Description
Object description
British seaman served with Royal Navy in Black Sea, 1919-1925; civilian conscientious objector in London, GB, 1939-1945, including period as inmate of Wormwood Scrubs Prison, 1940.
Content description
REEL 1: Opinion of training at HMS Ganges, Shotley, GB, 1917-1918. Aspects of operations with Royal Navy in Black Sea, 1919-1925: attitude to policy of intervention; description of Royal Marines landing at Mudanya, Turkey and naval bombardment of town; reaction of crewmates to civilian casualties; attitude to naval training and discipline; description of landing party looting shops; reason for leaving Royal Navy, 1925. Aspects of period in London, GB, 1925-1940: effect of naval service on pacifist beliefs; problem of finding employment during Depression; reason for joining the Labour Party; political and religious beliefs; opinion of Peace Pledge Union; attitude to Labour Party's support for re-armament; opinion of Socialist Party of Great Britain; description of Tribunal before Judge Hargreaves in Fulham, and subsequent detention in cells at Bow Street Police Station, 1940; civilian employment as chauffeur for Jewish businessman. Aspects of period in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London, 1940: length of sentence; worked sewing mail bags; problem of duodenal ulcers and medical treatment; conditions in prison hospital; relations with other conscientious objectors.
REEL 2 Continues: daily routine; question of conscientious objectors not being segregated from other prisoners; opinion of prison warders and Jehovah's Witnesses. Aspects of period in London, 1940-1945: employment as lorry driver for Wembley Council; relations with fellow employees; attitude to participating in war against Hitler and other dictators; opinion of effectiveness of economic sanctions; opinion of League of Nations and United Nations; description of work on bombed houses; story of refusing to go on fire-watching duties; description of work marking holes in roads; story of setting up own engineering business; attitude to voting; comparison of treatment of conscientious objectors in First and Second World Wars; attitude of family to stance as conscientious objector; communication with family during period of imprisonment; attitude to political system