Bishop hoped to convert conscientious objectors with bombs

A bishop called for conscientious objectors to be jailed in London during the First World War in the hope that the full horror of German bombing would bring about a ‘sudden conversion’, a fascinating letter has revealed.

Lord Rupert Ernest William Gascoyne-Cecil, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1916 to 1936, made the extraordinary suggestion in a letter to the Times newspaper in 1917.

The bishop, who was also the son of former Conservative prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had just visited Dartmoor prison, where around 1,100 conscientious objectors were jailed during the conflict.

In the missive, which is titled ‘Anarchic Dartmoor’, the bishop expresses his fears that the prisoners – referred to as ‘conchies’ – would turn the religious objectors into revolutionaries.

Lord Rupert Ernest William Gascoyne-Cecil, who was Bishop of Exeter from 1916 to 1936, made the extraordinary suggestion in a letter to the Times newspaper in 1917

‘If the government desire a revolution after the war they could hardly have proceeded in a more efficient manner,’ he wrote, according to The Observer. 

‘Eleven hundred men who have a grievance, fancied or real, against society, are assembled from all parts of England and there have ample time and opportunity to organise resistance, armed or passive, against the existing order of affairs.’ 

He called for the men to be moved to areas ‘frequently visited by the enemy airplane’, with the hope that it might ‘bring about a sudden conversion’.  

The letter was brought to light by Richard Batten, a historian at Exeter University, who told the paper the bishop’s views reflected widely held concerns at the time.

At the time, the bishop, who was also the son of former Conservative prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had just visited Dartmoor prison, where around 1,100 conscientious objectors were jailed. Pictured: The Dartmoor conscientious objectors cultivating the soil 

At the time, the bishop, who was also the son of former Conservative prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had just visited Dartmoor prison, where around 1,100 conscientious objectors were jailed. Pictured: The Dartmoor conscientious objectors cultivating the soil 

Pictured: Conscientious Objectors at a peace demonstration at Dartmoor, Devon, in April 1917

Pictured: Conscientious Objectors at a peace demonstration at Dartmoor, Devon, in April 1917

‘It is hard for us today to understand Bishop Cecil’s views, but they reflect the fact that a century ago people in Devon and other areas across the UK had become weary of the war and the increasing pressures that it continued to exert upon their lives,’ he said. ‘Others were fearful about the impact of the Russian revolution.’ 

Proposed by a German naval commander in 1914, air strikes in Britain were at first restricted to outside of London for fear of the Kaiser’s royal British relatives being accidentally injured in one of the attacks.

Initially, the majority of the air raids were carried out by airships, but as the war progressed and aircraft technology improved, ever-heavier bomber aircraft were increasingly used by the Germans.

Although all German airships became to be known to the population of Britain as Zeppelins, after the name of the major German manufacturer, Count Zeppelin, other marques were also operational.

These included the wooden-framed Schutte-Lanz airship: the Zeppelin had a metal frame of the new material duralumin – a strong alloy of aluminium.

In total, German airships made roughly 51 bombing raids on England during the war, with many of these targetting London. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people.

More than 5,000 bombs were dropped on towns across Britain, destroying homes and businesses and causing £1.5million in damage. 

British conscientious objectors leaving Dartmoor Prison in April 1917 under a gateway with the words 'Parcere subjectis' (Spare the conquered) once applicable to prisoners of war

British conscientious objectors leaving Dartmoor Prison in April 1917 under a gateway with the words ‘Parcere subjectis’ (Spare the conquered) once applicable to prisoners of war

WHITE FEATHERS FOR CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR…

During the First World War there was a campaign involving  suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst, to shame objectors with a white feather

During the First World War there was a campaign involving suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst, to shame objectors with a white feather

During the First World War there was a campaign involving early feminists and suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst, to shame conscientious objectors with a white feather.

This prompted the Home Secretary to issue politicians and public servants with lapel badges reading ‘King and Country’ to indicate that they too were serving the war effort.

However, there were also unfortunate occasions when wounded soldiers on leave from the trenches wearing civilian clothes would sometimes be presented with a white feather by women unaware of their service.

In one instance Private Ernest Atkins, who was on leave from the Western Front, was riding a tram when he was presented with a white feather by a girl sitting behind him.

He smacked her across the face with his pay book and said: ‘Certainly I’ll take your feather back to the boys at Passchendaele.

‘I’m in civvies because people think my uniform might be lousy, but if I had it on I wouldn’t be half as lousy as you.’

Seaman George Samson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in Gallipoli, was on his way in civilian clothes to a public reception in his honour when he was presented with a white feather in an embarrassing faux-pas.

In total, there were 16,000 men who opted out of the First World War on principle and passionate socialist Herbert Morrison, who became known as the ‘suburban Stalin’, was one of most prominent conscientious objectors.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk