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.
