The tradition of giving someone the 'white feather' goes back several hundred years, but became a populist issue in England, where in 1914, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald encouraged women to give out white feathers to any young men who hadn't signed up.

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While the "order of the white feather" was commonplace and much spoken about, not everybody agreed with the "act of giving".

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There were many men who wanted to enlist but were knocked back because of their health.

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Regardless of the reason, to be given the white feather meant you were a coward - a stigma that you bore for the rest of your life.

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