Frederick’s experiences were sadly typical of those of many of the COs who died during the war. His first Tribunal hearing was in mid 1916, and was arrested and handed over to the military in early November. Soon after he faced Court Martial for disobeying orders on the 20th of November 1916 and was sentenced to 112 days hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs.

Like many COs, after this short sentence he was released back into the hands of the army, and immediately faced with another Court Martial. In this second case, he was sent to Maidstone for two years hard labour and released after five months. This would repeat with another sentence of two years hard labour, which would be his last. Most of our information on Fred comes from prison registers, but a significant amount of more personal detail may be found in his obituary which was published in the CO periodical “The Tribunal” on January 16th 1919:       
TWO DEATHS IN MAIDSTONE                            
Fred Wilkinson was the first secretary of the Streatham Branch of the NCF. He was young - only 27 - ardent, level headed, an enthusiast with a gift for organisation and a born leader. A devoted Christian and member of the F.O.R, he was particuarly earnest in seeking to arouse the Chruches and the professing followers of the prince of peace in regard to pacifism.
The Wandsworth tribunal did not believe he had a conscientious objection and he went to wormwood scrbs on Nov 9 1916: was transferred to wandsworth: came out to go again to guardroom and court martial, and was sent for his second and third sentences to Maidstone Prison, where he died during his third sentence of hard labour on Jan 3. He had suffered much from the hardships of his long confinement, but he was always brave, bright, cheerful. We who loved him saw him growing paler, thinner, weaker, though the light within glowed ever brighter and comrades in prison testified that he was a comfort and a strength to them all. But on the last Friday in 1918 when his wife who had just lost father and sister visited him, he was unmistakably ill and suffering. To her anxious questions he confessed that he had not slept since before Christmas, his cell was so cold. He could barely maintain circulation by walking up and down. On New Years morning his wife was called to his side, for he was dangerously ill of broncho- pneumonia following influenza. His worn out body had no strength to resist disease; his weary spirit craved rest. Doctor and Wardens did what they could in those last sad days, but it was too late to save the noble young life that had been sapped during his long imprisonment. He was full of care for his comrades to the last, and his wife was behind him when release came Friday, January 3. The worn-out body was laid to rest in Norwood Cemetery on Thursday January 9. A great number of comrades and sympathisers waited at the cemetery gates for the funeral and followed it up the hill to the chapel. As they did so, a glorious rainbow shoed in the sky. In the chapel, the rev. Humphrey Chalmers, M. A, spoke words of help. Six of his friends carried the coffin. The grave in which it was placed had been purchased by the love-gifts of his branch and there was a wreath of flowers, among them a beautiful wreath from his comrades in Maidstone Prison. The best tribute we can pay to him, and to our other martyrs, is to strive more than we have veer done yet to secure the release of other sufferers “for conscience” sake and to arouse the churches and the nation to give heed to the vital truths for which Fred Wilkinson died.

For all that Fred's NCF comrades purchased his gravestone as a symbol of their friendship, Fred now lies under a Commonwealth War Graves Commision stone, one that proudly displays his number and rank, as if he were a soldier, rather than a man who died defying militarism to the very last.