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Conscription was introduced mid-way into World War One in 1916. Men received notification that they would be expected to put themselves forward at a recruiting office – but they, or their place of work, could appeal against the decision at a local tribunal. If they weren’t then happy with that decision, they could take it to a higher authority, the Appeal Tribunal. The army could also take cases there if they weren’t happy with the local tribunal’s decision.

One of the three Appeal Tribunals in Staffordshire sat in Stafford and liaised with both local firms and other organisations over availability of staff for call-up for military service and the army over appeal cases it heard.

Due to the sensitive issues that surrounded compulsory military service during and after WW1, only a small minority of the tribunal papers survived. Following the war, an order went out for all the Appeal Tribunal records to be destroyed. However those in Stafford were not and remain at the county’s Record Office as a rare example of such documents.

Location: Mid Staffordshire Appeal Tribunal, County Buildings, Stafford ST16 2LB
Image: Photograph from Appeal Tribunal case of George Astles from Gladstone Street, Leek during WW1
Photograph courtesy of Staffordshire Record Office