If there was a war and conscription was mandatory would you go?

[visitingagain]

Do people think the government has the right to conscript people? Should people who won't comply get punished?

@greenpolkadot55

im too old but if i was young enough if join the Wrens,,,,nice uniform

The Wrens were amalgamated into the RN in the early 90s - much to the disgust of my late DM, who was a Wren in the early 1950s, and looked fab in her uniform!

They wouldn't want me.

@PicsInRed

madisonbridges
To be honest, I don't suit green so the army's out. I look good in blue but I get airsick and seasick and I'm claustrophobic. So, on the whole, I'd probably have to come down against conscription.

Iirc, durng ww2 they provided anti nausea pills for that.

Really? Well, in that case I would get to see the world, I suppose, so I might have to rethink my position.

Of course in a national emergency. Exh was requested (seconded didn't get much choice) to help with pcr testing set up march 2020, he was happy to play his part. We have dc in the military

@greenpolkadot55

Dd is a naval officer, no wrens now .., looks amazing in her uniform! Her photo adorns my wall opposite where I'm sat. Her dsis would have been amazing at Bletchley park if they could cope with her autism, she's applying to gchq

It would depend on what we were going to war for.

To fight against Nazi's or similar in a new World War I'd do my bit, although I'm unsure what that would be because I'm not sure I'd be any use in a fight.

If the Government decided to invade another country for their resources or to oppress their people I'd fight against it.

Haha. The government can't even make people have a jab, wear a mask or keep two big steps away from others. No way would be people actually do it even if they were ordered to.

Just wanted to put in a word for this incredible film if you've not seen it.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0brzkzx/they-shall-not-grow-old

Peter Jackson and a huge team turned lots of archive film and later voice recordings of WW1 soldiers' experiences into something that looks and sounds like it would if recorded now. It makes what you see and hear far more immediate and relatable. Includes horrifying pictures of dead and injured men in places, but otherwise it would be a sanitised version of what they went through.

At the start a lot of them talk about how happy they were to volunteer for the army. Given what they went on to experience, it seems incredible to me that quite a few say it was the making of them. Recorded much later in life for the Imperial War Museum - my guess is probably in the 1950s/60s/70s, so they'd had time for reflection. Of course, what we don't hear is what their families and friends would say. A great many ex-soldiers who've been through combat are left with PTSD, or shell shock as it was labelled in WW1, and treatment/support for sufferers back then was almost non-existent, so there would have been serious long-term problems for both the ex-soldier and his loved ones.

Nope. I faint when I see blood so I'd be useless.

Pretty sure my fainting would mean I was exempt. Happy to help in another way though - comms, land army, watching for planes etc.

If they forced me to go and fight I'd be dead within a day so there's just no point.

Thank you for that @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I think a war should be voted on, and only those who voted for it should have to fight.

In that case, perhaps only those who voted for it should benefit from the freedoms it maintains and protects.

I refuse to kill or terrorise others so I'd be a conscientious objector.

What would you do if a large number of people were set on killing and terrorising you and your family? For example if you were Jewish in WW2? You wouldn't defend yourself or even your loved ones?

Knowing of someone and knowing them are two different things...

Lots of people say they know Jesus...

I would be a conscious objector. Pacifism is important to me.

I would be a conscious objector. Pacifism is important to me.

Easy to say. I think pretty much everyone in their right mind is a pacifist, other than some religious zealots, who have usually been groomed in one way or another, so you could argue not in their right mind.

However, if someone threatens me and mine, be that my nuclear family, my larger family, my friends, my country and my way of life, I would bloody well fight them off as best I can.

Are you really saying that if a group of people came to your town and said "we're claiming this town as our own", and forcibly ousted the mayor and the council, and brought in their own oppressive laws, you'd sit and watch them? Or you'd sit and watch while this happened in the next town along?

I wouldn't be ble to medically. But I'm against it 100%. It's mandatory I S. Kore where I lived for a year, and it had a devastating effect on some, and some were allowed not to do it and do tied stare service instead, doctors etc. That's horrifically unfair. I think the govt should fund the armed services and reserve forces properly. Many young men would volunteer if it came to it I think, but conscription, no.

Are you really saying that if a group of people came to your town and said "we're claiming this town as our own", and forcibly ousted the mayor and the council, and brought in their own oppressive laws, you'd sit and watch them?

Especially as for some people, life in the UK already feels like that.

For truly defence of our country, way of life and fellow citizens, if there was an invasion going to happen here or in countries nearby, especially by those like Nazis or ISIS (if they ever had an armed forces in Europe rather than random terrorist attacks), yes, absolutely.

Depends on the situation.
I am ex-army, so I feel like I can see this from both sides of the coin.
Would I rejoin the army by choice now? No way.
If we had another situation like the Nazis sweeping the continent, massacring innocent people? 100% yes I’d willingly do my bit.

@Stompythedinosaur

I would be a conscious objector. Pacifism is important to me.

It's conscientious objector, though to be fair, most were also conscious.

Really, pacifism should be our default setting, and anybody who isn't a pacifist really needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

There is a world of difference between actively defending yourself and your society (which is instinctual and natural) and actively allowing yourself to be shipped across the world to kill another human being.

Absolutely not and I have held that view for 50+years. I would try and dodge conscription and help my dc dodge conscription too.

This is what I would do and is completely separate to the great respect I hold for anyone that has fought in any war; it is so, so damaging. Many generations of my family, close family, and close friends have fought and lived through wars and none of them, not one, think and thought that war is the answer to anything.

However, would I fight hard and tough to defend against and resist a violent oppressor nearby, absolutely yes I would.

But never will I be willingly conscripted into fighting and killing.

And as always, there's nothing new under the sun ...

What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers ....

A very true song Rosetti - been some time since I've been in an Army Camp (as a visitor) but even in my early 20s I noticed how so young the soldiers were and that so many came from 'deprived' areas of the UK and the Army (Forces) gave them their only chance to better themselves.

And they did get a lot out of it, fine young men (it was the early 80s) who were rightly proud of themselves. I comforted myself that there weren't too many 'spheres of conflict' at that time. Of course the main one was NI back then.