Hate-filled cartoons and letters to conscientious objectors go on display

HATE MAIL and a cartoon depicting a person as “lazy” for refusing to fight are among documents and images released to mark International Conscientious Objectors Day.

The Imperial War Museums (IWM) has revealed letters, photographs, cartoons and posters which explore the harsh treatment of conscientious objectors in the two world wars as they took a stand against conscription into the armed forces.

Some 16,000 men became conscientious objectors in the First World War for religious, political or moral reasons after conscription was introduced in 1916, while 62,000 men and 1,000 women took a stand against fighting in the Second World War.

In the First World War, conscientious objectors were assessed by a local tribunal, which rarely granted absolute exemption, instead enlisting them in the Army, including the Non-Combatant Corps, where many disobeyed orders and ended up in prison.

Soon a system was introduced in which imprisoned conscientious objectors had the chance to swap prison for work centres, where they would be employed doing work not directly related to the war, though absolutists remained in prison.

There was a fairer system in the Second World War with more impartial local tribunals and more effort to find them alternative work, though some absolutists rejected the move.

Details of their experiences are on display at IWM London, as part of the current exhibition People Power: Fighting for Peace, which charts the anti-war movement from the First World War to the present day.