"I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been clearly stated as objects, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation."

Siegfried Sassoon, 'Finished with the War: A Soldier's Declaration', July 1917. Published in The Times and read into the record of the House of Commons. Sassoon was a decorated officer who had served on the Western Front.