the men who said no
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NORMAN MONK-JONES 1894 - 1977  

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Norman Monk-Jones was a Quaker Conscientious Objector from Upper Norwood, Croydon. Just before the outbreak of war he had secured a hard-won place at Merton College, Oxford to study Philosophy and Classics. In 1915, after success in his first set of exams, the college was closed to undergraduates and Norman began working with the YMCA. At some point during this work he made the decision to register his opposition to war by becoming a Conscientious Objector when Conscription was introduced in 1916.

The local Tribunal at Croydon had a reputation for giving COs a fair hearing, and Norman was granted exemption from Combatant Service provided he joined the Friends’ Ambulance Unit. In the same manner as hundreds of other COs around Britain, this would have been suggested to the Tribunal by Norman himself, who would have investigated the possibility of his joining the FAU prior to the hearing.

After training at the FAU camp in Buckinghamshire, Norman arrived in the overseas headquarters of the FAU in Dunkirk in December 1916. He was quickly posted to the French sector near Rhiems, allowing the FAU to operate without being gradually absorbed into the structure of the British Military. Working as part of an Ambulance Convoy in “Section Sanitaire Anglaise 14” (SSA14), he would remain with the FAU for the rest of the war.

From 1916 to mid 1918 the rhythm of life was fairly constant and Norman’s own notes dwell on the repetition and gruelling conditions endured by his group especially the cold and difficult months of winter 1917. With the German advance of 1918, Norman’s Ambulance convoy worked close to the front lines, moving wounded soldiers to field hospitals to receive treatment. During this time, while working virtually on the front lines, two of Norman’s CO colleagues in the FAU, Norman Gripper and Hugo Harrison, were killed by shellfire. The courage and humanity of Norman’s FAU group was such that they treated both French and German wounded with equal respect and care - helping to save hundreds if not thousands of lives in the two years he worked with the FAU.

Upon his return to Britain, this life-saving effort and courageous stand was not acknowledged. His college scholarship was withdrawn by Dulwich College and he found himself unable to continue his studies at Merton, Oxford. Dulwich College had disapproved of his Conscientious Objection, despite the fact that as a member of the FAU, he had undergone many of the same hardships, dangers and fears of a front-line soldier - but entirely to save, rather than take, life.

Another member of SSA 14, Leonard Benson, wrote of Norman after his death: “He was irrepressibly cheerful even when things were difficult, but beyond this he had that understanding, dependability and “ready to give” outlook that commanded our friendship”.

 

 

 

 

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About the men who said NO

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CO DATA

Born: 1894
Died: 1977
Address: 9 Mowbray Road, Croydon
Tribunal: Croydon
Prison:
HO Scheme:
CO Work: FAU [1]
Occupation: Student

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ROAD TO CONSCRIPTION
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CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
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