Search Surrey, Southwark Military Tribunals

For each search result, you will see both a transcription and an image of the original enrolment form. The transcription includes the following details.

• Name
• Event date
• Number
• Place
• Archive

Use the newspapers to take your research further. Military Tribunals and their outcomes were frequently reported in the local papers.

This unique collection of military tribunal minutes were digitised from original volumes held by the Southwark Archives.  The volumes recorded the events of each meeting at the town hall and the subsequent decisions made in individual cases such as appeal dismissed or delayed until a later date.

Military tribunals during the First World War were panels set up across Britain to assess whether men should be exempt from conscription. Introduced after compulsory military service began in 1916, these local tribunals heard appeals from men who claimed exemption on grounds such as ill health, family hardship, essential civilian work, or conscientious objection. Some exemptions were temporary or conditional; for example, requiring the man to join the Volunteer Training Corps. Although intended to ensure fairness, tribunals were often criticised for inconsistency and for pressuring men into military service despite valid claims. For many families, they marked a turning point in their wartime experience.