[1][2] The Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) was first established by royal warrant in March 1916 as a result of the Military Service Act 1916, which introduced conscription in Britain for the first time.

[4] Their duties were mainly to provide physical labour (building, cleaning, loading and unloading anything except munitions)[5] for the rest of the army, both in the British Isles and overseas.

In 1944–45 some volunteered for transfer to the Royal Army Medical Corps, while retaining their non-combatant status, to join Parachute Field Ambulance units dropped over France on and after D-Day.

In the fictional television series Danger UXB, Private John Brinckley, a Quaker, is a member of the NCC in the Second World War.

Assigned to Lieutenant Brian Ash's 347 Section of 97 Tunnelling Company, Brinckley reconsiders his objections to war and requests reassignment to the Royal Engineers.