‘Quakers in Khaki’: Conscientious Objectors’ Resistance to Uniform Clothing in World War I Britain

Abstract

In a 1927 issue of The Herald of the Folk,1 Reginald Stamp recalled his wartime imprisonment for resisting military service: ‘For my refusal to obey a “lawful command of my superior officer to put on a suit of khaki” I was three times court martialed and sentenced to six months, one year and 18 months hard labour respectively.’2 Stamp was a conscientious objector (CO), of which there were many during World War I; some associated with the labour movement, while others had Christian objections to the taking of life (Rae, 1970). The Friends Service Committee (FSC) was set up to help British Quakers to resist compulsory military service, but the introduction of conscription gave their position even more prominence, making membership of the Society the best-known reason for objection.