping the floor with em, worked the oracle!.43 Those who had arrived at their position independently, without a clear association with a group, found it much more difficult to convince the tribunal of their genuine convictions. It was important for women to be able to articulate their opinions clearly, as at least part of the tribunals decision was based on their statement and answers. One case involving a Peace Pledge Union secretary resulted in her removal from the register, as the tribunal was not satisfied by her replies.44 Denis Hayes suggested that women on the whole were less able to express themselves than men . . . they were also more emotional and more easily upset by tribunal questioning.45 However, a tribunal observer at Fulham noted that: The majority of the applicants gave their evidence clearly and did not seem intimidated.46 Women who appeared before the tribunals certainly had to be very determined, as every attempt was made to direct them into some form of war work before they got to that stage. It would therefore be surprising if most of them had not clearly thought out their position and prepared their cases beforehand. Further problems were created because of inconsistency between tribunals. For example, a small group of women applicants for exemption were of Italian origin, and did not want to be involved in a war against that country. These cases usually resulted in their name being removed from the register. A decision taken by the South Wales tribunal in Cardiff illustrates how independent of each other the tribunals were. Margherita Pelliza explained her objection to war service on the grounds of dual nationality and because she had
42 See Tom Harrisson Mass-Observation Archive, University of Sussex (M-OA), Topic Collection (TC) 6 Conscientious Objection and Pacifism 1/B, First Womans Tribunal, 15 May 1942. This and the following impressions are corroborated by the CBCO collection of press cuttings reporting tribunal results. 43 LSF: TEMP MSS 914 COR5/10/11, letter from Gladys Canling to Fenner Brockway, 6 June 1943. 44 M-OA, TC 6 Conscientious Objection and Pacifism 1/B, Case details, 7. 45 Denis Hayes, Challenge of Conscience (London, 1949), 47. 46 M-OA, TC 6 Conscientious Objection and Pacifism 1/B, Introduction, 2.

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relatives serving in the Italian Army.47 She was granted unconditional exemption, a marked contrast to the treatment of others in the same position. The tribunals approach to womens conscientious objection followed the line set by government. Objection was only recognized with reference to military service and the tribunal decided whether the status should be granted. The definition of who merited this status reflected a respect for traditional non-conformity, as long as it was combined with a willingness to accept the responsibilities of citizenship through alternative service. This conflicted with the fact that many of the women who appeared at the tribunals wanted unconditional exemption. However, the tribunals ultimately sought to ensure that the vast majority contributed in some way. In practice, therefore, most female conscientious objectors were conditionally registered and did the same work for the war effort as many other women. The gap between the recorded figures of women conscientious objectors and the numbers who self-identified with the category is explained by the restricted definition of conscientious objection used by government and tribunals compared with that operated by peace organizations and individuals. To an extent this discrepancy also existed for men, but it was particularly marked for women as only a narrow group were subject to military conscription. Central government only recognized as conscientious objectors men and women who were exempted from military service by the tribunals. Importantly, the official definition required a conscientious objector to have been both subject to military conscription and eligible to apply to a tribunal. During the Second World War, over 60,000 men and women applied to the tribunals for exemption on conscientious grounds. Although approaching 30 per cent had their applications initially rejected, those refused are also usually referred to as conscientious objectors, especially if they maintained their objection, risking fines and imprisonment in the process. It is important to note that some male conscientious objectors later changed their minds and volunteered for military service, therefore it is likely that some women did the same.48 Peace organizations, individual women and on occasion local government, operated a much wider definition of who counted as a conscientious objector. This incorporated anyone who identified themselves with the category, whether they had been eligible to face a tribunal or not. It included those in reserved occupations who were exempted from
LSF: TEMP MSS 914/11/2/2, Merthyr Express, 26 September 1942. Martin Ceadel, The opposition to war, in John Bourne, Peter Liddle and Ian Whitehead (eds), The Great World War 191445 Vol.2, The peoples experience (London, 2001), 441.
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conscription into the forces, yet would have objected if they could. As many women (and some men) were compelled to participate in the war effort without reference to military conscription, their definition encompassed those who were subject to industrial conscription. Similarly, those who objected to compulsory civil defence duties also self-identified as conscientious objectors. Others, though few, felt themselves to be conscientious objectors without any reference to state compulsion at all. Thus, most self-identified conscientious objectors placed themselves in the category in order to illustrate their refusal to assist the war effort, although some viewed it as an identity which could help express their opposition to the war itself. Peace organizations operated a definition of conscientious objection where the individuals decision to identify with the category was paramount. The Society of Friends emphasized that individuals should follow their own consciences, but this was mitigated by their strong tradition of offering alternative service, for example in the Friends Ambulance Unit. They were opposed in general to participation in war and led the way in trying to persuade the Ministry of Labour to recognize conscientious objection to industrial conscription.49 Articles in The Friend illustrated an equal respect for objectors subject to industrial conscription as compared with those who had the status conferred by a tribunal. They felt that conscription was wrong: a complete denial of the true spirit of service.50 Alternative service was given voluntarily and this was an important component of their definition of conscientious objection: to ensure that our witness [is] positive and constructive.51 For Edrey Allott it was frustrating that this positive side of conscientious objection was not more widely acknowledged: It was painful to think that we were now being, to whatever extent, ostracised and felt to be a part of the community that wasnt doing its share. We had always felt we had done more than our share and a bit more, and that we had done it voluntarily, without being conscripted and coerced . . . I feel very often that my contribution and I think my friends has been of service rather than of sacrifice.52 The Peace Pledge Union also encouraged women to follow their consciences, defining conscientious objection as an individual stance against the various forms of compulsion (military, industrial and civildefence) put in place by the state. The CBCO operated a similarly broad

