Description
Object description
British conscientious objector imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs and Dartmoor, 1917-1919
Content description
REEL 1:Recollections of period as conscientious objector in Wormwood Scrubs and Dartmoor Prison, 1917-1919: story of call-up and refusal to enlist; description of appearance before tribunal and sentence of 112 days hard labour; question of accepting work of 'national importance' and rejection of absolutist stance; description of work laying pipelines in Dartmoor; description of conditions in Wormwood Scrubs; question of solitary confinement; punishments; discipline and relations with warders; problem of boredom; reading material including the Bible; description of cell and memory of view from cell window; attitude to imprisonment; question of family commitments; amusing story of Scottish prisoners whistling tunes; question of food rations; communication with home; memory of visit by aunt; reaction to news of Armistice, 11/1918; family background and reason for becoming conscientious objector; religious and political beliefs; further comments on arrest and appearance before tribunal; memory of observer from Society of Friends; nature of questions at tribunal; Christian beliefs.
REEL 2 Continues: further comments on tribunal and verdict; attitude of family to pacifist beliefs; justification of pacifist beliefs and attitude to war; attitude to Second World War and question of pacifist stance; memory of outbreak of war, 8/1914; effect of war on daily life; story of mother visiting relatives of men on active service; question of patriotism; attitude to Germans; story of German lecturer Dr Schlapp and question of anti-German feeling; attitude of other prisoners to conscientious objectors; relations with prison warders; story of transfer from Wormwood Scrubs to Dartmoor; question of isolating conscientious objectors; first impressions of Dartmoor; memory of fellow conscientious objectors; memory of visits to Princetown.
REEL 3 Continues: description of hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs; opinion of food; problem of cockroaches; comparison of treatment of conscientious objectors in First and Second World Wars; story of release and question of obtaining suitable employment, 1919; description of job as gardener; story of Scottish socialist conscientious objectors in Dartmoor; question of conscientious objectors being sent to front; state of health and physical hardship; further description of appearance before tribunal and role of tribunal; attitude to war and question of a 'just war'; Christian beliefs and attitude to taking life; opinion of Defence of the Realm Act and question of freedom of speech; attitude of soldiers to conscientious objectors.