TILLEY, Leonard Keith

Family Name:

Tilley

Given Names:

Leonard Keith

Gender:

Male

Birth-Date:

Unknown, 1937

Death-Date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown. single

Age:

18 years old

Location:

VIC, Mildura

Occupation:

Unknown

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious Objector, humanist

Reason for Court Appearance:

Application for exemption from combatant military duties as a conscientious objector

Court Name and Location:

Court of Petty Sessions, Mildura

Court Hearing Date:

12 May 1955

Court Outcome:

Application was granted

Military Event:

National Service 1951-1959

Further Information:

Leonard Tilly was from Mildura in Victoria. He applied for exemption from combatant military duties as a conscientious objector under the National service Act 1951. His court hearing was on 12 May 19555 at the Court of Pety Sessions at Mildura and was heard by Magistrate JW Hayes. Leonard told the magistrate that his beliefs did not allow him to take up arms but he was prepared to serve in a non-combatant capacity. He also said, presumably in response to a question asked of him, that he believed he would be justified in taking up arms to defend his mother or a helpless or defenceless lying in hospital, but such defence would stop short of killing the aggressor.

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker, June 1955, p.2.

Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t Go! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, p.235.