Dyce Work Camp

Dyce Work Camp was set up in August 1916 at quarries north-west of Aberdeen, Scotland, to accommodate conscientious objectors who had been in prison for refusing military service in World War I. These men, mostly from England, had been released on condition that they performed "work of national importance" – breaking up granite rock to produce stone for road building. The conditions in the tented camp near the village of Dyce were poor, exacerbated by the very wet weather, and one man died of pneumonia without receiving medical treatment. Following an inquiry and a debate in parliament, the camp was closed in October 1916, with the ministerial statement that it had always been intended to be only temporary.

When the United Kingdom joined in World War I by declaring war on Germany on 4 August 1914 the British Army was flooded with volunteers, in a seizure of patriotic fervour. However, by autumn 1915 there was a shortage of recruits to replace those killed or injured in the fighting, so a voluntary system, the Derby Scheme, was instituted, by which men could "attest" that they were willing to serve when the time came. However, this also did not produce enough volunteers, so plans were made to conscript men in an orderly manner. On 27 January 1916 the Military Service Act enlisted all men aged between 18 and 41 who lived in Great Britain (Ireland was excluded) and who were unmarried or widowed on 2 November 1915. Men were exempted if they were doing work vital for the war (such as engineering) or work essential for maintaining civilian life (such as farming). By 25 May 1916 a second act was passed to include married men.

Local Military Service Tribunals were set up to consider objections to call-up on grounds of illness, occupation or conscientious objection. A hierarchy of appeal was established, in a few cases culminating in the Central Tribunal in London. Provision for conscientious objectors was most troublesome, because the Act had not defined the term. The public generally, and the tribunals in particular, were often very unsympathetic to "conchies", even to those who had genuine moral, political or religious objections to war. During the course of the war more than 16,000 men claimed conscientious objection.

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