Family Name:
Cocking
Given Names:
Noel Anderson
Gender:
Male
Birth-Date:
Unknown, possibly 1936
Death-Date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, single
Age:
18 Years old
Location:
NSW, Mayfield
Occupation:
Unknown
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious Objector, religious
Reason for Court Appearance:
Application for total exemption from military duties as a conscientious objector
Court Name and Location:
Court of Petty Sessions, Newcastle
Court Hearing Date:
30 December 1954
Court Outcome:
Application was granted foe exemption from combatant military duties only
Military Event:
National Service 1951-1959
Further Information:
Noel Cocking was from Mayfield, a suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales. He was a Methodist by religion. He applied for total exemption from military duties as a conscientious objector under the National Service Act 1951 (NSA).. His hearing was at the Newcastle Court of Petty Sessions on 30 December 1954. He told Magistrate W McAndrew that, he could not take part in non combatant duties because in doing so he would be helping the ‘machine of war’. He stated he would obey the laws of the country if they were in keeping with God’s commandments. Despite Noel’s statement the magistrategranted him exemption from combatant military duties only. Mr Braund, Legal Counsel for the Department of Labour and National Service, assured the court that Noel would be assigned to the Army Medical Corps.
Confirmatory Sources:
Peacemaker, March 1955, p.2.
Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t Go! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, p.217.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 