the men who said no
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GILBERT FRANCIS BANNISTER 1891 - ????  

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Gilbert was born in 1891, he was the younger of two sons of elderly parents living inHounslow. His father was a florist. Gilbert was working as a postman when war broke out, and became a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

His local Tribunal was the Heston and Isleworth Military Service Tribunal, to which he applied on 7 March 1916 for exemption from combatant service on conscientious grounds, and also on the ground that his work was of national importance. He sent a letter with the application, stating that he had a difficulty expressing his claim by word of mouth. In the letter he said that:
‘the religious and conscientious convictions that I hold make it impossible for me to undertake part [sic] in this present war. I believe that warfare which involves the taking of human life is entirely contrary to the will of God, and therefore the Christian religion which I believe…Jesus Christ never took another man’s life. Christ used God’s weapons which are – love for one’s enemy and consequent faith in God’s protection from that enemy…can any Christian say that a nation’s appeal to God for Belgium’s protection would not have been more effective to her welfare than any nation’s help while using our present weapons of war?’

The Middlesex Chronicle 18 March 1916 reported on the tribunal:
“Chief interest centred in the claims of conscientious objectors, of whom there were several – in one or two cases with a small following – and these were subjected to much questioning by the members, all of whom were present…The first of the conscientious objectors was a Hounslow postman aged 23, who stated that his work was of national importance. His religious convictions prevented him undertaking military duties in connection with warfare, and he believed the deliberate taking of human life in warfare to be entirely contrary to the will of God. He was a Fellow of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which forbade him in the faith of Christ to take the life of a fellow man. -Questioned, applicant said he considered his conscientious objection the principal of the two points. He had held these views since the beginning of the war, but did not give much thought to the matter before then. He refused to give any reasons to the canvasser. -
Mr Heldmann: You pay taxes, I suppose?
GB: Yes, indirectly
Mr H: You don’t object to doing so?
GB: Well, I suppose not
Mr H: A portion of that goes to the maintenance of the war, you know
GB: Yes, but I am forced to pay
Mr H: And you are forced to do this. It’s nonsense.

The application was refused, the man giving notice of appeal.
Gilbert appealed against this decision and went before the Middlesex Appeal tribunal on the 20 March 1916. On the appeal he stated:
‘I appeal against the decision of the…Local Tribunal on the grounds that-
Firstly – I believe that the members of the Tribunal were biased against the appellants [sic] who appealed under the conscientious objection clause of the Military Service Act.

Secondly – that they made no effort to find out the genuineness of my religious and conscientious convictions. I believe that the decision was given without any consideration of the clause of the Military Service Act which states that “The man who honestly and as a matter of conscience objects to combatant service is entitled to exemption”’
He added a note to the Appeal Tribunal stating that he stood by the contents of his original appeal, with the exception that he would be willing to accept service in the Royal Army Medical Corps or in any civil Red Cross Society ‘as I believe this work to be purely a Christian work of mercy’.

The Appeal Tribunal ruled that ‘the conscientious objection…has been established’ and gave exemption from combatant service. He was sent to France as part of the Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) on 21 April 1916. Gilbert would stay in the NCC until the end of the war, carrying out logistical and support work for the army, but in a role where his personal objection to taking life would be respected.


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About the men who said NO

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CO DATA

Born: 1891
Died:
Address: 206 Grove Road, Hounslow, London
Tribunal:
Prison:
HO Scheme:[1]
CO Work:
Occupation: Postman

Non-combatants

 


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