A Modern Magician

During the First World War he served as a conscientious objector.[2] Stapledon became an ambulance driver with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in France and Belgium from July 1915 to January 1919; he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery.[5] His wartime experiences influenced his pacifist beliefs and advocacy of a World Government.[6] On 16 July 1919 he married Agnes Zena Miller (1894–1984), an Australian cousin.[2] They had first met in 1903, and later maintained a correspondence throughout the war. They had a daughter, Mary Sydney Stapledon (1920–2008), and a son, John David Stapledon (1923–2014). In 1920 they moved to West Kirby.