May 15th is Conscientious Objectors’ Day, when Quakers, and Peace Campaigners remember the men who refused to take up arms.
One such man was Roland Caudwell ( 1880-1982). He will be remembered by some in Abingdon as the retired builder who lived at 52 Thesiger Road. He will be remembered by others as a Deacon at Abingdon Baptist Church. There are earlier pictures of him serving as a soldier in the Boar War where he looked after the horses. But during World War I, he had become a man of conscience who refused to fight or kill, and is listed as a Conscientious Objector.
In 1916 he was Clerk of the Abingdon Quaker meeting. Like many Quakers (or Friends) he held pacifist beliefs. He was exempted Military Service at a tribunal in July 1916 not only on grounds of conscience but also because he was a farmer – a reserved occupation.
Mr Caudwell reached the grand age of 101, and there are reports of him as a centenarian in the Abingdon Herald. The reports say that he made hundreds of blankets for Oxfam.
