George Hedger was an extremely unusual Conscientious Objector, one who willingly joined the army. He grew up in Kingston, and was living on Orchard Road at the time of his enlistment. In 1914 he was married with two children. George worked for many years for London County Council as the deputy comptroller. As a Quaker, he held strong pacifist ideals and was determined never to take a life.

George was one of many Quaker men who decided to join the army, some in a non-combatant role. He joined in 1915 and was sent to Mesopotamia, working as a stretcher bearer for the Royal Army Medical Corps. This difficult and often dangerous job was the first and most important part of the treatment of wounded men and could often involve a long and treacherous journey under fire to transport men from the front lines to field hospitals where they could receive medical treatment. George was assured that he would never have to obey an order to take up arms - and would never have to carry a rifle or any other kind of weapon.

This promise was broken in 1917 when George, along with a large group of other COs in the RAMC, were given orders that would forcibly move them into a combatant role. This would mean taking up a rifle and fighting in a front line regiment. The top echelons of the army did not see this as a problem, with Lord Kitchener saying the army should “turn them [RAMC men] into artillery”!

For an RAMC volunteer, refusing this order made them into a Conscientious Objector. George and many others would refuse to be transferred, remaining by choice in a non-combatant role. His dedication to non-violence meant that he could not become a soldier, even if he had voluntarily joined the army - He would do his best to save a life, but could not take one. For disobeying an order in the Army - even one that should never have been given - punishments could be cruel and other men in George’s position were put through terrible ordeals in the swelteringly hot Gabbari Military prison in Alexandria.

George and the other RAMC men resisted this pressure. Their principled and brave refusal in disobeying a direct order meant that they could stay where they were, doing vital and lifesaving work without resorting to violence. George was one of the first men to establish rights now recognised around the world - the right to develop a Conscientious Objection while in military service and the right to selectively Object to orders given in War. It is shocking that even in Britain today George would have found himself in trouble for his refusal - Britain is one of the many countries that still punishes its soldiers for becoming Conscientious Objectors.