We Will Not Fight...: The Untold Story of World War Ones Conscientious Objectors

click here for more details, find new or used items	Will Ellsworth-Jones Our price £13.29 (£18.99) New from £11.08 Used from £11.14 Pages: 320 (Hardcover) ISBN: 1845133005 Pub: Aurum Press Ltd Pub date: 2008-02-01 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3098

Reader Reviews:

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I had not given the conscientious objectors much thought before I picked up "We Will Not Fight" by Will Ellsworth-Jones, (Aurum Press). The book follows the lives of three brothers from Yorkshire during the First World War.

While two Brocklesby brothers fought for their country and experienced life in the trenches, the story centres on Bert, who fought not to fight. Bert was a conscientious objector. A trained teacher and preacher, he was fundamentally opposed to war and killing.

As a reader you start out sympathetic to Bert. He would not kill. He was following his bible and religion. He and his fellow COs were an embarrassment, but they could have been allowed to do valued work at home. Instead, their continuing refusal to serve became a major problem for the government, which was trying to recruit enough men to win the war.

The government was heavy-handed, particularly with working class men, but Bert was so stubborn that he would not sew coal sacks because the coal might be used in the war effort.

The fact that Bert was not an easy character to be sympathetic with strengthens this account. The author could have chosen someone with whom everyone could have felt sympathy all of the time. But Bert and his colleagues who were sent to France, held in appalling prison conditions and sentenced to death, needed every ounce of stubbornness. They won the battle for others who would refuse to join the military in later conflicts. Without their fundamental, overwhelming, black and white beliefs, they would have given in. The right to say no would have been lost.

This is a moving account and fills in a part of the history of war in Britain that had hitherto not been covered. Based on the letters and records of the day, the story was a compelling read.

Tony Wilkinson and Lindsay Cook

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