For Conscientious Objectors content to serve in the Army under a promise that they would not have to use or fire weapons, the Tribunal system allowed for a guarantee that accepting Conscription did not mean going against their own consciences. Robert Vanderplank was one of these men.

A member of the Plymouth Brethren living in Cardiff in 1916, Robert felt that he could not actively participate in the war through violent means. Many Plymouth Brethren adopted the “render unto Caesar” position with regards to Conscription - that they owed a debt of labour to the state, but would not be forced to go against their own religious beliefs on killing. Robert applied to the Cardiff Tribunal for exemption as a Conscientious Objector and put forward these beliefs in August 1916, and was granted Exemption from Combatant Service only. For many COs ECS was unacceptable as they sought Absolute exemption, but for Robert, it allowed him to stick to his Conscientious Principles while accepting Conscription.

Robert would join the Non-Combatant Corps, a labour and support unit of the Army set up for Conscientious Objectors. There he would provide labour and logistical support on the Home front as part of the 6th Western Battalion of the NCC. Towards the end of the war he applied for, and successfully obtained, a transfer to the Royal Army Medical Corps, and after training and receiving a guarantee that his role would be strictly non-combatant, he was sent to France in Number 1918. Though arriving just in time for the Armistice, vital medical work continued, and Robert worked with the RAMC for another year, finally being demobilised at home in 1919.

For COs like Robert, accepting non-combatant service made sense. He could work to supply and save lives, not take them - able to put his work and conscience to good, and life saving use.