the men who said no
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ALFRED GEORGE BRENTNALL1897 - 1918  

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Alfred Brentnall was the oldest son of a large family. Born in Stepney in 1897, he was 19 and unmarried when Conscription was introduced in March 1916. This means it is very likely that he was among the first group of men to be called up under the Military Service Act and would have faced a local Tribunal hearing in early 1916.

It’s likely that Alfred was passed exempt from Combatant Service provided that he took on work of national importance by his local Tribunal as by May he had been referred to the Pelham Committee. The Pelham Committee was more properly known as the Committee on Work of National Importance, and was set up to ensure that Conscientious Objectors were put to use - working at the right kind of work, in conditions and for pay that was deemed to be appropriate for their nature as COs.

Alfred probably went to work in market gardening or farm labour that took place, at the minimum, 25 miles away from his home in London. While working on WNI he would have been expected to work under the conditions known as the “principle of equal sacrifice”. Many local and appeal tribunals wanted COs to experience as much of the pain and suffering as soldiers did on the front as they possibly could. With the ever present threat and fear of mortal danger largely absent in rural England, this meant that COs would have to be paid as little as possible and, ideally (in the minds of the Tribunals) work far from home in occupations that were physically difficult, no matter the skills or circumstance of the CO in question.

WNI was not the easy option, and by late 1918, Alfred was seriously ill. Likely caught in one of the waves of influenza and pneumonia that swept the country towards the end of the war, Alfred died in the last quarter of 1918. His death, at the age of 22, was recorded in Petersfield, likely where he was carrying out his Pelham-approved work.

Alfred’s life and death are not well known and pose many questions. Alfred’s younger brother, Walter, was not a Conscientious Objector and had joined the army in 1917. Did he share his brother's feelings to any extent, or was he a willing volunteer once he turned 18? Walter died in September 1917 and is recorded on the Tyne Cot memorial. How did the family react to losing both eldest sons - one in combat, and one, though a non-combatant, equally a casualty of the First World War?

Albert’s name is inscribed upon the Conscientious Objector memorial plaque. The plaque carries an inscription that holds true to the spirit of the Conscientious Objection that Albert died to establish and tells us today to carry on the struggle against militarism - “it is by the faith of the idealist that the ideal comes true

 

 

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About the men who said NO

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CO DATA

Born: 1897
Died: 1918
Address: 14 Lee Street, Limehouse, London
Tribunal:
Prison:
HO Scheme:
CO Work: WNI
Occupation:

Alternativist

 


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