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49 See for example LSF: TEMP MSS 914 COR/5 22/3, statement from Friends House (undated) on the extension of industrial conscription. 50 The Friend, 4 April 1941. 51 The Friend, 4 April 1941. 52 British Library Sound Archive, C880/09.

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view of womens conscientious objection and was prepared to assist anyone who defined themselves as an objector, taking the issue of womens conscientious objection as seriously as mens and providing the same level of support. The CBCO was a welfare body set up for conscientious objectors, with the intention of providing advice.53 The nature of the organization meant that they were particularly concerned with those who were experiencing difficulties and took on many cases of women whom the Ministry of Labour refused to recognize as objectors. Nancy Browne, Secretary of the CBCO, observed that, Throughout, the government has endeavoured to soft-pedal the issue of conscientious objection for women.54 The quiet, tenacious insistence of the CBCO on behalf of women meant that the Ministry of Labour was constantly reminded that womens conscientious objection was a much wider issue than the official definition suggested. Women who identified themselves as conscientious objectors did so as a consequence of a range of motivations and affiliations. They did not wait for official sanction before they adopted the identity. They regarded themselves as conscientious objectors and were accepted as such by the peace organizations, but unless they were successful at a tribunal, they were excluded from the official figures. As discussed above, some women identified themselves as conscientious objectors in response to state compulsion. For others, the primary reason for adopting the identity was not a reaction to legislation, but the result of long standing membership of other groups. Edrey Allott was a Quaker and defined herself as an objector because this is what you were and how you wereyou accepted it and carried on with the tradition.55 Like Patricia Knowles (mentioned at the beginning of this article), Edrey Allott wrote I am a conscientious objector on her registration form, but as a trainee teacher she was not called up and therefore did not gain the status officially. For some members of the Peace Pledge Union, their pledge I renounce war and refuse to support or sanction another was taken extremely seriously and led to self-identification as a conscientious objector. Jessie Baston,
53 Advice was provided through local Advisory Bureaux and via correspondence and publications: the monthly Bulletin and the CBCO Broadsheet series. A small administrative staff maintained detailed records, kept track of legislation, compiled the COs Hansard and made representations to government on behalf of conscientious objectors. It was not a campaigning body and kept a low profile compared to the activist No-Conscription Fellowship of the First World War. 54 LSF: TEMP MSS COR 5/22/4, typescript for an article, July 1942. In this typescript she also suggested that women conscientious objectors were Libertarians, women who feel a vocation to their present work for society, women who believe they would be untrue to their testimony against war and all its evils if they were to alter their life at the behest of the government. 55 British Library Sound Archive, C880/09.

