Source: File: 1916 tribunal sitting in Preston. See an original image at: <http://www.ppu.org.uk/cosnew/co_Narrative1.html>
[Accessed
22 October 2016]
From date of 27 January 1916,
Conscription into the military
Had for the first time in Britain
Come into effect, after the
period
Of transition of the Derby
Scheme;
Whereby men were encouraged
To join up on a voluntary basis.
This confirmed total war status,
Affecting everyman between ages
18 to 41 - if single,
automatically
Seen to have enlisted by 25 May
1916; married men were 'deemed'
To be in the same situation -
Categories defined their status.
An army's preferred
classification
Being A - able to shoot, hear
And undertake active service -
Men categorised below A took
In account of physical abilities;
From B1 men with glasses, able
To shoot and march five miles.
B2 men should walk five miles
And hear enough, for purposes
Of labour service abroad - while
B3 men to be limited to sedentary
Work overseas - any C men only
Able to do home service; being
Free of disease for garrison
duty.
Subdivisions added numbers;
So A1 men could carry full packs
On long marches, while C3 men
Could only do sedentary work
At home - medical categories were
Not fixed, to take account for
Wounds or sickness until A1
again.
As part of conscription process,
The formation of tribunals set
Out to consider cases centered
On domestic or business
situations -
To be seen as harsh on objections
To fight, because of conscience;
Over 2000 tribunal bodies
existed.
With the business of war seeking
To ensure army was being supplied,
The call up of men were yet to
see
Class C2 and Class C3 - appeals
Of those men in such classes
Could be withdrawn, yet if called
Up they were allowed to
re-appeal.
Tribunals continued in hearing
Of appeals, to include a mechanic
Before the Lambeth panel - a
single
Man of 23 employed by a firm said
How his employer had requested
A badge, to display he was on war
Work in munitions transportation.
The request had gone to ministry
Of munitions - war service badges
Had, before 1 March 1916, been
Issued to any individual in
munitions
Work; to act as exemption
certificate.
This firms appeal was refused - such
Badges were no longer being
issued.
Should this 23-year-old employee
Be called up, he would gain
similar
Transport work in the army; this
Fact was reiterated by the mayor,
Alderman Gibbs advised that
munitions
Ministry was aware of processes - yet
Most appeals were on domestic
basis.
A House of Commons appeals
Tribunal, being led by Chairman
Mr. Maclean MP, dismissed
Any immediate review of one
40-year-old father of six
children -
Saying no need to go into matter;
Ages were 5 months to 9 years.
'I don't think we need send a man
With six children,' said Mr
Maclean.
While a man of 29, at the same
Tribunal, having recently married
Then asked for further exemption;
Previously been classified in C1
Class, sought to arrange his
affairs.
Unlike the married man of 40
With 6 children, he did not have
A large family to maintain -
though
He was the only support to his
Widowed mother; 'I am afraid you
Will have to go,' Deputy Chairman
Of Commons tribunal informed him.
A case of an appeal on medical
Grounds, concerned a man who
Had been as B1 - then at another
Medical, stated B3 - to say fit
only
For sedentary work. When called
Up the B3 card was dismissed;
This case was to be finally
decided.
Captain Anstey, in
representation
Of military, provided the
suggestion
To a further examination of the
man,
By Appeals Medical Board - next
A military representative
appeared
At the Dover Borough Tribunal, asking
To request a number of exemptions.
Certificates of 8 men to be
assigned
To disbanded Dover Anti Aircraft
Corps.
They had been bound by 'Ultra
Vires,'
When first applied 'beyond the
powers;'
The Military rep said how a
tribunal
Could overwrite these cards - such
Men with training would be of
use.
Valid certificates were deemed 'Intra
Vires' - in this case they lacked
legal
Authority, to have 'Ultra Vires' status
-
Some Anti Aircraft Corps permits
were
Withdrawn, others legally
represented
Were given short terms - due to expiry
Dates the applications were withdrawn.
Dates the applications were withdrawn.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. War
Tribunals. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 October 1916. P.5. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213454/Daily-Telegraph-October-20-1916.html>
[Accessed: 22 October 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 22 October 2016).
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