Eric Barry Wilfred Chappelow (7 October 1890 – 28 November 1957) was an English poet and conscientious objector during the First World War. His arrest and harsh treatment during four months of imprisonment garnered support from prominent people in Britain, including Chappelow's connections within the literary community. A campaign for his release was supported by Bertrand Russell, W. B. Yeats, and George Bernard Shaw. His arrest and the treatment were highlighted in the House of Commons by the Liberal MP Philip Morrell. Prior to his arrest, Chappelow had gained a measure of recognition for his first volume of poetry, which was published in early 1916. At that time, he was serving as a clerk to a London County Council and had been exempted from service in the military during the First World War as a conscientious objector. Not long after his exemption was granted, it was rescinded and he was arrested in April for refusing to serve. A photograph of Chappelow in a barracks yard wearing nothing but a blanket fastened around him with a belt made front page news. Despite efforts on his behalf, Chappelow was imprisoned under harsh conditions in Wandsworth prison for four months. He was eventually released in the custody of Philip and Lady Ottoline Morrell to serve in a Friends' Ambulance Unit in England. After the war, Chappelow continued writing essays and poetry until his death, and in 1937 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He earned a literary prize for one of his poems published in 1945. Early life and career Eric Barry Wilfred Chappelow was born in St George Hanover Square, London, England, to George and Kate Chappelow. He was a brother of illustrator and fine arts expert Archibald Cecil Chappelow, and a cousin of the suffragist Grace Chappelow. On 27 October 1913, Chappelow became a clerk to the education committee of the London County Council. Early in 1916, Chappelow published his first poetry collection, Joy and the Year, which was moderately well-reviewed in the literary magazine The Athenæum, which said: World War I and imprisonment In March 1916, at the outset of the introduction of compulsory service in World War I, Chappelow was "exempted as a conscientious objector", with a certificate of exemption formally being granted by the Barnes and Mortlake local tribunal on 5 April 1916. Chappelow's brother Archibald had already taken a different route to avoid