The Dartmoor Conchies
The Military Service Act of January 1916 specified that single men between 18 and 41 were liable to be called-up for military service.
Conscription started on 2nd March 1916 and the Act was extended to married men on 25th May 1916.
Many men objected to this form of compulsory conscription and so the Conscientious Objector, or ‘Conchie’ as they were known was born.
Objection was on 4 main grounds:
Religion – ‘thou shalt not kill’.
Political – war was being waged by the ruling classes that the workers would have to fight.
Humanist – thought it wrong to kill on moral grounds not on religious grounds.
Interventionist – objected to the Government interfering with their lives.
The procedure for objection was to apply to a local tribunal.
Tribunals were generally headed by local magistrates or retired military – not always sympathetic to the objector’s case.
One 18-year-old was refused his objection as he was regarded as being too young to have a conscience.
One application was accepted on the basis that he was the whipper-in for the local hunt. The Chairman of the Tribunal was the local hunt master!
Once a CO was refused exemption, he was determined to have enlisted.
If they still objected, they formed three distinct groups, Absolutists, Alternativists and Non-combatants.
Absolutists – men who refused to undertake any work if it was related to the war effort. They also refused to obey any military orders.
Alternativists – men who refused to fight or wear uniform but would assist the war effort in areas such as munitions. They would also undertake work of ‘National Importance’. It would be these men who came to Dartmoor.
Non-combatants – men who would wear a uniform but would not take up arms. These man were employed in roles such as The Royal Army Medical Corps as stretcher bearers or the Friends Ambulance Unit, a unit funded by The Quakers.
Dartmoor closed as a prison on 1st March 1917.
The first Conscientious Objectors arrived on 17th March 1917.
To emphasize the fact that Conscientious Objectors were not prisoners, Dartmoor Prison was renamed Princetown Work Centre.
Locks were taken off the cell doors and they were renamed ‘rooms.’
The prison officers who remained were no longer classed as warders but instructors. They would superintend the work of the COs.
The work undertaken would be reclamation work for the Duchy of Cornwall estate, keeping the prison farm running or work within the inside of the prison itself.
The COs sent to Princetown were to undertake work previously carried out by convicts.
This would involve a continuation of the reclamation of moorland for use by the Duchy of Cornwall, including the establishing of two new farms for the Prince of Wales.
Those not employed on reclamation work would maintain the prison farm.
There would also be employment to maintain the prison itself.
Just over 1000 COs would be sent to Princetown.
On 25th April 1917 there was a public meeting in Plymouth to protest about the COs at Princetown.
Complaints ranged from the fact these men were at liberty whilst thousands were being killed at the front, to them harassing local women and buying up all of the food from local shops.
The Bishop of Exeter refused permission for the COs to use the prison chapel for worship.
The coffin of CO Harry Haston who had died of pneumonia was attacked and stones thrown as it was borne through the village to the railway station.
COs were attacked during their leisure time in Tavistock.
Following the Armistice in November 1918, COs were not readmitted to society until fighting men had been demobilized.
Absolutists were denied the right to vote for 5 years.
COs finally began being released from Princetown in April 1919.
A large tract of land they reclaimed is still today known as Conchies Field.
A large stone wall they constructed is known as Conchies Wall
The plan for the Duchy farms never came to fruition and the road they began constructing was never finished. Today this is known locally as Conchies Road or ‘The Road to Nowhere’.
Despite opposition, one CO remained in Princetown and married the daughter of a local shop keeper.
Conscription started on 2nd March 1916 and the Act was extended to married men on 25th May 1916.
Many men objected to this form of compulsory conscription and so the Conscientious Objector, or ‘Conchie’ as they were known was born.
Objection was on 4 main grounds:
Religion – ‘thou shalt not kill’.
Political – war was being waged by the ruling classes that the workers would have to fight.
Humanist – thought it wrong to kill on moral grounds not on religious grounds.
Interventionist – objected to the Government interfering with their lives.
The procedure for objection was to apply to a local tribunal.
Tribunals were generally headed by local magistrates or retired military – not always sympathetic to the objector’s case.
One 18-year-old was refused his objection as he was regarded as being too young to have a conscience.
One application was accepted on the basis that he was the whipper-in for the local hunt. The Chairman of the Tribunal was the local hunt master!
Once a CO was refused exemption, he was determined to have enlisted.
If they still objected, they formed three distinct groups, Absolutists, Alternativists and Non-combatants.
Absolutists – men who refused to undertake any work if it was related to the war effort. They also refused to obey any military orders.
Alternativists – men who refused to fight or wear uniform but would assist the war effort in areas such as munitions. They would also undertake work of ‘National Importance’. It would be these men who came to Dartmoor.
Non-combatants – men who would wear a uniform but would not take up arms. These man were employed in roles such as The Royal Army Medical Corps as stretcher bearers or the Friends Ambulance Unit, a unit funded by The Quakers.
Dartmoor closed as a prison on 1st March 1917.
The first Conscientious Objectors arrived on 17th March 1917.
To emphasize the fact that Conscientious Objectors were not prisoners, Dartmoor Prison was renamed Princetown Work Centre.
Locks were taken off the cell doors and they were renamed ‘rooms.’
The prison officers who remained were no longer classed as warders but instructors. They would superintend the work of the COs.
The work undertaken would be reclamation work for the Duchy of Cornwall estate, keeping the prison farm running or work within the inside of the prison itself.
The COs sent to Princetown were to undertake work previously carried out by convicts.
This would involve a continuation of the reclamation of moorland for use by the Duchy of Cornwall, including the establishing of two new farms for the Prince of Wales.
Those not employed on reclamation work would maintain the prison farm.
There would also be employment to maintain the prison itself.
Just over 1000 COs would be sent to Princetown.
On 25th April 1917 there was a public meeting in Plymouth to protest about the COs at Princetown.
Complaints ranged from the fact these men were at liberty whilst thousands were being killed at the front, to them harassing local women and buying up all of the food from local shops.
The Bishop of Exeter refused permission for the COs to use the prison chapel for worship.
The coffin of CO Harry Haston who had died of pneumonia was attacked and stones thrown as it was borne through the village to the railway station.
COs were attacked during their leisure time in Tavistock.
Following the Armistice in November 1918, COs were not readmitted to society until fighting men had been demobilized.
Absolutists were denied the right to vote for 5 years.
COs finally began being released from Princetown in April 1919.
A large tract of land they reclaimed is still today known as Conchies Field.
A large stone wall they constructed is known as Conchies Wall
The plan for the Duchy farms never came to fruition and the road they began constructing was never finished. Today this is known locally as Conchies Road or ‘The Road to Nowhere’.
Despite opposition, one CO remained in Princetown and married the daughter of a local shop keeper.