World War One's conscientious objectors Details of how 8,000 men tried to avoid conscription are revealed online John Gordon Shallis lost four brothers during the war His parents also lost a son-in-law Appeal chairman said mother needed the comfort of her 'last son' Harry George Ward, a socialist, appealed as a 'conscientious objector' Tribunal chairman said a socialist could not have a conscience His family had already been decimated by the First World War when John Gordon Shallis appealed against being sent to the frontline. He'd lost three brothers to the conflict - which still ranks as among the deadliest in human history, resulting in 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded. Before the appeal was heard, a fourth had been killed. John Gordon Shallis's appeal for exemption from fighting in World War One was granted. He had already lost three brothers and was soon to have lost a fourth. His parents from Harlesden, also lost a son-in-law, and Shallis appealed on the grounds of domestic hardship. The chairman of the panel wrote they were 'of the opinion that the mother is entitled to the comfort she will obtain by the retention of this last son'. And so, given the exceptional personal circumstances, and Shallis's employment within the munitions industry, Shallis - who died in 1975 - was granted an exemption. Today the details of how 8,000 men tried to avoid conscription in the First World War, are released by the National Archives. They provide a unique and fascinating insight into the battles fought on the home front to avoid the bloody conflict. The socialist who couldn't qualify as a conscientious objector Harry George Ward was another one of thousands of men desperate to avoid a war. Describing himself as a foreign correspondent and book-keeping clerk, his argument - that he should not be sent to fight on conscientious grounds, because of his socialist beliefs - was bluntly rejected. The tribunal chairman allegedly stated that, as a socialist, he couldn't possibly have a conscience so he could not be regarded as a conscientious objector. The way Ward was dismissed was raised in Parliament by an MP and Ward, 20, from Ponders End, appealed. He lost this hearing too, but later appealed to the central tribunal. John Gordon Shallis lost four older brothers in the war and successfully appealed against conscription. His appeal is published online today by the National Archives. The butcher exempted for just ONE DAY to look after his shop Another man, butcher Aden Stone, appealed on economic grounds in order to look after his shop. An exemption was granted by the tribunal - but it was only for one day, the shortest exemption granted by the tribunal. The tribunal decided that Mr Stone had deliberately brought out a local competitor in an attempt to increase his business needs, and thus improve his chances of exemption. Brought up to think 'all warfare was wrong': The son of German migrants who served in regiment that did not leave Britain Frederick Lunkenheimer whose parents migrated to Britain from Germany before 1914. He said his parents had fled Germany to escape military service and had been bought up to think that 'all warfare was wrong'. The 20-year-old, from Acton, said that the family's bakery and confectionery shop had been 'wrecked by the public owing to the bitter feeling against us being Germans'. He added: 'We were prevented from carrying on further business and grossly insulted in various ways.' He applied to be exempted as a conscientious objector but had his appeal dismissed. He went on to serve with the Middlesex Regiment, but in a labour battalion which did not leave Britain. The fascinating papers also reveal the attitudes of local people to those seen as trying to escape their patriotic duty. Harry Harris's shop was used in his appeal on economic grounds not to fight in World War One. His appeal was dismissed. 'A proper rotter of a man' and a 'rotten shirker' An anonymous letter to the tribunal, about Charles Rubens Busby, questions why he is allowed to keep his butcher's shop and not serve, while 'married men have had to shut up their shop and go'. Mr Busby is subsequently described as 'a proper rotter of a man' and a 'rotten shirker'. The writer of the letter had lost two sons in the war and was understandably aggrieved and heart-broken. Busby later served with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force between 1917 and 1918. The builder's labourer who tried to resist conscription to look after his sister and widowed mother while his brother was serving Samuel Harridge, a builder's labourer from Acton, tried resisting conscription on the grounds that he had a brother in the army and was looking after his sister and widowed mother. The tribunal accepted evidence from a local military representative that the family would suffer 'no serious hardship', should he serve, because the sister could 'leave school and get employment'. Thousands of papers from the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal, which heard appeals between 1916 and 1918, have been digitised as part of a series of events to mark the war's centenary. The documents - one of only two complete surviving collections of tribunal records - reveal men seeking exemption on medical, family or economic grounds as well as the relatively small proportion wishing not to fight on moral grounds as conscientious objectors. Rachael Corver studies records of the Central Military Service Tribunal and Middlesex Appeal Tribunal for World War One, released by the National Archives The National Archives said the papers offered an insight into personal circumstances, including letters, medical certificates, statements and even religious pamphlets, as well as business information. Chris Barnes, records specialist at the National Archives, said: 'The conscription appeal records provide a different perspective of the First World War away from the battles, revealing the impact the war had on the home front. Digitising this collection opens up the records to allow people across the globe to discover the lesser-known stories of First World War for themselves. Of the 11,307 separate appeals heard between 1916 and 1918, only 577 were conscientious objection cases, or just over 5%. Harry Harris was reported by a member of the public who had lost two sons in the war. Harry's appeal not to fight in World War One was subsequently dismissed. The majority of appeals were dismissed and many people did go on to see war service. The sensitive nature of the appeals against compulsory military service during and after the First World War has meant that only a small minority of the tribunal papers survive. In the years that followed the end of the war, the Government issued instructions to the local government boards that all tribunal material should be destroyed, except for the Middlesex Appeal records and a similar set for Lothian and Peebles in Scotland, which were to be kept as a benchmark for possible future use. John Gordon Shallis's appeal case has now been digitised in a series which contains 11,000 case papers from the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal which heard appeals between 1916 and 1918. A sample of records from the Central Tribunal was also kept. The Military Service Act of 1916 introduced compulsory conscription to Great Britain for the first time in modern history. Before this act, the armed forces were generally made up of volunteers. While conscientious objection was not specifically defined in the act of 1916, the government recognised those whose 'objection genuinely rests on religious or moral convictions'. Only a small number of conscientious objectors were exempted from service absolutely. Most were obliged to serve in non-combatant roles or faced courts martial. Britain abolished National Service in 1960. A Women's War Work booklet, published to highlight the roles that women were being employed to do, to substitute for men who could be freed to join the army, was published today In 1921 the Ministry of Health decided that all papers relating to individual cases of exemption from National Service and tribunal minute books (except those of the Central Tribunal), should be destroyed. World War 1 began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. Differences in foreign policies were to blame, although the immediate cause was the assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand. The two main sides were the Allies, which included France, Great Britain and Russia; and Germany and Austria-Hungary. In total, 30 countries were involved in the conflict. Italy, once part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, fought on the side of the Allies. Soldiers fought largely in trenches during the war, and thousands suffered from stress, known as shell-shock. Over a million soldiers were killed in the infamous Battle of the Somme alone, including about 30,000 in just one day.