MEN WHO SAID NO | ROAD TO CONSCRIPTION | OBJECTION | PRISONS | SENTENCED TO DEATH | TRIBUNALS | WIDER CONTEXT |
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MEN WHO SAID NO | ROAD TO CONSCRIPTION | OBJECTION | PRISONS | SENTENCED TO DEATH | TRIBUNALS | WIDER CONTEXT | |
| CHARLES H. B. KING 1892 - |
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| Charles King was a book-keeper living and working in Wimbledon when Conscripted in mid-1916. A member of the No-Conscription Fellowship, Charles made his stand against conscription on moral and political grounds, determined to not assist the war effort in any way, shape, or form. He would have faced a Tribunal hearing in early-mid 1916, but the first record of his objection seems to be a court martial for disobeying orders on the grounds of a Conscientious Objection to Military Service at Tilbury Fort on the 20th of June 1916. The Court sentenced him to two years hard labour to be served at Maidstone prison, but Charles spent only two months there before being transferred to Wormwood Srcubs to face the Central Tribunal, convening to gauge the suitability of COs for the Home Office Scheme (HoS). Charles was judged to be a "Class A" or "genuine" CO, making him eligible for the HoS, an offer he accepted and, on the 22nd of August he was sent to the first HoS Camp at Dyce Quarry in Aberdeenshire. The HoS was intended to be a compromise between the government and COs - the camps would provide men with better conditions than prison, and useful work, while the government would obtain a sworn statement from each of them that they would abide by certain rules of behaviour. The government broke this bargain first. Dyce Camp was a shambles, with men being kept in rejected army surplus tents, exposed to horrendous conditions in inadequate clothing and put to pointless, gruelling work. When Dyce was shut down in the scandal that followed the death of a young CO, Walter Roberts, Charles King was transferred to Warwick, where he reciprocated the breach of agreement the government had made. Forging a ship fireman's certificate, he went on the run, successfully evading capture for several months. By August 1917 he had been arrested and sent back to prison, but was again transferred onto the HoS where he stayed for the rest of the war. Many COs took action when faced with the betrayal of the HoS. Some went on work strike, organised subversive propaganda or political lobbying. Charles' only error was that he was caught - the Home Office Scheme, far from being a fair compromise, was often a cruel and pointless punishment.
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