Family Name:
Christen
Given Names:
Kim
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
1919
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Single
Age:
23
Location:
NSW, Moss Vale
Occupation:
School Teacher
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious Objector – Rationalist Pacifism
Reason for Court Appearance:
[1] Application for registration as a conscientious objector
[2] Failure to attend camp when ordered to.
Court Name and Location:
[1] Unknown
[2] Manly, NSW
Court Hearing Date:
[1] Unknown
[2] 15 October 1942.
Court Outcome:
[1] Application was refused as he had taken the affirmation
[2] Sentenced to 2 months imprisonment, released 14 December 1942.
Military Event:
World War II
Further Information:
Kim Christen, a former school teacher at Tudor House, Moss Vale, NSW, refused to take the oath of enlistment on the grounds that he had already made an affirmation. He described himself as a Rationalist. Before he came to Australia, he was in Calcutta, India. He failed to attend call-up camp when ordered to and was sentenced to two months imprisonment, which he served in Long Bay Jail He was sentenced in the Manly Court by Magistrate Sheridan on 15 October 1942. He pleaded guilty for failing to attend call-up. Kim informed the magistrate he would not join the army and was prepared to take the consequences. Lieutenant Clayton informed the court that Kim had written to several Ministers of the Crown, including the Minister for the Army, concerning his case. Clayton claimed he had given the authorities no end of trouble. He had applied for registration as a conscientious objector, but this was refused by the court because he had made an affirmation. Kim was released on 14 December 1942. Interestingly in 1940 he changed or attempted to change back to his birth name to Stanley Robert Taylor. However, in the 1942 court case he was referred to as Kim Christen.
Confirmatory Sources:
J.G. Somerville Papers, National Library of Australia, Canberra, Series no 7049; London Peace Society Papers, National Library of Australia, Accession No. MS 2980, Box 5, COs Group.
Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, 20 September 1940, p.3908.
Daily Mirror, 15 October 1942, p.5.National Advocate (Bathurst), 17 October 1942, p. 1.
National Advocate (Bathurst), 17 October 1942, p. 1.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 