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a French teacher, recalled that by making this pledge she had taken a stand and had to stand by it thereafter.56 As she was in a reserved occupation, she did not go before a tribunal. Joyce Brissenden later explained that she identified herself as a conscientious objector as an extension of her lifelong vegetarianism: Mother and Father had become vegetarian after marriage. Because of that, the humanitarian aspect of that, that I decided I had to be a conscientious objector. Having been brought up not killing animals, it was a logical thing from that you wouldnt want to be involved in killing people.57 Other women felt that being a conscientious objector was an instinctive outlook, often held from childhood. Madge Dixons position was so internalized that she found it hard to articulate: This is what Im called to do, [I] dont always know why or describe whats in my heart. Ive always felt like this since I was youngand Ive never changed my mind.58 These feelings did not gain any kind of official recognition as she was married, but as far as she was concerned she was an objector. Margery Jones also felt that her position as a conscientious objector was a consequence of her character, later describing herself as a natural pacifist.59 Some women defined themselves as conscientious objectors as a result of being profoundly influenced by others: perhaps by their parents experiences in the First World War, or the position of a husband or brother in relation to the current conflict. Also important were influences such as Dick Sheppard or Donald Soper, and literary influences: First World War poetry, Vera Brittains Testament of Youth (1933) or Aldous Huxleys Ends and Means (1937).60 Connections with people from other countries also led to an identification with the category. Margaret Porteous had attended a Quaker work camp in Holland, just prior to the outbreak of war, which had included German participants: When war was declared I said Im not going to Meeting, I want to hear what Mr. Churchill is going to say. I cant bear to think that were going to bomb those people weve just met. I sat at home, tears

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British Library Sound Archive, C880/03. British Library Sound Archive, C880/17. Her vegetarian principles meant that she refused to be involved in the military side of the war effort, but felt able to take civilian jobs as a nurse and hostel worker. She does not appear to have gone before a tribunal. 58 British Library Sound Archive, C880/26. 59 British Library Sound Archive, C880/19. 60 Analysis of influences based on interviews held in British Library Sound Archive, C880.
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down my face. Remember almost saying out loud to myself the pacifist attitude was right.61 As a teacher, she did not have to register and did not face a tribunal, but in common with others in that situation, still regarded herself as a conscientious objector. It is abundantly clear that for many of these women, conscientious objection meant something much more personal and profound than a status conferred by the state. Indeed, some of the women had no desire to gain public recognition of their objection, regarding it as an entirely private matter. For example, Mabel Pratt was a member of the Peace Pledge Union but regarded her objection as a personal principle. She did not want to work with other conscientious objectors and retained her own job in a telephone managers office throughout the war.62 Ifanwy Williams was also a member of a pacifist group, but otherwise kept her opinions to herself, to the extent that she was not sure if her family knew she was regarded as a conscientious objector. She avoided official channels and later recounted how she deliberately entered a reserved occupation: It was a conscious decision in that I was so much against being involved in the war machine that I felt that this is one profession thats helping everybody and that I cant be recruited to take part in the war machine as a social worker. And I remember taking that as a conscious decision . . . At that stage I felt I was then an objector.63 However, far more commonly, women who labelled themselves as objectors felt aggrieved that they were denied the opportunity to have their stance publicly recognized. The idea of giving public witness was popular, particularly among Quakerswomen wanted to make a public stance against war and in support of their principles. Lilian Cadoux, the daughter-in-law of the prominent Congregationalist pacifist Cecil Cadoux, had defined herself as a conscientious objector quite independently before her marriage. When she received her call-up papers, she was working in an old peoples hostel. She recalled that she stayed up into the small hours one night preparing her statement for the tribunal, but then never heard anything more. Suggesting that perhaps the authorities had ignored her claim as a conscientious objector because women were non-combatants anyway, she later explained her disappointment that she did not appear before

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British Library Sound Archive, C880/29. British Library Sound Archive, C880/16. British Library Sound Archive, C880/21.

