Military Service Tribunals

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Military Service Tribunals were bodies formed by

recruiting bodies, they played an important part in the process of conscription. Tribunals were published as part of the Derby Scheme in 1915, but were continued on a statutory basis by the Military Service Act 1916
, which brought in conscription.

There were 2,086 local Military Service Tribunals, with 83 County Appeal Tribunals (formed by

county councils) to hear appeals by applicants not happy with the local tribunal decision.[1] A Central Tribunal at Westminster in London served, solely at the discretion of the Appeals Tribunal,[2]
as the final court of appeal; it largely dealt with difficult cases that would stand as precedent for local tribunals.

Although they are best known for their often heavy-handed attitude towards cases of

conscientious objection, most of the tribunals' work dealt with domestic and business matters. Men could apply on the grounds of their doing work of national importance, business or domestic hardship, medical unfitness, or conscientious objection. Only around two per cent of applicants were conscientious objectors.[3] The image of the tribunals at the time was that they were soft on these cases and harsh on those relating to domestic hardship;[citation needed
] after the war conscience cases became more prominent and tribunals are known for their (genuinely) harsh treatment of objectors.

A very large number of men applied: by the end of June 1916, 748,587 men had applied to tribunals.

Volunteer Training Corps for part-time training and home defence duties; by February 1918, 101,000 men had been directed to the Corps by the tribunals.[7]

References

  1. ^ UK Parliamentary Paper, Cmd 413, 'Forty-eighth annual report of the Local Government Board' (1919), p. 116.
  2. ^ James McDermott, British Military Service Tribunals, p.22
  3. ^ Adrian Gregory, 'Military Service Tribunals: civil society in action', in Jose Harris, Civil Society in British History (Oxford: 2003), pp. 177-191.
  4. ^ J.E. Edmonds, Military Operations: France and Belgium: 1916, vol. i (London: 1932), p152.
  5. Derby scheme
    : Statement of the War Committee, 24/10/1916
  6. ^ Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War. 1914-1920 (London: 1922).
  7. ISBN 978-0-7190-1737-7
    . Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  • James McDermott, British military service tribunals, 1916–18 (Manchester, Manchester University Press: 2011).
  • Jonathan Mein, Anne Wares, Sue Mann (eds.), 'St Albans: Life on the Home Front, 1914-1918' (Hatfield, Hertfordshire Publications)
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