THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL

Family Name:

Hoely

Given Names:

Leslie (Les) Warren

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown

Death-date:

Marital Status:

Single

Age/ Age Range:

21

Location:

QLD, Brisbane

Occupation:

Worker on Quaker Community Farm, Paxton, Qld.

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious Objector – Religious Pacifism

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Application for exemption as a conscientious objector
[2[ Absent without leave.
[3] Refusal to take the oath of enlistment
[4] Refusal to take the oath of enlistment.

Court Name and Location:

[1] Brisbane Police Court
[2] Court Marial
[3] Brisbane Police Court
[3] Brisbane.

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 15 April 1942
[2] 15 September 1942
[3] January 1943
[4] April 1943.

Court Outcome:

[1] Ordered to perform non-combatant duties
[2] Wrongful detention
[3] One minute in detention, then released.
[4] 6 months imprisonment in Brisbane.

Military Event:

World War II 1939-1945

Further Information:

Les Holey’s application for exemption as a conscientious objector to military service was rejected and he was ordered to perform non-combatant duties. He refused to enlist in a non-combatant army unit, instead going to work on a Quaker Community Farm. Holey was arrested on 27 July 1942 by members of the Army Provost Corps and spent 50 days in military detention, including three periods in solitary confinement. On 15 September 1942, he was court martialled on a charge of being absent without leave. The court martial decided that Hoely could not have been held on such a charge because he was not a “soldier”, having never taken the oath or affirmation of enlistment. He had been charged under the Army Act, whereas he should have been tried in a civilian court for refusal to enlist.  In January 1943, Hoely appeared in the Brisbane Police Court, charged with refusing to take the oath of enlistment. The magistrate sentenced him to one minute in detention, which he served in the court before being released. In April 1943, Hoey was sentenced to six months in prison for the same ‘crime’ of refusing to take the oath of enlistment. After his release, he returned to the farm.

Les Hoely may be Les Hoey.

Confirmatory Source:

The Peacemaker, 1 October 1942, p. 1; 1 February 1943, p 1; 15 April 1943; 15 February 1944; ‘Re Leslie Warren Holey’, J.G. Somerville Papers, held by B. Oliver.