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Ernie ‘Gompy’ Gompertz – The Post-War Lives of Conscientious Objectors

Date: December 11, 2017 Author: Jude Murphy 1 Comment This fascinating piece by project volunteer Tom Davie gives an overview of the diverse post-war lives of Conscientious Objectors, with Aaron Ernest Gompertz as a focal point. It could be argued that Gompertz’s reception at home after the Armistice contrasted with that of WEA Northern District Secretary Jack Trevena.

Tom will be exploring Gompy’s story in more depth in the forthcoming commemorative edition of The Highway: Turbulent Times 1918-28.

Gompertz Park Ernie Gompertz has a street named after him, Gompertz Gardens – the adjacent park is perhaps a testimony to his love of children and the countryside. Aaron Ernest ‘Gompy’ Gompertz was one of 22 World War I Conscientious Objectors (COs) from South Shields. They came from all aspects of society: grocers and gardeners; joiners and upholsterers; clerks, bank cashiers and insurance agents; gas fitters and tool makers; students and schoolmasters. Gompy (as he was affectionately known) was one of a number of those working in shops; in what we would now call the retail industry.

Some COs had religious convictions, some political, some moral for their refusal to fight for, ‘King and Country’ (or a combination of all). Many were ostracised by the same community they had lived in and returned to on release from non-combatant duties or prison; some were lauded and respected and became important pillars of their communities. Others lived quiet lives, getting on with the day to day business of supporting their families. William Tetley (whose family publicly and proudly shared his story on an edition of the Antiques Roadshow TV programme in 2017) left his work as an Insurance Agent and became a successful studio photographer. Another, Joseph Thomas kept his job in the town, with the same employer, as a Toolmaker and Moulder.

I often wonder/reflect on what it must have been like for all of them (the 362 from the North East of England) returning to their towns and villages, their cities. Returning to live next to families who had lost loved ones in the four years of fighting, living next to others with physical and mental wounds and nightmares that would never heal. How did they gain the trust, respect and perhaps love of the people around them again? Or did they? And how did their wives, sisters, parents, friends manage the ridicule, the intimidating looks, obscene remarks that they faced every day, every year?

Some, like the Laws brothers (Bert and Billy) with their suffragette mother from Darlington, emigrated to Australia. Norman Gaudie, a Congregationalist by religion, lost his social status. An avid cricketer, his team, Boldon Cricket Club refused to let him play for them any longer after he returned home in 1919. But after relinquishing his job as a Railway Clerk he eventually became a successful manager within the Cooperative Society. Alfred Myers, a Wesleyan by religion, and member of the ILP (and, like Gaudie, one of the Richmond 16 who were sentenced to death in France for refusing to undertake non-combatant duties; commuted to hard labour in the quarry of Dyce, Aberdeen) returned to Carlin How near Middlesbrough. He retained his job as a Deputy and ironstone miner, became a Sunday School Superintendent and a Trustee of his church.

Let us return briefly to Gompy; politically outspoken, a champion of his community, fully convicted to his belief in peace and in social justice, he was elevated to Councillor, Alderman, and Mayor in South Shields. A street and a plaque are a sign of his legacy, but most people would have to go on Google to find a sense of why such an unusual name has been designated to the area. He is remembered but also forgotten.

But what of the others? There are trees planted in the grounds of Richmond Castle to the Richmond 16 in recognition of their own bravery in refusing to fight. But I know of no other visible, transparent recognition of COs, unlike the many war memorials celebrating brave men or the plaques in the thankful villages and towns to all those who safely returned home. We acknowledge the conviction of the men who fought in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War (there is a plaque to them in Newcastle) but many people even a hundred years on shy away from the bravery and conviction of those who refused to fight in World War I.

The Turbulent Times 1918-1928 project is an opportunity to explore the stories, the lives of such COs and remember them. Their stories deserve to be told, shared and discussed.

Tom Davie

http://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/story/11334/

Aaron Ernest Gompertz (1888-1968)

Conscientious objector from South Shields

Aaron Ernest Gompertz went before the Local Military Tribunal and failed to gain exemption. He took his case to the County Appeal Tribunal which overturned the original judgement and exempted him from military service. Before he could be issued with his certificate of exemption, he was arrested as an absentee, tried by the magistrate and handed over to the military authorities. In spite of questions being asked about his case in the House of Commons, Gompertz was forced to join the Non-Combatant Corps. He soon got into trouble for refusing to obey orders and the army court martialled him a number of times. He spent much of the war in Wormwood Scrubs and Leicester Prisons.

After the war and his release from prison Gompertz returned to South Shields. According to David Clark’s book* Gompertz was in a frail physical state and could only walk using crutches for some time after. This is borne out by the fact that Aaron Ernest Gompertz was interviewed as part of an investigation into the use of corporal punishment in prisons (HO 291/854 “Acto enquiry into corporal punishment” 1960). However, he soon began to involve himself in local politics and even became Mayor of South Shields (Sunderland Daily Echo, 5 Dec 1953).

Other sources referred to:

• ”We Do Not Want The Earth: The History of South Shields Labour Party” (Bewick Press, 1992), p.31 Hansard http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1916/jul/27/war-...

Civil Parish: South Shields

Birth date: 1888

Death date: 1968

Armed force/civilian: Civilian

Residence: 20 Dean Road, South Shields (1911 census) 1 Westoe Crescent, Horsley Hill Road, South Shields (Working Class Movement Library, List of No-Conscription Fellowship Members)

Religion: Jewish

Organisation membership: Shop Assistants’ Union No-Conscription Fellowship Independent Labour Party

Employment: Manager of pawn broker’s shop (1911 census)

Family: Father: Samuel Gompertz (1901 census) Mother: Rebecca Gompertz Siblings: Gabriel Gompertz, Alexander Gompertz, Rosa Gompertz (1911 census)

Military service: Non-Combatant Corps

Gender: Male

Contributed by Durham County Record Office | Cyril Pearce