The Great War: Conscientious Objectors

1916 brought the introduction of conscription with the Military Service Act, and objection became a formal stance, with thousands of men's fates decided by the Military Service Tribunal. Most were put to war work on non combatant duties at aid posts, or driving field ambulances, but many where imprisoned for total refusal to take any part in any wartime activity. Garsington Manor became home to Phillip and Lady Ottoline Morrell in 1914, and from 1916 they invited their friends, many of whom where conscientious objectors, including several members of the Bloomsbury Set to spend the war years working on the home farm to avoid prosecution.