Certificate of Exemption
Granted to Jack Gilliland
Men who were called up after 1916 had the opportunity to go before the Military Tribunal to ask to be exempted from military service or for their service to be postponed. Those who had a political or religious reason for not fighting had to prove that this was sincere and that they had not just adopted this stance since conscription had been brought in.
If they managed to prove their conscientious objection to the satisfaction of the Tribunal, they were issued with a certificate. This allowed them to show the military authorities that they were not deserters. In some cases, the issuing of a certificate was delayed by the local Tribunal and men were picked up by the army, even though the Tribunal had granted them exemption.
Date: July 1918
Author: Chester-le-Street Military Tribunal
Where to find this: Bill Richardson’s family collection
Contributed by Bill Richardson
