Guy Aldred was a leading figure on the left wing of British politics long before the war began. A dedicated Communist, Anarchist and editor of the radical newspaper The Spur, he was involved in protesting against even the proposed introduction of Conscription from 1914-1916. When the Military Service Act came into force, it was almost inevitable that such a principled and politically active man would become a Conscientious Objector.
During his time at Dyce Guy Aldred edited the camps new sheet the Granite Echo and was one of many COs who suffered through multiple prison sentences, in his case exacerbated by arguments and disagreements with authority that resulted in work strikes and frequent transfers between prisons. Guy was arrested and handed over to the army for the first time in May 1916 - despite not being called up under the Act! It is likely that he had been selected as a troublemaker and a vociferous opponent of conscription, and he was charged regardless of the illegality of his arrest. It would be March 1919 before he was freed, finishing his 4th sentence at his 6th prison. His experiences as a CO did not dampen his fervour for revolutionary and radical political activity - just as his time in prison for sedition before the war had not - and he continued a political life highly critical of the imperialist and militarist framework that had imprisoned him until his death in 1963.