Conscientious Objector
Battley became a pacifist during the Boer War. During the First World War, Battley's Baptist beliefs and membership of the Fellowship of Reconciliation bade him to declare his conscientious objection. He was granted exemption from military service conditional upon working as a market gardener.
In May 1916 he was made to dig cauliflowers in a Twickenham market garden as part of his conditional exemption. In a letter, he said; "When I tell you there are nearly 15,000 plants in cloches of 4, you can imagine my task... My arms and hands have swollen to twice their usual size and have given me ceaseless pain. My feet have been blistered (the nails on my toes turning black with pain) but I'm out to show, as I know you are, that a CO is no shirker if he is an idealist."
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