Press Release:

How would you feel if you were conscripted to fight in a World War this year?

Survey reveals only 57% would protest if conscription was being discussed in Parliament and just 5% would sign up to fight before a Military Service Act was passed

Tuesday 26^thJanuary 2016: Tomorrow marks 100 years since conscription was enforced in the UK during WWI. Author & researcher SJ Hardman Lea discusses the results of a new survey into how we would react if this happened to our generation in 2016. SJ Hardman Lea is available for interviews, editorial commissions and comment. Copies of his new historical fiction novel, The Sins of Soldier, are available for review (Matador, £7.99, 28^thJanuary 2016).Helenlewis@literallypr.com

On 27^thJanuary 2016 it will be 100 years since the Military Service Act brought conscription into effect in the UK for the first time during the War. Every man who on 15 August 1915 was ordinarily a resident in Great Britain and who were at least 19 and on 2 November 1915 was unmarried or a widower without dependent children was to be enlisted for general service.

Author of WWI historical fiction novel, The Sins of Soldiers, SJ Hardman Lea, was interested in gauging current popular opinion on such an act ahead of the release of his book. Would Brits today protest if a conscription act were to be discussed in Parliament, what should the upper age limit be and should women be enlisted too?

The Sins of Soldiers, set in 1916, is due for publication on 28^thJanuary and the survey is a fitting way to celebrate the many years of research that went into the creation of this - the first book in a series of WWI novels written by Suffolk-based eye surgeon SJ Hardman Lea.

Hardman Lea comments:"Conscription was not an Act taken lightly by the British. Although both France and Germany had conscription in place at the start of the War, British governments had sought to avoid it for more than 100 years - possibly as a deliberate contrast to the French conscription of the Napoleonic era. The great British armies collected through 1914 were those who fought on the Somme, the Pals battalions were all volunteers who had responded to the Kitchener campaign (Your Country Needs You). Prior to the Military Service acts, three million British men volunteered, but the numbers were dropping fast by mid 1915. Afterwards, 2.3 million men were conscripted in the following two years."

95% of the 100 people surveyed by Literally PR on behalf of SJ Hardman Lea's book launch say that if conscription were being discussed in Parliament, they would not sign up before a bill. Hardman Lea is in the minority:"Yes, I would volunteer first. I guess it would depend on context."

Conscription continues to be debated around the world

In October 2015, a headline in a UK national newspaper read: "Brits could face conscription if Russian campaign in Syria leads to World War Three". Earlier that year, in June, photographer Neringa Rekašiūtėand actor Beata Tiškevič-Hasanova photographed 14 men crying to protest against the Lithuanian government's decision to reintroduce compulsory military service for young men aged from 19 to 27 (http://www.theguardian.com/media/gallery/2015/jun/04/lithuanian-conscripts-in-pictures). While it is "highly improbable that conscription would be considered in anything short of an extreme situation" says Hardman Lea, the topic was certainly a focus of conversation, debate and media headlines in 2015. If conscription were to be discussed in Parliament only 57% would protest, leaving 43% reluctantly accepting the inevitable.

Would there be more people able to enlist now?

The 1916 Military Service Act had an upper age limit of 41 and the majority (41%) of respondents to The Sins of Soldiers conscription survey agreed with this. Almost one-fifth thought the upper age limit should be slightly higher at 45; Hardman Lea believes it should be 51, while 18% suggested 60+.

Women were not included in the 1916 Act yet 57% of respondents to the survey agreed they should be if an Act was introduced today. Although women were not part of the Act in WWI, they were in WWII: in December 1941 Parliament passed a second National Service Act widening the scope of conscription still further by making all unmarried women and all childless widows between the ages of 20 and 30 liable to call-up. Hardman Lea says:"I would support conscription for women also. It's hard to argue against it considering that women serve in the Armed forces already. National Service for women does already exist in some countries including Greece and Israel."

Below is a selection of comments from respondents to the question:If conscription was reintroduced do you think women should be included?

"I don't think conscription should ever be reintroduced, but if it were, I don't think a male/female divide would be useful. Only those who were best equipped physically and mentally to fight should be conscripted, especially considering how many women (and men) have occupations that would be invaluable on the home front."

"They're in the armed forces now, so why not? Exemption should be given to expectant mothers or to one partner where there are children under 18."

"Why not?!"

"They don't belong."

The mental and emotional side of war

A lot has been written about WWI. The daily torment and suffering of soldiers is well documented. Yet there are so many photographs and drawings of smiling soldiers, grouped together and posing for the camera, a sense of camaraderie that seems to be almost unnatural. In The Sins of Soldiers, Hardman Lea captures a perspective of the First World War that has until now been subjugated. This led to pose the question:How would you deal with the emotional stresses of war?As an open-ended question a number of comments were added, many indicated they would seek some form of counselling, others said they would cry, hide, and shy away from the world. Some people admitted they'd just have to get on with it, keep going, endure, survive, and get on with daily life. While some offered honest insights into their fears: "I really don't know. I just don't think I could hack it" and "I really don't know, and it's not something I ever want to find out."

Do you think civilians today would be better mentally prepared than those in the 1910s?

Yes - 31%

No - 69%

In response to this question, one person who answered ‘no' added:"We have become a soft race of people because we haven't had to fight, children don't get a smack anymore, how are the supposed to manage a gun shot?"Another wrote:"The concept of duty used to run deep into the mind/ soul. Such a view is no longer a shared view."

Notes To Editors

For a copy of the full survey results, a review copy of The Sins of Soldiers, comment, editorial commissions and interviews with the author SJ Hardman Lea, or any other information, please contacthelenlewis@literallypr.com.

Essential Details

Category:Historical Fiction

Publisher:Matador

ISBN:9781785890185

Format:Paperback & eBook

Available on Amazon & all good book shops

Price:£7.99

Release Date:January28^th2016

The survey was conducted online during January 2016 by Literally PR on behalf of SJ Hardman Lea.

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