ABSTRACT
An even greater sense of betrayal is apparent among the army's generals, who portrayed the appeal bodies as working in conjunction with government departments such as the Ministry of Munitions to 'nullify to a great extent the object of the Military Service Acts. In March 1917, one board member remarked that his appeal body had always examined each case in the light of the consideration whether a man could be more useful as a fighter or a producer. The tribunals and boards played an integral role in deciding which of the eventualities came to pass. Through the verdicts they reached on all types of exemption claims, the appeal bodies determined how many men would be available to the army, and how many men would be available to the home front, at a time when Britain's and New Zealand's reserves of manpower were approaching critical levels.
