New Zealanders who resisted the First World War

This table and related spreadsheet lists the 286 conscientious objectors who were imprisoned for rejecting military service during the First World War. The spreadsheet lists the dates they were balloted, sentenced and released, and provides other biographical and procedural information. It also records their reasons for rejecting military service, where this information is available. Download full spreadsheet here.

Abbreviations: R = religious; S = socialist; R, S = religious and socialist; I = Irish nationalist; S, I = Irish and socialist; DNS = ‘defiant’, but not categorised specifically; NAR = not a reservist (i.e., claiming citizenship of another country); M = part of the Waikato group who collectively rejected Māori conscription; CO = conscientious objector; DO = defiant objector; RO = religious objector. Read more about the compilation of this list.

About this list

These notes relate to the expanded information available in the spreadsheet version of this list.

Methodology

There is no single published or archived source which lists all imprisoned objectors, so I have used several sets of data to provide as complete a picture as possible of all the New Zealanders imprisoned for rejecting military service during the First World War.

The only published list of military objectors was created by Harry Holland for his book Armageddon or Calvary, published in 1919. Holland readily admitted that his list was based on incomplete and shaky data, but it nonetheless provides a useful starting point for anyone attempting to trace imprisoned objectors. He listed 281 names, dividing them into religious, socialist, Irish, pacifist and ‘other’ objectors, or some combination thereof.

The key archival source for studying individual objectors is the report of the Religious Advisory Board, which interviewed all objectors then imprisoned across the country between January and March 1919. Their goal was to identify ‘genuine’ religious objectors and omit these from a forthcoming list of military defaulters. The board interviewed 273 men, but of course no objectors who had already been released from prison. All those interviewed were named and categorised, though the board regarded some of the 273 as falling outside their brief.

Several other surviving lists compiled in 1917 or 1918 document the men in prison at the time and – in some cases – their motivations for refusing service. The New Zealand Police Gazette’s monthly returns of individuals released from prison provide a useful additional source, detailing sentencing, imprisonment, occupation, year of birth, and other useful information.

I collated these sources and cross-referenced them against personnel files, where these have been preserved, and articles about appeals hearings and courts martial published in newspapers that have been digitised on the Papers Past website.

This exercise involved the development of criteria for inclusion. A conscripted man who was imprisoned after he refused to be medically examined, or to accept the issue of kit at camp, was clearly an objector to military service by any definition. A man who opted out of the process by hiding in the West Coast bush was – by the Defence Department’s definition – a defaulter or, if he had been attested for military service, a deserter, rather than an objector. If apprehended by the authorities he would be sentenced to a period in prison, but he would generally not be required to serve in the NZEF. The department categorised such men as ‘military prisoners’ but not as ‘objectors’. Ten men included in at least one of the sources mentioned above, though sometimes grouped with the objectors, should properly be considered defaulters or deserters and are not listed in this spreadsheet.

With these 10 men and a few other irrelevant or untraceable names from Armageddon or Calvary removed, the spreadsheet records 286 names – including 14 objectors called up under Māori conscription and the 14 men sent overseas in July 1917.

Regimental number

Usually their regimental number but occasionally a ballot number (which sometimes differed from this) and or the number of a disciplinary file.

Name, occupation, address

These are drawn from one or other of the various sources, such as personnel files, ballot lists, defaulter lists and archived files (variations are sometimes listed). Sometimes the address is generalised slightly (e.g., Ponsonby or Mt Albert becomes Auckland).

Type of objection/A or C classification/Defence Department classification. 

I have categorised the men’s reasons for objection to military service. The A or C column gives the reasons given in Holland’s Armageddon or Calvary, where they’re included there. His categorisation differs from that used by the Defence Department and Military Service Boards. Where Holland attributed pacifist motives, officials tended to split these into religious (i.e., pacifist because of Christian teachings) and socialist (i.e., pacifist because of political opposition to militarism, beliefs about class warfare, etc). Holland categorised other objectors as socialist, religious or ‘other’ (usually meaning that he didn’t know). As he noted in the text, he was basing his information on incomplete data, so many names are missing and some included were not actually conscientious objectors.

The Defence Department categories are slippery and not used consistently, but broad patterns emerge. The department tended to categorise eligible men who rejected military service as ‘conscientious’, ‘religious’ or ‘defiant’. Religious and conscientious usually meant much the same thing – opposition to military service because of religious belief, whether as a member of a recognised pacifist church (religious objector) or based on personal beliefs (conscientious objector). ‘Defiant’ was usually applied to people refusing military service on other grounds, such as socialist, anti-militarist or Irish nationalist beliefs, or a personal philosophy not specifically underpinned by Christian teachings. It also included those who gave no specific philosophical reason. Sometimes the same individuals were categorised differently at different times, depending on who was making the judgment and for what purpose.

In listing the departmental classification, I have given most weight to the 1919 findings of the Religious Advisory Board. This conducted the most thorough, extensive and consistent survey of the objectors, and provided the most detailed analysis of their views. This has been supplemented by the categorisations made at courts martial, which are usually listed on the court martial documents in personnel files. I have also used the returns of objectors who were in prison on or around 30 April 1918 (F2), which provide some useful supplementary information.

