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 | |
| GEORGE GERALD PICKARD 1889 - |
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| The story George Pickard's conscientious objection is not well known, but it appears that he was one of the rarest type of Objector - one with military experience. In 1916, when George was conscripted at age 36, he was living and working in Wallington as a wages clerk, and married with three children. He had already been in the military, having previously served with the Royal Marines. He might even have seen combat, as the Royal Marines had been involved in several minor conflicts in the first decade of the century. Perhaps it was these experiences that had caused George to form a conscientious objection to combatant service, as when conscription was brought into law, he refused it, applying to the Wallington Tribunal for exemption as a CO. He was granted Non-Combatant status which he accepted, making him again a soldier - but this time in the Non-Combatant Corps (NCC), a section of the army set up specifically for COs. It's members wore uniforms and accepted military orders, but were in turn given a pledge that they would not be asked to use, or even transport, weaponry. Though life in the NCC was often difficult for COs, this compromise gave men who could not bear arms, but would work in a support role, an acceptable way to pair conscription with their personal morality. Whatever had made George change his mind about active service with the military, he made the choice in 1916 to refuse to take life, rejecting the violence and murder of war.
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