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THE MEN WHO SAID NO | ROAD TO CONSCRIPTION | CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION | PRISONS | SENTENCED TO DEATH | TRIBUNALS | WIDER CONTEXT | INDEX
THOMAS WALTON FORECAST 1896 -  

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Thomas Forecast was a member of the International Bible Students Association (now largely known as the Jehovahs Witnesses) working as a gas meter manufacturer in Wandsworth when he was Conscripted under the Military Service Act in 1916. The IBSA CO community was divided as to the right response to conscription. Many took up alternative roles either as non-combatants in the military or doing work of national importance at home. Thomas did not accept this option and became an "Absolutist" CO, one who would accept no substitute work or accept the legitimacy of the military regime in any way. This stance led him to reject an offer of service Non-Combatant Corps and instead saw him faced with a court martial for disobeying orders in June 1916 and a 2 year prison sentence with hard labour.

He began his sentence in Maidstone prison, but was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs in August 1916 to go before the newly convened Central Tribunal. The Scrubs held hearings of the Central Tribunal for COs from all over England in order to asses each man's objection and decide whether or not to pass him as suitable for the Government's new plan - the Home Office Scheme (HoS). Thomas was classed as a "Grade A" CO, and he was recommended to the Brace Committee as suitable for the HoS. Thomas accepted the regulations of the Scheme and was sent to the first camp set up - Dyce Quarry in Aberdeenshire. The conditions at Dyce were terrible. COs slept in tents rejected as unfit by the army, and worked in ill fitting and inadequate clothing at grinding and heavy tasks. Thomas arrived in August 1916, but the camp was soon shut down after the death of one young CO, Walter Roberts, caused a scandal over the terrible conditions. After the experience of Dyce, many COs rejected the scheme altogether and willingly returned to prison feeling duped by the Government's assertion that the HoS would have better conditions in return for useful work. It is not known whether Thomas stayed on the scheme or rejected it. In either case, his experience as a CO would only have ended with general demobilisation, likely in April or May 1919. 

 

 

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CO DATA

Born: 1896
Died:
Address: 64 Wimbledon Park Road, Wandsworth, London
Tribunal: Central Tribunal at Wormwood Scrubs
Prison: Maidstone
HO Scheme:Dyce [1]
CO Work:
Occupation: Gas meter maker
NCF:
Motivation: IBSA
[2]
AABSOLUTIST

 


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