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a tribunal: I had this stupid idea that Id quite like to be martyred for my beliefs.64 Several of these examples show that many women who identified as conscientious objectors did so because they were pacifists. Academic studies have emphasized that it is erroneous to make an implicit equation between conscientious objection and pacifism.65 Certainly there are examples of female objectors who were not pacifists, for example the Italian girls who refused to fight for nationalistic reasons, or the Jehovahs Witnesses who were prepared to fight for a theocracy. There are other cases where opposition to state compulsion is as strong as or more important than opposition to war. Yet some women did identify themselves as conscientious objectors purely because of their pacifist beliefs, rather than as a reaction to legislation.66 Rigid definitions of conscientious objection therefore fail to take into account the reality of their identification with this category. Therefore, womens conscientious objection was far more widespread than is generally appreciated. It has been established that a wider definition of conscientious objection is necessary if it is to encompass all the women who identified with the term. This definition needs to take account of objection to all aspects of state compulsion (military service, industrial and civilian work, civil defence duties) but also needs to recognize that for some women, conscientious objection was a reaction to war rather than to conscription. For Quaker women in particular, voluntary alternative service was also a part of this wide definition. For some it was a public stance requiring official recognition, for others it was a very personal, private commitment. The reality of womens conscientious objection meant significantly more than a status conferred by the state in response to an application against military conscription. Although 911 women gained this official status, it is debatable whether it was ever relevant to adopt the same definition of conscientious objection as for men. The nature of womens service in the armed forces was quite different. In addition to this,
British Library Sound Archive, C880/22. Martin Ceadel, Pacifism in Britain, 19141945 (Oxford, 1980), 9. Rachel Barker also makes a clear distinction between conscientious objection and pacifism, Conscience, Government and War, 3. Pat Starkey provided this explanation of the difference: Pacifists refused to fight, although their reason for doing so sprang from a variety of religious and humanitarian ideals: conscientious objectors, who might or might not be pacifist, took advantage of the conscience clause in war-time legislation which allowed certain men and women to join the armed forces. I will not fight Conscientious Objectors and Pacifists in the North-West during the Second World War (Liverpool, 1992), 1. 66 Some pacifists have continued to equate their position with conscientious objection since the Second World War. Peace Pledge Union Archivist Bill Hetherington emphasises this: as pacifists we are conscientious objectors, men and women, young or old, we refuse to fight. Bill Hetherington, Conscientious Objection, The Pacifist 23 (1985), 79.
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many women who had not been subject to military conscription considered themselves to be conscientious objectors. Their stance against industrial conscription or compulsory fire-watching was not recognized by the government, but this did not stop them adopting the identity. Others provisionally registered their objection to military conscription, but were denied the chance to have this confirmed by a tribunal. Some defined themselves as conscientious objectors without reference to state compulsion of any kind and without needing to make any public demonstration of their beliefs, with influences such as pacifism or religion being the defining factor. Given this wider definition, a conservative estimate of the number of women who can be identified as conscientious objectors would be approximately 3000, three times as many as official figures suggested.67 Of course, an unknown number of women privately regarded themselves as conscientious objectors and would not be reflected in any statistics, for example women in reserved occupations, those not subject to conscription due to marital status or age, or those who were simply left alone by a government trying to downplay the issue. Some women, confused by the complex legislative position, thought that they had been registered as objectors when this was not the case. Therefore, the number of women who considered they were conscientious objectors remains unknown, but likely to be well over 3000. Following her experience at the Labour Exchange, Patricia Knowles did not hear any more from the authorities, probably because she was about to be trained for a reserved occupation. She would have liked to appear before a tribunal, but was not given the opportunity. She later suggested that the government didnt know quite what to do with women like her because they were worried we would make a good case and be a nuisance. Her statement on the top of the registration form: I am a conscientious objector, dramatic in its simplicity, symbolizes the position of an unknown number of women who placed themselves within the category without official sanction or recognition. As she later explained: I would call myself a conscientious objector even if I hadnt refused to do the military service or even alternative service, because that was my position and I was prepared to do this.68

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67 The figure of 3000 is based on Ernest Bevins announcement that 2,500 women had applied for registration as conscientious objectors by February 1943 (previously cited above) and the numbers prosecuted for offences under industrial conscription or firewatching (419). Allowing for the fact that more women must have provisionally registered after Bevins announcement and that not all of those who objected to industrial conscription/fire-watching were prosecuted, 3000 is a very cautious estimate. 68 British Library Sound Archive, C880/23.