Worthy of memory

After the First World War, there was a debate over the commemoration of those who had adopted non-combatant roles on the grounds of conscience. It was only in 1994 that a Conscientious Objectors' Commemorative Stone was unveiled in Tavistock Square, London - 'To all those who have established and are maintaining the right not to kill'.

"Pressing each other close the dead
Who own no hatred and no flag."
The Dead by Rene Arcos

In the aftermath of the conflict, there was a swell of anti-war opinion. The Rev Luther Bouch in Uxbridge, in November 1925, spoke of 'a definite call...to declare war upon war'. In the same month, nearly 100 members of the Women's Section, Yiewsley Labour Party, attended a peace meeting.

There were bitter disagreements over the inclusion on war memorials of those executed for desertion or cowardice. In one Lincolnshire village, a similar lack of accord meant that no memorial was erected for 90 years.

In 2001, a memorial was opened in the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, for the 306 British and Empire soldiers executed for these so-called military crimes. They received a government pardon five years later.

Lest we forget