the men who said no
Back | Home

GEORGE COOMBS HUITT 1886 - ????  

support

George Huitt was one of four brothers, three of whom became COs. Alfred, Thomas and George were all religious COs who believed very strongly that their Christian principles meant that they could play no part in the war. The fourth brother, Henry, volunteered for the army in 1915 but it is likely that he also shared his brothers’ religious principles as he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a non-combatant, working to save lives rather than destroy them, on the Western front. George was 30 and working as a plumber when conscription was introduced in 1916.

George’s job as a plumber would have granted him a good reason to apply for exemption, even if he was not a Conscientious Objector. Some professions were considered of such importance to the country that a man could be allowed to avoid military service entirely if he agreed to carry on in the work that he was doing. For many COs though, this did not matter. Some Tribunals would refuse to allow a CO to carry on in his work, even if it was considered nationally important and would ignore their occupation! On the other hand, some COs refused to have their occupations recorded as they were keen to be judged on the merits of their anti-war belief alone.

Despite being a prominent local Methodist, George’s application for exemption was refused. Unlike his brother Thomas, he did not even receive “Exemption from Combatant Service Only” but instead seems to have been totally dismissed. It’s likely that he appealed against the decision of the Greenwich Tribunal to the London County Appeal Tribunal, but this is unknown.

What is known is that George was sent to the Kings’ Royal Rifle Regiment under armed guard after being arrested for refusing to willingly turn up at the barracks. He was transported to Winchester for training but while there began to refuse to obey military orders. By December 1916, he was in trouble, probably for refusing to pick up a rifle or carry ammunition. At his court martial, he was sentenced to one year’s hard labour in prison and, on the 14th of December, he was packed up and sent to Wormwood Scrubs.

After a month in Wormwood Scrubs prison, denied the right to send or recieve any letters as a new prisoner, George was sent before the Central Tribunal, which would decide whether or not he was a “genuine CO” suitable for a transfer to the Home Office Scheme.

The Home Office Scheme was set up in mid 1916 as an alternative for COs who refused to be forced into any military or industrial work. It consisted of a series of large and small work camps where COs could be sent to do pointless and often dangerous manual labour in prison-like environments, but with certain freedoms given in exchange for a promise of good behaviour. Most COs believed at first that the work would be useful, but it was largely designed to punish COs, or at least keep them busy, quiet and out of the public eye. As a plumber, and like his brother Alfred’s carpentry, George could have been employed doing useful work as a civilian just through carrying on his normal life. However the desire of some people in local, appeal and central Tribunals and the pettiness of the laws passed by Parliament meant that it was considered “better” for COs to be punished than be useful.

George was sent to Dartmoor camp, where he remained for the rest of the war. While at Dartmoor, and like many other COs, George took the opportunity offered by being surrounded by so many interesting and intelligent like minds and joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a Christian peace movement that has continued to oppose war in all of its forms up until the modern day.

015

 

 

stantonDo you have more information or a photo of GEORGE HUITT? Let us know

About the men who said NO

redline
CO DATA

Born: 1886
Died:
Address: 136 Charlton Lane, Greenwich
Tribunal:
Prison: Wormwood Scrubs
HO Scheme:Dartmoor [1]
CO Work:
Occupation: Plumber

Absolutist

 


redline


WIDER CONTEXT | more
ROAD TO CONSCRIPTION
| more
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
| more
TRIBUNALS | more
SENTENCED TO DEATH | more
PRISONS | more
HOME OFFICE CENTRES | more

READ | more

ONLINE RESOURCES
Conscientious objection in WW1
Conscientious objection today
White Poppies
Remembrance

EDUCATION | more

BUY RESOURCES | more






     
     
red line
address