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JOHN BOWDEN THOMAS 1894 -  

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On Friday 4th of February 1916, around 250 theological students and ministers from around Wales stood on the parade ground at Rhyl and voluntarily signed up for the army. They were, as commentators of the time put it “answering the nations call”, but many of them were, or became, conscientious objectors.

John Bowden Thomas from Swansea was one of these men who joined what was known as the Welsh Ministers Company of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Their recruitment was voluntary, but at least partly to secure a non-combatant, and thus morally acceptable, place in the Army before Conscription threw them into opposition to forced service in a combatant battalion. At the Rhyl parade ground gathering, the men of the Welsh Ministers Company heard from the Reverend John Williams, one of the men responsible for assembling them together, that as “members of the RAMC they would not only witness to great suffering, but would be able to render aid to the sufferers... they would be in a position to soothe the pain and ease the affliction of many, and in so doing follow the footsteps of the great Master”.

The men of the Welsh Ministers Company were motivated by their Christian belief that killing was wrong, and their non-combatant medical work provided life-saving aid to thousands of wounded around the many fronts of the war. They themselves could not take life, but non-combatant service was morally acceptable. Though the formation of the Welsh Ministers Company was accompanied by all the trappings and patriotism of any recruitment event, the truth was quietly different. John, and the other men standing on the parade ground, were enlisting to abide by their consciences, and to follow the example of their religion, calling them to peace, not war.

For John Bowden Thomas, this call would see him sent first to Llandrindod Wells, where he would learn his new trade at the hospitals and support centres for wounded soldiers in the town, and then on to Sheffield for the final months of his training. Unusually for a man we can consider a Conscientious Objector, he was promoted to Corporal, one of the very few COs who joined the army - in any capacity - to do so. After training, John was sent to Salonika, where he worked at the 37th General Hospital. It is not known when he returned home. British forces in Salonika were not fully demobilised until 1921, and the RAMC attached to them may have stayed until the end. If so, John would not only be one of the most promoted COs, but also very possibly the last to return to Britain after the end of the war.

 

 

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CO DATA

Born: 1894
Died:
Address: Morriston, Swansea, Wales
Tribunal:
Prison:
HO Scheme: [1]
CO Work: RAMC
Occupation: Theology Student

Motivation: Church of England
[2]
ALTERNATIVIST

 


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

READ | more

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Conscientious objection in WW1
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