Mutinous Swine

A Strike of Jailed Conscientious Objectors in Wandsworth Prison, 1918-19

All commemorations of World War One, by the British government, local councils, schools, museums and the press and media of all stripes, pay lip service to the fact that several thousand, mostly young men refused to fight.

But accounts like this one, of how they were treated, are unlikely to be given anything like the airing that the orthodox script of ‘national unity’, ‘a war for democracy’, ‘the spirit of sacrifice’ will receive.

Of some 16,000 or more men who refused to be conscripted to serve in the slaughter and claimed Conscientious Objector status, at least 6000 were court-martialled and jailed.
But for many imprisonment was far from the end of the story. In prisons and work camps, many were beaten, tortured and starved. And they fought back: through hunger strikes, refusal to work, underground newspapers, and agitation.

This pamphlet details just one episode from this long hidden history. The humour and stubbornness of their rebel spirit shines through the years.