William Allan was studying at the University of Edinburgh when Conscripted under the Military Service Act. He would interrupt his studies in early 1916 when as a young, single man he was called up in the first wave of conscripts and applied for exemption as a Conscientious Objector in March 1916.

William’s application to the Edinburgh Tribunal had not secured him the exemption he was looking for, as shortly after he had appealed against their decision, but to no avail. It is probable that one or other of these Tribunal hearings granted William “ECS” or Exemption from Combatant Service Only. This verdict would have sent him to the Army as a Non-Combatant, not expected to take up a fighting role, but still expected to wear uniform and obey orders. It appears that William initially accepted this verdict, and was posted to the Non-Combatant Corps (NCC), most likely to the Hamilton barracks. Accepting or rejecting the NCC was not an automatic decision, and was very much dependent on the individual. William would have to decide exactly what kind of objection he had, and to what degree NCC work would satisfy it. Accepting the NCC meant staying in the army, effectively drawing a line between direct involvement in the war and supporting the war effort. There was a tension inherent to being a Conscientious Objector in the NCC and, as neither a fighting soldier nor a resisting absolutist, many COs felt torn between the two polar opposite experiences of the war.

It seems that William agonised over this decision for the majority of 1916, but in February 1917 had resolved to resist all involvement in the war effort. Disobeying orders and refusing to carry on as an NCC soldier meant a court martial, and William was tried and sentenced for disobedience on the 28th of February 1917, sending him swiftly to civilian prison.

His time in prison was brief. Sent to Wormwood Scrubs, where his case was heard by the Central Tribunal in April, William was rapidly processed and passed suitable for the Home Office Scheme. By 1917 both the Central Tribunal and the Home Office Scheme were well established, and William’s case would have been heard as routine. His transfer to the HoS at Wakefield Work Centre followed after his hearing on the 21st of April 1917. It is probable that William remained on the Home Office Scheme, most likely transferred between several camps, until general release and demobilisation after the end of the war.