Lessons to be learnt

Joseph came from Thornton, near Blackpool, and when he made his case to a committee of local councillors, he was given an exemption from military service. But that exemption was taken away by the Central Tribunal, which sat in far-off Westminster and was led by the fourth Marquess of Salisbury.

I have looked at the tribunal’s surviving records and I believe that it acted wrongfully, not just by present-day standards, but also by rules it had made for itself.

Modern lessons

Although Lord Salisbury and his colleagues eventually acknowledged their error, nothing was done to call Joseph home, and he was killed in