Book: Who Does Want to Kill Anyone

WHO DOES WANT TO KILL ANYONE: The Story of Conscientious Objection in Mid-Staffordshire and the Black Country in WW1 by Gerry Barton and John Babb

Who Does Want To Kill Anyone is an account of WW1 conscientious objection in Mid-Staffordshire and the Black Country. It uses the Mid-Staffs Appeal Tribunal Papers from Stafford Record Office as its starting point. Such papers were usually destroyed, but these surviving papers contain the statements submitted by the conscientious objectors and the response made by the tribunals, both the local tribunal and appeal tribunal. This information was supplemented by additional research in local newspapers, National Archives and Quaker archives in Birmingham and London. The authors were helped in this research by many other volunteers involved in the Mid-Staffs Appeal Project at Stafford Record Office.

The authors give a national perspective as well as explaining what happened locally in Staffordshire. The fate of the appellants after their tribunal has been followed up and we can see how their willingness “to pay any penalty” for refusing military service was tested. Using the words of the men themselves, the motivation underlying the refusal to serve is examined. The diverse responses of different religious groups and political objectors to the war are compared. This analysis is complemented by a series of personal stories which describe in detail the fate some of the individual conscientious objectors.

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support received from University of Hertfordshire Heritage Hub , Central England Quakers Black Country Fund, and the Jack Leighton Trust.

WHO DOES WANT TO KILL ANYONE: The Story of Conscientious Objection in mid-Staffordshire and the Black Country in WW1 by Gerry Barton and John Babb
£9.99
151pp
Published April 2018 by BBBNStaffs Publishing
ISBN : 978-1-5272-2195-6
Information & sales – BBBNStaffs@hotmail.com