I have used this information to try to provide an overarching ‘Type of Objection’ based on the balance of evidence. This is not always easy, and weighing Holland’s analysis against departmental records and newspaper reports is a complex task. In some cases it is only possible to say whether a person was basically ‘religious’ or ‘defiant’, in the broadest possible terms, since this was the basic criterion employed by the department. As noted above, deciding whether someone was a ‘pacifist’ is the most complex question, since most individuals advanced arguments which could be considered pacifist in the broadest sense. The most straightforward route is to divide the objectors into religious, socialist, religious/socialist, Irish, Irish/socialist, ‘defiant not specified’, and other.

Ballot number/recruiting group/ballot division

Between November 1916 and October 1918, the government statistician conducted 23 ballots in which a total of 138,034 men were called up. The country was divided into 21 regions for this purpose:

1. Auckland
2. Hauraki
3. North Auckland
4. Waikato
5. Wellington
6. Manawatu
7. Hawke’s Bay
8. Taranaki
9. Christchurch
10. South Canterbury
11. North Canterbury
12. Nelson
13. Dunedin
14. Southland
15. North Otago
16. Clutha
17. Bay of Plenty
18. Wairarapa
19. Poverty Bay
20. Wanganui
21. West Coast

The ballot was divided into several divisions:

1st division = single men without dependants

2a division = married men without children

2b division = married men with one child

2c division = married men with two children

Men could also be called up under sections 34 and 35 of the Military Service Act. Section 34 allowed the Defence Department to arrest men who had not enrolled and draft them straight into the NZEF without being balloted. Section 35 allowed the department to draft the sons of families in which no one had yet enlisted. Typically there was an appeal process: after some or all of the sons were called up, the Military Service Board dismissed, accepted or adjourned the claims of the individuals. Men whose cases were adjourned sine die (indefinitely) under section 35 could still be called up in a normal ballot. As section 34 and 35 men were not balloted, that column is marked NA (not applicable) in the spreadsheet. No source is known for the dates when section 34 and 35 men were called up, so I have provided the earliest known date (e.g., ‘By 01/1917’).

s34 = section 34 of Military Service Act 1916, calling up men who failed to enrol for ballot

s35 = section 35 of Military Service Act 1916, calling up multiple members of a single family

Appeal

The Military Service Act 1916 created an appeal process whereby balloted men could apply for exemption from military service on the grounds of (a) pacifist religious beliefs, (b) that serving would create personal hardship for dependants, or (c) that removing them from their work would undermine essential industry. The Military Service Boards which heard the appeals could exempt men from service outright, adjourn their calling up for a specified period, adjourn them sine die (indefinitely), or dismiss them. The appeals of the men included in the spreadsheet were, by definition, dismissed.

Several of the archived sources record whether a man appealed to be exempt, and, if so, on what grounds. Where a man has nothing recorded in this box, this information is not available. Further information about individual appeals can often be found on Papers Past.

Referred to DPS?

When balloted men failed to appear for their medical examination or at camp on the appointed date, their case was referred to the Director of Personal Services (DPS). The DPS investigated the case and referred it to the local police if he thought an arrest was warranted. While cover sheets in personnel files often note that the file has been referred to the DPS, a blank in the relevant box on the spreadsheet does not necessarily mean it was not.

Māori objectors

This column refers to Waikato Māori called up under Maori conscription in 1918. Other Māori men may have been called up under the regular ballots, but none of the other imprisoned objectors listed here are known to have been Māori.

Attested

The date a conscript filled out and signed his attestation form is provided for the purpose of individual chronology and cross-reference. Typically an individual would sign an attestation paper in the weeks following their calling up, usually before they were medically examined and before those unwilling to serve appealed for exemption. Some men refused to sign the attestation form to signal their unwillingness.  

Sentence date/sentence/charge

This information is sourced from personnel files, Police Gazettes, and in some cases the archived lists. In a few cases where incomplete information is available only in personnel files, the date may be that of the offence rather than the court martial.

Abbreviations:

Admon = admonished

AEC = attempt to escape custody

AWL = absent without leave

DLC = disobeying a legal command by a superior officer

Released from prison

Sourced from the Police Gazette.

Defaulters’ list

This is sourced from the main defaulters’ list published in the New Zealand Gazette in 1919, and amendments and deletions published over the following six years.

Notes

Other contextual information where available.

Abbreviations:

CM = court martial

CO = conscientious objector

DO = defiant objector

RAB = Religious Advisory Board, 1919

RO = religious objector

s34 = section 34 of Military Service Act 1916, calling up men who failed to enrol for the ballot

s35 = section 35 of Military Service Act 1916, calling up multiple members of a single family

Sources

Abbreviations:

A or C = Armageddon or Calvary, written by Harry Holland and published in 1919

F1 = Classification of objectors, August 1918 (AAYS 8638 AD1 box 734 10/407 pt 3, Archives New Zealand, Wellington)

F2 = Lists of military prisoners, April 1918 (AAYS 8638 AD1 box 734 10/407 pt 3, Archives New Zealand, Wellington)

NZG = New Zealand Gazette (in which ballot lists were published)

PF = personnel file, held by Archives New Zealand

PG = New Zealand Police Gazette

RAB = report of the Religious Advisory Board, 1919 (AAYS 8638 AD1 box 734 10/407/15, Archives New Zealand, Wellington)

 By Tim Shoebridge, 2016.