British Quakers had long held pacifist views. They suffered terribly as conscientious objectors during WW1, many dying in solitary confinement in prison. As one wrote: “Things are coming near the end this morning. I was taken up to a quiet place and simply ‘pasted’ until I couldn’t stand and then they took me to hospital and forcibly fed me… The colonel was standing near me and thundered up and shouted ‘What! You won’t obey me?’ I quietly answered ‘ I must obey the commands of my God, Sir.’ ‘Damn your God!'”.