THE stories of Second World War conscientious objectors, including poet Edwin Morgan and author Fred Urquhart, are told in a new exhibition at the National War Museum in Edinburgh.
Conscience Matters, which opened yesterday, draws on the testimonies and experience of some of the 60,000 people who applied for an exemption from military service on religious, political and humanitarian grounds, including about 2000 Scots. Those who were accepted were either exempted from national service altogether or assigned non-combatant roles on farms and in hospitals.
Applicants, including the writers, were required to appear before a tribunal and present evidence proving their commitment to their principles.
Visitors will be invited to put themselves in the place of the tribunal and rule on one such application as part of the new exhibition, which draws on European Council-funded research by Edinburgh University.
It also features letters, diaries, poems, speeches, music and paintings by conscientious objectors, dubbed “conchies”, as they struggled with the meaning and impact of their ethical positions during wartime, and will consider the social effects of their actions.
As well as Scots Makar Morgan and short story writer Urquhart, the exhibition includes the stories of Constance Margaret Bull, a trained nurse and volunteer for the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU), as well as other volunteers for the service, which operated in countries including Greece, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and Austria.
Alison Burnley's father, Peter Tennant, was a conscientious objector
Founded by the Quakers, it was independent of that faith group and largely staffed by conscientious objectors.
Tom Burns, who is also featured in Conscience Matters, spent two years in a prisoner of war camp after being captured by German forces while serving with such a medical unit on the Greek island of Crete. Following his return to Scotland, he became a sociology professor at Edinburgh University. Current staff member Tobias Kelly, professor of political and legal anthropology at the capital institution, said the experiences and contributions of those who did not fight in the conflict should not be discounted.
Kelly commented: “Britain was one of the first countries in the world to grant a legal right to conscientious objection to military service during wartime.
“During the Second World War, more than 60,000 people registered as conscientious objectors.
“Although now largely forgotten, many of these people went on to become significant cultural and political figures in post-war Britain, founding Amnesty International and Oxfam among other things.
“Their fascinating stories will invite visitors to think about the wider nature and implications of conscience and to ask how far we might go for a cause in which we believe.”
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