Wilhelm Arthur Thiel, born in Wandsworth, was the son of a German family and a Conscientious Objector - in the jingoistic world of Britain in 1916, a difficult combination! Wilhelm was an Absolutist CO, who refused to do any form of alternate service or work of national importance that would aid the war effort. His application as a CO to the Richmond Tribunal was unsuccessful, and they granted him no exemption of any kind. This may have been due to his unusual motivation - ethically, but not religiously (or politically) against the war. It may be that he also had other reasons for refusing to fight, and many COs with recent German ancestry refused to be forced into the army so that they could not be forced to kill family and friends.

Initially posted the the Middlesex Regiment, where he was quickly court martialled and sentenced to 112 days hard labour. Released and then court martialled again (9 months) then released and sentenced to One year. Spend the year in Wandsworth prison (23.5.17-13.4.18), then released by order of Secretary of State under 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, also known as the Cat-and-Mouse act.

Under the Cat-and-Mouse Act, a CO who regained his health after the atrocious conditions of Prison would be rearrested and sent back to prison. Wilhelm was finally released in April 1919 after 4 sentences (most in Wandsworth) and more than two years total in prison.

Wilhelm was subject to considerable brutality in his last prison sentence. Questions were asked in Parliament over mistreatment:

“Mr Thomas Richardson asked the Home Secretary whether, on Tuesday 1st October, W. A Thiel, a conscientious objector in Wandsworth prison was kicked by the principle warder, who afterwards ordered four other warders to carry him to the top of the stairs and then instructed them to drop him; that he was taken by the feet and pulled down two flights of iron stairs to the basement, and that at the top of the basement stairs the warder again ordered his assistants to drop him, after which he was further kicked and pilled down another flight of sixteen stone steps to a punishment cell; that, upon the prisoner complaining to the governor, he was referred to a visiting magistrate, who declined to allow him to call a witness, and stated that he had decided to go no further into the case.”

The Home Secretary, as always, denied all wrongdoing. Wilhelm's story is typical of those COs who faced brutality in prison. In only a few cases were the men responsible for the vicious and illegal treatment COs suffered ever punished.