Frederick Edwards was born in Camberwell in 1887 and was living there at time of the 1911 census. A well read and well educated young man, he worked as a clerk for the London County Council for several years and was still doing so when he moved to Bromley in 1915. When Conscription was introduced with the Military Service Act in 1916, Frederick was a staunch Socialist and shared the belief that he could not fight and kill his fellow man at the behest of the Government. Like many other Socialists, he believed that the British and German governments were to blame for starting the war, and that many men in both countries were growing rich from war profits.

As a man with strong opinions, his Tribunal hearing in Bromley in early 1916 was difficult. Many Socialist COs found that the Tribunals would not even try to understand their point of view and would have already judged their ideas as dangerous long before their case was heard. His first Tribunal hearing probably dismissed his claim, as we know he appealed against their judgement; first to the Kent Appeal Tribunal and then to Central Tribunal, which heard his case on the 8th of April 1916. He was granted Exemption from Combatant Service only, and ordered to join the Army to serve in the Non-Combatant Corps.

Frederick’s time in the Non-Combatant Corps was brief and spent largely under arrest in Maidstone barracks Guard House. After refusing to obey orders in the 11th Eastern Non-Combatant Corps, he was sentenced to six months hard labour by Court Martial. For Frederick, like many other Conscientious Objectors, this was the beginning of a cat and mouse game with the military and civil authorities. He would spend the next year serving successive prison sentences, only to be released back to the army to disobey orders and be transferred back to prison! Some COs would experience this cycle up to five times during the war.

This pointless cycle shows how determined the Government and Military were to break down the resolve of Conscientious Objectors. The amount of time and effort wasted by this cat and mouse treatment led to the establishment of the Home Office Scheme in late 1916. The Home Office scheme was designed to allow the release of COs from prison into monitored work camps. Conditions in the camps were frequently terrible, and COs would be employed doing hard physical tasks with inadequate equipment, clothing and supplies.

After two sentences in Wormwood Scrubs, Frederick was judged by the Central Tribunal Committee to be a genuine Conscientious Objector and passed fit for the Home Office Scheme, which he took in October/November 1917. He worked at the camp in Dartmoor for the rest of the war.

The harsh conditions did not dishearten Frederick and he stayed committed to his principled stand. He stayed positive and convinced until his release in December 1918, writing in a friend’s autograph book to quote Robert Browning:

“This world's no blot for us,
Nor blank; it means intensely, and means good:
To find its meaning is my aim and end”