Wednesday, 10 August 2016

Poem ~ Attitude to Objectors - Thursday, 10 August 1916

Source: File: conscientious objectors at Dyce Camp in Scotland where some conscientious objectors were sent to work for about ten hours a day breaking up rocks. The camp was closed in September 1916 after a man died as a result of the harsh work conditions.. See an original image at: <http://walesatwar.org/en/theatresofwar/conscientious_objectors> [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Some months had passed 
Into the scheme of conscription,
Which from the early days
Of volunteers raised controversy -
Classes of men, married and single
Had been categorized into groups.
One strong opinion emerged
To be reported August 1916,
From a clergyman, who had
Served with forces in Gallipoli.
Rector of Walcot, Reverend C. W.
Wilson held nothing back in his views
On conscientious objectors - to state
How such men should lay on bare
Ground, under shells, and blazing sun -
To be shot at, eat chew bully beef
And chew hard biscuits, to be covered
In dirt until unrecognizable - Reverend
Wilson believed that those who refused
To fight were not worthy to be men.
If they did as he described, they would
Be filled by absolution - to see what
Should be a man - as conscientious
Objectors they were devoid of true
Manhood; such is contradiction of faith
And reality of what is true humanity.

By Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Chaplain's View Of Objectors. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 August 1916. P.9. Col.5. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212488/Daily-Telegraph-August-7-1916.html> [Accessed: 10 August 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 10 August 2016). 



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Britian

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