Thomas Herbert James was the oldest of the Risca James brothers. 38 in 1916, a widower and a mine worker, Thomas would have been called up under the Military Service Act significantly later than his younger brothers, but despite this delay, shared similar experiences in Kinmel Park, Prison and on the Home Office Scheme.

Thomas most likely applied for exemption at the Risca Tribunal in late 1916, as by December of that year, he was held under guard at Kinmel Park, awaiting a court martial for refusing orders. Thomas was an Absolutist CO, and refused all alternative forms of non-combatant military service. At the major depot in Kinmel Park, he made his objection to the war clear by refusing all military orders, ensuring a length sentence in a civilian gaol. As Thomas was conscripted in late 1916, this sentence was barely carried out. The Home Office Scheme, introduced earlier in the year, was by then fully in operation, and thousands of COs had been released from prison provided they took on the scheme. Tom agreed to the conditions of the HoS, and was moved to the large work centre at Wakefield. As many other men experienced, he was moved from camp to camp during the war, eventually ending his time on the scheme in Penderyn, close to Merthyr Tydfil and his brothers Reginald and Conway.